NPL Round 1 Wrap
Canberra FC 0 def. by Canberra Olympic 3 (Andre Jancevski 30’, 62’, Stephen Domenici 54’)
By Tim Warren
The rematch of the 2018 Men’s Grand Final on Friday night was a heated affair, as Canberra Olympic triumphed in the season opener with a 3-0 win at Deakin Stadium.
A brace to Andre Jancevski and a goal from Stephen Domenici was enough to see Olympic cruisee to a convincing victory that would surely send a warning message to the rest of the competition.
Canberra FC appeared the stronger side on paper after an off-season full of acquisitions, it was the visitors who held the ascendency of the match and went to claim the three points.
While the opening period was a chance for the fierce rivals to blowout a few off-season cobwebs, there were some defined chances in early minutes.
Olympic thought they took an early lead in the ninth minute when Lasse Olrik put the ball in the back of the net, however it was adjudged handball from the lead-up play in the box.
Canberra FC were agonisingly close to scoring a miraculous goal near the half-hour mark when a back pass to goalkeeper Jordan Thurtell was launched up-field and almost lobbed over a back-pedaling Rory Larkin into the opposing goal.
The opening goal of the game eventually came in the 30th minute.
Olympic took a quick free-kick and caught Deakin flatfooted on the counter-attack, with Jancevski calmly caressing the ball past Thurtell and into the bottom corner.
Olympic doubled their lead in the 54th minute when Tim Bobolas’ sharp cross found Domenici on the edge of the area, and pivoted before blasting the ball into the bottom left corner.
The visitors put the result beyond doubt just inside the final half hour when Jancevski netted his second and Olympic’s third on the night.
Nik Popovich was sent scurrying towards the byline by a perfectly time through ball, and after controlling the ball he dragged it back to the top of the area for Jancevski to thunder home past a stranded Thurtell.
From there the game sparked up with some late challenges, and Marko Vrkic was shown a straight red card for a horror challenge on Olympic’s Jay Kelly in the 84th that saw Kelly chaired from the field.
Canberra Olympic will look to continue their winning ways next Sunday against Gungahlin United at O’Connor, while Canberra FC will hope to get back into form on a trip to Greenway to face Tuggeranong United.
Riverina Rhinos 1 (Michael Perre 43’) def. by Monaro Panthers 4 (Nikos Kalfas 22’, Sam Smith 68’, 73’, Michael Rinaudo 83’)
Jimmy Kanaridis and the new look Monaro Panthers kicked off their 2019 campaign with a strong win over the Riverina Rhinos in Griffith.
The early action was all down Monaro’s attacking end as they looked to break down the Rhinos backline, and received their reward just after the 20-minute mark as the referee pointed to the penalty spot.
Nikos Kalfas was given converting duties and he made no mistake, thundering the spot-kick home to give the Panthers the lead and they received another boost 13 minutes after the goal as the Rhinos’ Ally McLeod was given his marching orders for a dangerous challenge near the sideline.
But the Rhinos hit back next when Michael Perre glanced home a header from Gavin Wylie’s free-kick and that put the hosts on level terms at half-time.
The Panthers would run away with the game in the second half though as Sam Smith struck twice in five minutes, first with a well-taken header from a cross and then finishing off a good through ball from Nick Dahl.
10 minutes after his second Michael Rinaudo got on the end of Smith’s low drive from an indirect free-kick to seal the three points and sit Monaro up near the top of the table.
Woden-Weston 2 (Martin Deng 79’, Alex Oloriegbe 90+4’) def. Belconnen United 0
A second-half stunner from Martin Deng and a late Alex Oloriegbe penalty helped Woden-Weston get their season off to the best possible start with a clean sheet win over Belconnen United.
United had more of the ball through the first half but could not finish chances, and the two sides went into half-time locked goalless and Belconnen again had early chances and corners in the second 45 but could not find the go-ahead goal.
They were made to pay just before the 80-minute mark as the ball pinballed around in midfield after a goal kick from Willem Lejeune and an attempted United clearance sprayed the ball out to the far side of the pitch.
It was fed through to Deng as he raced towards the top of the area and the man of the moment barely missed a beat as he struck the ball sweetly across and over Finn Jurak in to the far corner of the goals.
Daniel Sparrow sprayed an effort over at the other end not long after as a free-kick was cleared away from goal and Woden-Weston sealed the deal in stoppage time as Oloriegbe converted from the penalty spot after he was brought down in the area.
United will be keen to bounce back when they host the Rhinos at McKellar Park on Saturday, while Woden-Weston face Canberra White Eagles in the FFA Cup on Wednesday before enjoying a weekend off with a league bye.
Tigers FC 3 (Nicolas Abot 37’, Laurence Redmond 53’, Roko Strika 62’) def. Tuggeranong United 0
Nicolas Abot netted in the first half and Tigers added a further two goals early in the second half to secure a 3-0 win in the round one replay of the 2018 Elimination Final against Tuggeranong.
Tigers took the lead in the 37th minute as a long ball was sent forward which Mark Shields controlled initially before laying it off to Abot, and he side-footed a bouncing finish past Jakob Wiseman in the Tuggeranong goal to put his side in front.
Abot’s dancing celebration was an accurate reflection of how Tigers felt about leading at half-time and they were even better eight minutes after the break as Lawrence Redmond headed in from a corner to double the advantage in front of the club house.
Nine minutes later it was three, this time Roko Strika unleashed a stinging effort from way out that evaded Wiseman and nestled in the back of the net and put the game out of reach for the visitors.
Tigers will now host Monaro at Nijong next weekend with both teams looking for their second win of the campaign.
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