Tuggeranong United set up a date with Tigers FC with a comfortable 3-0 win over Capital League White Eagles on the back of a sparkling performance by their Greek imports Emilio Kista and Nikolaos Kalfas.
Kista ran the match from his midfield berth whilst Kalfas was energetic, skilful and ever-dangerous in the final third with his pace and power a constant menace.
The Eagles, disrupted by a number of injuries to key personnel and coming into the match off a disappointing run of form in the Capital League, were game opponents but were unable to trouble the Tuggeranong back-four with their only real chance of note coming on the cusp of half-time when Bruno Colucciello saw his free-kick from the edge of the box tipped over the bar by Costa Fallas.
By that stage Tuggeranong were already two goals to the good. In a match that had the hallmarks of a cup upset in the making the PS4 NPL side settled their nerves early on, starting fast and taking control of the tempo of the tie. And they gained their reward in just the seventh minute. Awarded a free-kick out on the apex of the penalty box, Kista showed admirable technique to lift his dead-ball up and over the wall to beat Nick Owen at the near post.
The band of visiting Tuggeranong supporters were to be warmed up even further, on a chilly night, midway through the half as the cup specialists went two ahead. Kalfas had already shown his threatening potency when he burst onto a pass in behind the flat Eagles back four and rounded Owen to ram a finish into the net from an acute angle for a brilliantly taken strike.
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