CL MATCHDAY 7: ANU FC Move Four Points Clear

CAPITAL LEAGUE
MATCHDAY 7
Saturday 14th May 2016

White Eagles 1 (Max Grecl) ANU FC 2 (Max Mottl, Danny Krajacic)
(Woden Park) 

By Ahmed Jbeili

Goals from Max Mottl and Danny Krajacic sealed a 2-1 win for ANU FC against White Eagles on Saturday afternoon at Woden Park. The top of the table clash had a lot riding on the result; with ANU winning, they remain undefeated and are now four points clear at the top. For the home side, chances not finished off early in the first half came back to bite them which means White Eagles finish Matchday 7 in second place. An even match up until the final whistle, both teams showed why they are the top 2 clubs in the Capital League at the moment. The away side took the lead in the 18th minute thanks to a goal by attacker Max Mottl. A set-piece curled in by Alex Ollman met Jon Hand at the back post who headed the ball across the box to Mottl who easily slotted in the opening goal.

ANU began to control the match after that goal with attackers Chase Deans and Sam Carters looking dangerous up front and trickster Ollman causing havoc to the White Eagles defence. By the half hour mark, some excellent link-up plays between White Eagles midfielders Stephen MacHale and Pepe Varga started to get the home side moving forward with a number of shots from distance against ANU keeper Nunzio Franco just going wide of the post. White Eagles persistence paid off after a corner in the 30th minute lead to the equaliser for the home side thanks to an amazing chip from outside the box by defender Matthew Grecl. A scramble outside the box and headers back and forth from both teams, lead to the ball somehow landing right in front of Grecl who volleyed home a sweet chip over keeper Franco. 

Tied 1-1 after the break, both teams came out of the sheds firing with some tough and late challenges from both sides in the opening minutes of the second half. Both sides could’ve taken the lead in the 60th minute. White Eagles had a goal disallowed due to substitute Bruno Colucciello being called offside. Seconds later a quick attack by ANU almost found a breakthrough, with Carters playing through Ollman, whose shot just went wide of the post.
In the last 15 minutes of the match, the game started to open up and both sides resulted to long play throughs and counter attacks. ANU who were controlling the possession, looked the more likely to find a goal at this point. It was then in the 81st minute when Carters made an amazing solo run ripping through the White Eagles defence and played through brilliantly substitute Danny Krajacic. The leading goal scorer and super sub made no mistake and easily finished in the bottom left corner to give ANU the lead. 

White Eagles had no chance but to commit all their players forward to find an equaliser. In the 84th minute, somehow the home side missed a glorious chance. Substitute Costa Psihogios was played through wonderfully by Varga, and the speedy attacker had only the keeper to beat and had his shot just narrowly miss the right post. The match finishes with ANU continuing their strong defensive record in the Capital League and finish Matchday 7 in 1st place.   White Eagles remain in 2nd place thanks to other results.

Canberra Olympic 0 Weston-Molonglo FC 3 (Andy Woods, Paul Quinn, Samale Mohamed)
(Kaleen Enclosed)

By Chris Webb

Weston-Molonglo FC travelled to the usual picturesque Kaleen fields, however recent rain had turned the fields into a giant swamp, freshly churned from the reserves match, which set the scene for the ensuing match. Weston, fielding one of their strongest line-ups this season with the return of a number of first graders, began with confidence, however it was Olympic who got on top early, with Nick Mihailakis and Jeremy Hegarty both looking dangerous on the break. 

Weston worked their way back into the game and got a deserved opener. Full back Andy Woods (ala Paul Scholes) met a corner on the full volley from the edge of the box, not quite a Scholes belter, but his well-timed shot had enough on it to beat the reliable Steven McLaughlin in the Olympic goal. The rest of the half was an even affair mainly fought out in the midfield mud although Weston winger Josh Pender was unlucky to crash a shot from a tight angle against the post, while a last ditch tackle from Weston defender Jarrod Adams, halted Hegarty when he looked destined to score. 

An injury to classy midfielder Chris Nikitas probably the turning point of the match. Weston started the brighter in the second half, however were unable to add to their lead, Olympic rallied and in a dominant ten minute spell went close to equalising on a number of occasions, a fantastic strike from midfield looked destined for the bottom corner but was amazingly turned past the post by Simon Barber in the Weston goal. Seeing that chance denied seemingly broke Olympic’s resolve and Weston found themselves well on top in the last twenty. Some lovely build-up play found skilful Weston Midfielder Paul Quinn in the box and he finished with precision. 

With Olympic pushing for a goal, in the dying minutes they were caught out on the counter, Weston striker Danny Babic slipping in midfielder Samale Mohamed with a delightful reserve pass, and Mohamed finished with expert calmness, sliding the ball past the stranded McLaughlin. A fairly even encounter in very tough conditions, Weston were good for the three points and with them they leapfrog Olympic to regain 4th spot. 

Narrabundah 1 (Liam Boyle) O’Connor Knights 3 (Brett Forward (pen), Kwan Hap Lee, Michael Spaleta)
(Narrabundah 2-1)

By Jordan Selems

Narrabundah entered the game with great enthusiasm after their first win of the season last week against Tuggeranong United. They face a determined O’Connor Knights side who, after coming off the back of four straight losses, are looking to put this bad run to bed. The game started at a frantic pace with both sides trying to secure early dominance. There were some great patches of play however neither team was able to stamp their mark on the game. Not long into it O’Connor was awarded a free kick following a professional foul by Narrabundah on the edge of the box. Brett Forward for the Knights stepped up and slotted the ball home nicely to give them an early 1-0 lead.

Both teams played some good football with Narrabundah’s first chance coming from a free kick near the touchline. The ball was whipped in and appeared dangerous but amounted to a goal kick in the end. With only a handful of chances through the middle part of the first half for both teams, the Knights started to gain some momentum late on, playing a high-pressure game and putting on some big tackles. Narrabundah had some good passages of play but couldn’t find a rhythm with most chances coming on the counter. The Knights extend their lead just before half time when Steven Zardo whipped in a perfect corner that landed straight on the head of Kwan Hap Lee who finished with ease. 2-0 to O’Connor.
 
The second half started with the Knights creating some good solid chances, with corners being a strong point of the side. As Narrabundah struggled to get out of their own half a sigh of relief came when Liam Boyle slotted a great goal against the run of play. This was the goal that Narrabundah needed to swing the game in their favour, with the side having countless opportunities but not being able to apply the final touch. As the game went on the field opened up, creating an end-to-end game, which was great viewing. A missed clearance kick at the back gave the ball straight to Michael Spaleta for the Knights who, without a second guess, finished it nicely from outside the box after only being on the park for 5 minutes. With Narrabundah pushing for more goals and the Knights doing the same, both teams got a little feisty with some big challenges flying all over the park. But in the end the Knights came out on top with a 3-1 victory, ending their four game losing streak. 

Tuggeranong United 3 (Carl Hynes (2), Ciaran Rayment) Queanbeyan City 2 (Mat Ryan, Nathan Walker)
(Kambah 3)

Tuggeranong United broke their Capital league duck with a surprise 3-2 defeat of title-chasing Queanbeyan City at Kambah. A double from Carl Hynes, and a strike from Ciaran Rayment, did the damage to ensure United emerged victorious. Early on Queanbeyan appeared to have shaken off the disappointment of midweek elimination from the Westfield FFA Cup Qualifiers and struck in the embryonic stages of the game, taking the lead through Mat Ryan, finishing well at the end of a good build-up. 

But City failed to kick on from that perfect opening and Tuggeranong fought back to level the scores with a beautifully crafted goal. Rayment created it, running at the City defence and sliding an inch-perfect ball behind the back four into the path of Hynes. There was still much to do but Hynes picked his spot and fired in off the post to draw the home side all-square. That goal turned the tide and Tuggeranong pegged Queanbeyan back ending the half on the front-foot. And it was the hosts who started the second half in blinding form. 

Belying their lowly status Tuggeranong hit the front through a goal from Rayment and, with Queanbeyan reeling, Hynes added his second of the match. Queanbeyan made sure it would be a tense finale when Nathan Walker reduced the arrears with time running out, but Tuggeranong held on to record their first win of the season. 

TABLE

LEADING SCORERS 
6 Danny KRAJACIC (ANU FC), Daniel CRKOVSKI, Nathan WALKER (Queanbeyan City)
5 Max MOTTL (ANU FC)
4 Jonathan SCOTT (ANU FC), Richard SANTIAGO (Canberra Olympic), Kenny MACDONALD (Narrabundah), Kris ROBERTSON (Tuggeranong United), Thai TRAN (White Eagles)
3 Olaide YINKA-KEHINDE (ANU FC), Nick MIHAILAKIS (Canberra Olympic), Liam BOYLE (Narrabundah), Brett FORWARD, Hassan KAMARA (O’Connor Knights), Nik NOVESKI (Queanbeyan City), Carl HYNES (Tuggeranong United), Eoin DEVANEY, Pepe VARGA (White Eagles), Own GOALS
2 Sam CARTERS (ANU FC), Matt ATKINS, Jeremy HEGARTY, Oliver WIEDERKEHR (Canberra Olympic), Danny BYRNE, Mat RYAN, Mark WALKER (Queanbeyan City), Ciaran RAYMENT (Tuggeranong United), Danny BABIC, Andy WOODS (Weston-Molonglo FC)
1 Daniel FOUAD, Dave MCCARRON (Canberra Olympic), Osazuwa AKIOYA, Shane HAIDUK, Adrian RUSSELL (Narrabundah), Robert GRIFFITHS, Brandon HAWKER, Daniel JADRIC, Kwan HAP LEE, Dene MCHUGH, Michael SPALETA (O’Connor Knights), Zach KNIGHT, Mat RYAN, Dragan STEGNJAIC (Queanbeyan City), Sean MURPHY (Tuggeranong United), Samale MOHAMED, Josh PENDER, Kian PRAMMER, Paul QUINN, Pete SPILLER, Brant TAYLOR, Harrison WRIGHT (Weston-Molonglo FC), Eric BONNETT, Bruno COLUCCIELLO, Max GRECL, Marc O’NEILL, Milan SANTRAC, Michael STRAMANDANOLI (White Eagles)