FFA Centre of Excellence 2 (Mirza Muratovic 21’, 84’) def. Belconnen United 0

The FFA Centre of Excellence closed off their program in style on Saturday, as a 2-0 win over Belconnen United enabled them to finish on a high.

United rested players in card trouble ahead of a semi-final matchup with Canberra Olympic next weekend, and the Centre of Excellence came out firing with a point to prove. 

And they took the lead after 21 minutes through Mirza Muratovic’s 12^th goal of the NPL season. James Fletcher put a lovely ball on a platter for Muratovic to tap home and give the development side a deserved lead. The hosts held the lead going into the break as United struggled to pick apart the league’s best defence and create chances. 

The second half began with much of the same fervour from the youngsters, and they held their opponents at bay for much of the half. The CoE continued to create their own chances, and Muratovic pounced once more with just six minutes remaining. The forward made a great run in from the top of the box and was found by a brilliant cross before steering his header past a stunned Finn Jurak in goals. 

The win means that the Centre of Excellence finish second in their final campaign, while Belconnen United finish third and will get a second chance in finals should they fall against Olympic next weekend.

 

Monaro Panthers 2 (Joakim Moussinga 10’, 82’) def. Tuggeranong United 0

Monaro Panthers ended Tuggeranong United’s chances of playing finals and picked up their first win of the season on Saturday with a 2-0 victory at Googong.

It was a blustery afternoon and both teams looked to work their way into the match early, but it was the hosts that took an unexpected lead as Joakim Moussinga fired home after 10 minutes.

Tuggeranong looked to fight back but Nathan Alferink was at his best to deny a couple of chances, before a corner was blown onto the crossbar as the pressure ramped up. Panthers went into the break leading 1-0 and with United needing a win, the stage was set for an entertaining second half.

The visitors pushed hard, and Alferink was again forced into some good saves and Panthers continued to hold out as the game wore on. A good chance for Monaro was denied and Tuggeranong went on the counter but Alferink was again on hand to deny the effort. 

With eight minutes left though Monaro sealed it. Sam Roestbakken’s set piece hit the post and the ball fell to a scramble of feet in the middle of the box, and Moussinga smashed hit home from close range to double the advantage. 

The win was Monaro’s first of the season, and also brought their only clean sheet, while for Tuggeranong they could only rue missed chances as their hopes of playing finals were ended for good.

 

Canberra Olympic 6 (Jordan Tsekenis 45’, 49’, Stephen Domenici 81’, 87’, Jeremy Habtemariam 89’, 90+2’) def. Riverina Rhinos 1 (Samuel Scarfone 64’)

Canberra Olympic rounded off a brilliant regular season on Saturday as a whirlwind final ten minutes helped them to a 6-1 thumping of the Rhinos at O’Connor. 

Neither side looked impressive early on, and the first half was a disjointed affair as they both tried to find their rhythm. No real chances presented until just before the half, and Jordan Tsekenis popped up to score on the cusp of the break to score on his return from injury.

 Four minutes after the break Tsekenis had a double as he finished off a lovely team move, but the Rhinos hit back with 64 minutes on the clock through Sam Scarfone and they continued to pressure a make-shift Olympic defence as they pushed for an equaliser. 

They were unable to find one though, and Olympic blew the game open in a blistering final 10 minutes. Stephen Domenici put the gloss on his golden boot with two goals in six minutes to take his tally to 27 goals, before Jeremy Habtemariam scored twice in the last few minutes to round out a very unexpected 6-1 victory. 

The win sees Olympic finish the season 11 points clear of the Centre of Excellence and facing Belconnen United next weekend in the Qualifying final, while the loss condemned the Rhinos to a ninth place finish in their first season in the league.

 

Gungahlin United 1 (Jack Green 32') def. Canberra FC 0

Gungahlin United jumped into fourth on the table and completed the season double over Canberra FC with a one-nil win at Gungahlin Enclosed on Sunday afternoon. 

Full report here.

 

Tigers FC 6 (Nico Abot 10’, 14’, Goran Josifovski 20’, Mark Shields 25’, 52’)def. Woden-Weston 3 (Daniel Crkovski 27’, Martin Deng 53’)

A four-goal blitz in the first half ensured Tigers FC finished their season on a high note with a 6-3 thumping of Woden-Weston in Cooma, helped along by a hat-trick from Nico Abot. 

Abot opened the scoring early as he headed in at the back post from a free-kick, and it took only a couple more minutes before he stepped up and tucked home a penalty to double the advantage for the home side. The hosts continued to pile on the pressure and Goran Josifovski got on the board after 20 minutes, before Mark Shields score from a tap-in five minutes later to have Tigers four goals up before the half hour mark. 

Woden-Weston hit back though through Daniel Crkovski as he put away a tidy finish, and the two sides went into the half-time break with the score line reading 4-1. Wanderers came out of the break strongest though, and Martin Deng hit the scoreboard next as he met the ball at the back post to fire home. 

The visitors were unable to keep out Tigers though, and Mark Shield completed his brace when he fired home from close range to extend the lead back to three goals. With just over ten minutes remaining the visiting defence went to sleep again, and Abot raced through before rounding the keeper and finishing off his hat-trick. 

There was still time for one more goal though and Sam McLachlan rose highest in the box to meet Nik Noveski’s cross to trim the margin back to three goals near the end. 

The win means that Tigers finish sixth for the season, four points outside finals, while Woden-Weston settled in eighth after a tough campaign.