Canberra FC 3 (Matthew Waters 45+2’, Michael Mensah 54’, Daniel Subasic 89’) def. by Canberra Olympic 5 (Michael John 14’, Domenic Giampaolo 18’, Stephen Domenici 44’, Roko Strika 84’, 90+2’)

Canberra Olympic bounced back convincingly from last weekend’s loss to Canberra FC, locking in their spot in the Grand Final with a 5-3 win over their storied rivals in the Qualifying Final.

It was the fourth time the teams had met this season in all competitions and Olympic started strongly with Daniel Colbertaldo striking the post with a superb effort seven minutes in as Canberra FC struggled to gain a foothold in the game.

It was Olympic who opened the scoring first as Josh Calabria pushed forward threateningly, before tucking a ball in behind to Michael John. The forward took a touch and steadied himself before sliding the ball under Sam Brown and in to give his side a deserved early lead.

And it only took another four minutes for them to double it as they took over the game, this time a horrendous mix-up at the back between Sam Brown and Aiden Brunskill allowed Domenic Giampaolo to stroll into an open goal and finish as he chased a bouncing ball.

Colbertaldo was substituted shortly after the 25-minute mark in a big blow for Olympic, and the loss of him helped Canberra FC back into the game as they began to work their way into the contest. Their best chance of the early running came shortly after 30 minutes had passed as Thomas James raced off down the wing as the referee played advantage for a pull-back on Ian Graham.

His inch-perfect cross found Michael Mensah in the middle, but he could only spray the ball over from close range with the goal at his mercy. That came back to bite his side moments before the break as Olympic struck once more; this time through Stephen Domenici as he was fed in behind by John after another turnover in Canberra FC’s own half and the 2017 Golden Boot winner made no mistake.

There was still time for a fourth goal in the half and this time it was Paul Macor’s men as Matthew Waters struck a drive sweetly from outside the area that buried in the corner of Olympic’s goal and cut the deficit to two goals at half-time.

Ryan Keir replaced Marko Vrkic four minutes into the second half and he made an immediate difference, feeding James into space down the left five minutes after coming on. He drew two defenders before crossing to Michael Mensah in the middle and while it looked as though the chance had gone begging, Mensah finished acrobatically to trim the Olympic lead to just one goal with over 30 minutes remaining.

Macor’s men were so close to equalising in the 69^th minute but Mensah’s drive struck the post, then hit a defenders head and dribbled narrowly wide of the upright as they pushed for parity.

Olympic pushed it back to two goals with six minutes remaining when Roko Strika was set free behind the Canberra FC backline and tucked his effort home but there was still time for late drama as Daniel Subasic smashed home a header late in regulation.

It was not to be though as Ivan Pavlak brought down Strika on the break in stoppage time and he dispatched the penalty to seal the game at 5-3 and send his team to another Grand Final appearance.

Canberra FC will now take on Tigers FC in the Preliminary Final at Deakin next weekend.