Canberra Olympic player Robbie Deeley jumps over Canberra FC player Matt Grbesa to get the ball. Photo: Katherine Griffiths
Robbie Deeley’s stunning free kick has extended Canberra Olympic’s lead over Canberra FC at the top of the Canberra National Premier League.
Deeley’s strike over the wall and into the top corner was enough for Olympic to secure a 1-0 win in the top-of-the-table blockbuster at O’Connor on Sunday.
With their seventh victory from nine games this season, Olympic moves to 22 points, four clear of second-placed FC, which has a game in hand.
Canberra Olympic's Robbie Deeley gets a yellow. Photo: Katherine Griffiths
Olympic secured the three points despite being without star striker Mark Shields and another key player in Oliver Wiederkehr.
“It’s a tremendous confidence boost for the team knowing they can battle hard and get the result,’’ Olympic coach Leo Exarhos said.
“It was a really rough battle with a lot of hard challenges. When we play Deakin (Canberra FC) it’s like State of Origin, it’s three times faster.’’
Canberra FC's Aidan Brunskill, left, and Olympic's Hristijan Tanoski tussle. Photo: Katherine Griffiths
Former Australian Schoolboys representative Hristijan Tanoski made an immediate impact in his first game back from trialling with clubs overseas.
Meanwhile, the Monaro Panthers pulled off the upset of the season with a 4-1 thrashing of reigning league champions Belconnen United.
The Panthers were simply brilliant in limiting the influence of Blue Devils maestro Dustin Wells on their way to their third win of the campaign.
They move to nine points and are only three adrift of the fourth-placed Blue Devils to keep their finals dream alive.
It was only a couple of weeks ago when Panthers coach Njegosh Popovic publicly questioned the desire of his players to compete in the top flight.
“You beat last year’s league champions 4-1, that’s a bloody great result,’’ Popovic said.
“We spoke at half-time (leading 1-0) about maturity, and the players really understood it and stepped up.
“[Centre-forward] Tyson Cottam was the complete player today and Tom McLachlan and Jon Toole, both guys who couldn’t get a game with Belconnen last year, they were absolutely brilliant and proved a point.’’
Josh Calabria scored a brace for the Panthers along with goals for Tim Womack and Pepe Varga, while Zach Maybury brought the deficit back to 2-1 with his 69th-minute strike for the Blue Devils.
The Cooma Tigers continued Canberra City’s tough campaign, Goran Mukevski’s 31st-minute goal the difference in a 1-0 win at Nijong Oval.
The Tigers remain in third place on 16 points, while City is stuck at the bottom, with three points from eight games.
Canberra National Premier League, round nine on Sunday: Canberra Olympic 1 (Robbie Deeley 20’) bt Canberra FC 0 at O’Connor Enclosed. Cooma Tigers 1 (Goran Mukevski 31’) bt Canberra City 0 at Nijong Oval. Monaro Panthers 4 (Tim Womack 31’, Josh Calabria 67’ 89’, Pepe Varga 79’) bt Belconnen United 1 (Zach Maybury 69’) at Riverside Stadium. Women’s Premier League: Weston-Molongo 5 bt ANU 1; Belconnen United 5 bt Tuggeranong United 0; Canberra FC 1 drew with Monaro Panthers 1.
No comments:
Post a Comment