A return to form for Monaro Panthers who, on the back of two goals in the space of sixty seconds in the first-half, romped to a convincing 4-0 win at the Riverside Stadium, heaping yet more misery on Canberra Olympic who seem incapable of shrugging off the threat of being sucked into a relegation battle.

The home team started well and might have gone ahead before their eleventh minute opener as winger Ben Basser-Silk cut inside from out-wide and curled an effort at goal that bounced off the inside of the post and ricocheted straight into the arms of a grateful Seb Usai in the visiting goal.

If that was fortunate, the goalkeeper could do little about the double-whammy that befell him and his team-mates shortly afterwards. Midfielder Zac McLaren is not renowned for his goalscoring, but he found himself perfectly placed in the eleventh minute to control the ball and steer a precise finish past Usai into the corner.

Within sixty seconds, it was two. Full-back Patrick Mitchell embarked on a lung0bursting run from right-back to get on the end of a chance inside the area, scooting past his marker and finishing adroitly as Olympic suddenly were staring down the barrel again.

To their credit they responded well, and the match was fairly evenly poised for parts thereafter, although Usai needed to make a pair of fine saves, as did Finn Jurak at the other end as Olympic threatened to pull one back before the break. And yet, it was the Panthers who added a third in the second stanza.

Substitute Santiago Lupino looked sharp upon his introduction, and it was his pass that allowed Roko Strika to sweep his seventh of the season past Usai and seal the points for the home team. Strika repaid the complement with eleven minutes to play as Lupino broke rapidly from an Olympic chance that was repelled by Jurak, playing a one-two with his skipper and scoring with confidence.

A ninety-fifth minute goal from Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu was enough for ten-man Gungahlin United to secure a late, and vital, win over Tuggeranong United to preserve their lead at the top of the NPL table following an exciting, end-to-end encounter at the Australian Institute of Sport.

Ahmed-Shaibu was alive to the rebound after his own penalty was superbly saved by Tuggeranong goalkeeper Callum Cook to clatter home his seventeenth NPL goal of the campaign, consolidate his position as the leader in the chase for the Golden Boot, and keep Gunners two- points clear.

The penalty was given by the assistant referee in the fifth minute of time added on after substitute Michael Katsoulis was adjudged to have been upended inside the area, a decision vehemently opposed by the visitors, and one which the referee initially waved away before consulting with his assistant.

It was the second time in the match that an assistant had intervened in a massive call, the fist occurring on the quarter-hour mark when Gungahlin defender Christian Junna was sent-off for an alleged elbow off the ball in a collision with Tuggeranong wing- back Nic Emanuel.

Neither side were content to settle for a point though and a match that threatened to go both ways ensued. Tuggeranong peppered a series of set-pieces into the penalty area throughout which Gunners custodian Aiden Munford heroically dealt with, whilst at the other end Katsoulis was denied by a sensational last-gasp tackle.

Fellow substitute Daniel Olaoye went closest, latching onto an exquisite through-ball from Ahmed-Shaibu and lifting an inventive finish over the advancing Cook only to see the ball cannon back off the top of the crossbar and away to safety. That set up the dramatic ending where, for the second week in succession, Tuggeranong hearts were broken by a stoppage time spot-kick.

Canberra Croatia briefly went top of the table as their early afternoon kick-off at Solar Mad Stadium in Griffith ended with the visiting team coming away with a 3-0 victory over Yoogali SCthe second time this season that the red machine has left the venue with all three points and the same margin of success.

Crucially Croatia managed to break the deadlock just before half-time, and it was a goal that Yoogali will be hugely disappointed to have conceded. A poor goal-kick presented the perfect opportunity to pounce, and two rapid-fire passes suddenly saw Daniel Barac bearing down on goal and the striker calmly scored his eighth goal of the campaign, beating Micheal De Paoli at his near post.

Earlier, Yoogali import Luciano Monserrat had fired a wicked looking free-kick at goal, the ball wandering several times before landing the wrong side of Croatia goalkeeper Sam Brown’s post from the home perspective, but a warning shot that the team at the bottom of the table were in the mood for an upset.

It took until twenty minutes from time for the visiting team to land the blow that effectively secured the points. Goalkeeper De Paoli chased a through ball but was beaten to it by Barac, the inevitable result being a collision that resulted in a penalty award for Croatia.

Atiya Waraga was entrusted with the responsibility from the spot and, off a three-pace run-up, duly sent De Paoli the wrong way for the second, critical, goal. And it was Waraga who ended the contest with his second goal, his tenth of the year, moments later. The forward was quickest to react inside the area to a piece of ping-pong, swiveling to hammer home from close range.

The match between O’Connor Knights and Tigers FC was postponed due to an unplayable pitch.

RESULTS

ROUND 15

Saturday 20 July

O’Connor Knights v Tigers FC – Match Postponed

Monaro Panthers 4 (McLaren 11′, Mitchell 12′, Strika 65′, Lupino 79′) Canberra Olympic 0

Sunday 21 July

Yoogali SC 0 Canberra Croatia 3 (Barac 42′, Waraga 72′ (p), 75′)

Gungahlin United 1 (Ahmed-Shaibu 90+5′) Tuggeranong United 0

TABLE

		P	W	D	L	GF	GO	GD	PTS
1	Gungahlin United*	15	11	1	3	41	15	+26	34
2	Canberra Croatia	15	10	2	3	39	19	+20	32
3	O’Connor Knights	14	9	2	3	28	20	+8	29
4	Monaro Panthers	15	7	4	4	25	14	+11	25
5	Tigers FC**	14	7	3	4	32	17	+16	24
6	Tuggeranong United	15	5	3	7	22	26	-4	18
7	Canberra Olympic	15	2	0	13	20	46	-26	6
8	Yoogali SC	15	0	1	14	7	56	-49	1

TOP SCORERS

17: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Gungahlin United)

10: Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia)

8: Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia)

7: Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers)

6: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Own GOALS

5: Augustine BANGURA (Gungahlin United), Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Michael KATSOULIS (Gungahlin United), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia)

4: Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Olympic), Jeremy HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Davaadelger OKTYABRI (Tuggeranong United), Jackson PAESLER (O’Connor) Knights), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Gungahlin United)

3: Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic/O’Connor Knights), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Daniel OLAOYE (Gungahlin United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)

2: Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Michael JOHN (Canberra Olympic), Tyson LIVERMORE (Monaro Panthers), Santiago LUPINO (Monaro Panthers), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Patrick O’ROURKE (O’ Connor Knights), Joshua PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Jordan REZEK (Tuggeranong United), ROMEO (Gungahlin United), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Harry TRUMAN ( Canberra Olympic)

1: Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Jack BITANI (Tigers FC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Izach CLEMENTS (Canberra Olympic), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Adam DE FRANCESCHI (Monaro Panthers), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights) ), Lachlan FIELDS (O’Connor Knights), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Axel GARBIN (Yoogali SC), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Marley JACKSON (Tigers FC), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia), Christopher JOHN (Yoogali SC), Chirstian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Jack LEVERETT (Tuggeranong United), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Patrick MITCHELL (Monaro Panthers), Shinzaburo NAKAYAMA (Canberra Olympic), Alessandro PENA (Tigers FC), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United ), Sam RUST BOXES (Canberra Olympic), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Patrick SHORE (Canberra Olympic), Julian SMITH (Gungahlin United), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Antoni TIMOTHOEU (Gungahlin United), Kristian TOKIC (O’Connor Knights), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC), Ryan ZANATTA (Yoogali SC)

*Gungahlin United deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player in the 3-0 win against Tigers FC

**Tigers FC awarded a 3-0 win, and three points, for Gungahlin United fielding an ineligible player