FFA Centre of Excellence 2 (Jacob Italiano 19’, Melad Ahmad 39’) def. by Canberra Olympic Football Club 3 (Stephen Domenici 32’, 90+3’, Robbie Cattanach 73’)

Canberra Olympic brought the Centre of Excellence’s perfect start to the season to a dramatic end at the AIS, as a Stephen Domenici penalty in the dying minutes gave Olympic it’s third win in a row.

Full report here.

 

Riverina Rhinos 3 (Sean Bremner 19’, 45’, Joe Preece 87’) def. Monaro Panthers 1 (Luke Kanjor 50’)

The Riverina Rhinos picked up their first win of the 2017 season and extended their undefeated streak to three matches with a 3-1 home win over Monaro Panthers.

The home side got off to the perfect start in Griffith as they hit the lead through Sean Bremner, just reward as they controlled the majority of play. With Monaro struggling to match them, the Rhinos doubled their advantage just two minutes before the half as Bremner completed his brace and put his side in the driver’s seat after 45 minutes.

But the visitors came out of the sheds a changed side, and Luke Kanjor’s strike after just three minutes pulled them right back into the match. With both side’s chasing their first win of the season the second half was fiercely contested, but the Rhinos sealed it with three minutes left of regulation as Joe Preece finished off a nice move.

The result leaves Monaro as only one of two winless sides in the competiton, while the Rhinos continue their positive recent momentum.

 

Belconnen United 6 (Izach Clements 17’, Jason Ugrinic 21’, 64’, 74’, Taylor Beaton 59’, Matt Grbesa 68’) def. Woden-Weston FC 1 (Danny Crkovski 5’)

Belconnen United bounced back from last weekend’s narrow loss with a big win over Woden-Weston at McKellar Park.

A Jason Ugrinic hat-trick lead the way as Izach Clements, Taylor Beaton and Matt Grbesa also got in on the act. Things looked like they might have gone awry for the home side as Danny Crkovski put the visitors ahead after just five minutes, but United slowly worked themselves back into the match. Clements levelled after 17 minutes as he stabbed home a rebound from a corner, and Ugrinic gave the hosts the lead four minutes later with a strike from range.

The score remained the same at the break as both sides threatened, but Belconnen doubled their advantage 14 minutes into the second half as Beaton tucked home from close range. Ugrinic had a brace five minutes later as he was the beneficiary of a kind rebound, before Grbesa made it 5-1 with a tidy header back across the keeper off a set-piece.

With United running rampant, Ugrinic sealed his hat-trick and the final score as he converted from the penalty spot with 16 minutes remaining. There was time for more drama as a further penalty was saved well by Josh Wade in goals, but the score remained 6-1 as Woden-Weston were left still searching for their first win.

 

Canberra FC 1 (Matthew Waters 30’) def. by Tuggeranong United 2 (Andrew Slavich 29’, 54’)

Canberra FC’s perfect start to the season came to a halt at the hands of Tuggeranong United on Sunday, as a brace from Andrew Slavich gave the visitors their first win of the season.

With Tuggeranong coach Miro Trninic having stood down during the week, this match was something of an unknown, but the in-form Canberra FC looked to come out firing from the front. However, after just 20 minutes they were down to ten men, as defender Michael Mensah was given his marching orders for a rash two-footed challenge as he lost the ball just over the half way line. 

Slavich made the numbers count just nine minutes later as he fired home his first goal to appease the away supporters, but the joy was short lived as Matthew Waters scored not a minute later to even proceedings at Deakin. The side’s headed into the break all-square in an engaging contest, and the second half began in much the same fashion. 

But Slavich broke the deadlock after just nine minutes of play, finishing a good move to nab his brace and give his side a somewhat unexpected lead. The home side pushed to get back on level terms but struggled to force the initiative down a man, and the visitors held out to get their first victory of the 2017 season.

  

Gungahlin United 3 (Jason O’Dwyer 13’, Misko Naumoski 45+2, Michael Rinaudo 81’)def. Tigers FC 1 (Mark Shields 60’)

Gungahlin United handed Tigers FC their third loss in a row and jumped into the Top Four themselves with a strong win at Gungahlin Enclosed.

In a scrappy but even contest, it was Gungahlin who struck first as the inform Jason O’Dwyer finished tidily past Francis Bangweni in goals to give his side the lead. With Tigers fighting to get back into the match they hit another hurdle on the cusp of half-time, as the referee awarded Gungahlin a penalty. Misko Naumoski tucked home the spot-kick to give the home side a 2-0 lead heading into the break.

Tigers suffered another blow just eight minutes into the second half as Goran Josifovski was dismissed to leave the visitors chasing the game with ten men, but Mark Shields gave them hope with an hour gone as he pulled a goal back to halve the deficit. 

Daniel Barac was sent off with a straight red soon after as well, but Tigers responded to lift their tempo despite playing with nine men and looked like equalizing but could not find a finish. Michael Rinaudo sealed the game for the home side with nine minutes left as he slotted home for Gungahlin’s third win in a row.