Canberra FC and Tuggernaong United have both progressed to the next stage of the Westfield FFA Cup Preliminary Rounds in Canberra following contrasting victories on Tuesday night.
Canberra FC end Bulls Cup dreams
Tuesday 17 May 2016
Narrabundah 0 Canberra FC 6 (Josip Jadric 37’, Domenic Giampaolo 43’, Thomas James 44’, 61’, Jordan Lamb 70’, Nikola Barisic 83’)
PlayStation® 4 National Premier Leagues side Canberra FC ended the Westfield FFA Cup aspirations of Capital League Narrabundah with an ultimately comfortable 6-0 success at Deakin Stadium.
Goals from Josip Jadric, a brace from Thomas James, Domenic Giampaolo, Jordan Lamb and Nikola Barisic completed the positive result for FC who moved into the last eight.
Whilst they dominated possession in the early stage the PS4 NPL giants just could not find a way through the determined Bulls defence. It took the white-clad Deakin-based club thirty-three seconds to carve open their first chance as Giampaolo shot wide of goal after arriving unmarked. James was next to try his luck as his low effort was beaten away by man of the match Alex Belperio.
Lamb, who enjoyed a fine game foraging forward from a wide position, struck the outside of the post just past the twenty minute mark whilst a stunning cover tackle from Jose Exposito denied Giampaolo when the forward latched onto a cute flick over the defence by James that split the Bulls defensive line.
Misko Naumoski created the next opening, but Kye Edwards scuffed his shot wide before Belperio sensationally blocked a trio of shots from Giampaolo in rapid succession for an outstanding triple save.
At the other end Bulls’ strikers Kenny MacDonald and Liam Boyle ploughed relatively lone furrows, living off the scraps that came their way, but the pace of the Capital League duo meant that the Canberra FC defence couldn’t rest on their laurels.
The PS4 NPL side finally made the breakthrough eight minutes before the interval. A raking pass freed winger Jadric into space on the right flank and he cut inside the last man to clip a delicate finish over the advancing Belperio. Jadric could have had a second moment’s later but, from a similar position, his finish was wasteful, blasting high over the crossbar.
CLICK HERE for the full match report.
Penalty drama sends Tuggeranong into Round 5
Tuesday 17 May 2016
Tuggeranong United 1 (Nikolaos Kalfas 90+4’ (pen)) Monaro Panthers 1 (Alan Murphy 45’) – Tuggeranong United wins 4-1 on penalties
For Tuggeranong United, joy. For Monaro Panthers, despair. The Westfield FFA Cup Qualifier at Deakin Stadium showcased the magic of the competition in a nutshell.
The Panthers were forty seconds from victory when United were awarded a stoppage time penalty from which Nikolaos Kalfas sent the match into extra-time. And the introduction of substitute ‘keeper Costa Fallas, ten seconds from the conclusion of the extra half-hour, allowed the stopper to make a brace of penalty saves in the shoot-put and oust the brave young Panthers 4-1 on penalties.
That it got that far was down to some profligate finishing from the Panthers. Alan Murphy, otherwise brilliant in a holding midfield role, wasted a glorious chance to seal the match in the second half, clipping an effort wide when clean through the United defence, as did Daniel Felizzi, shooting wide into the side-netting when through on goal.
And Tuggeranong made them pay in the 92nd minute when Cameron Doherty’s barnstorming run ended with a perfect cross into the danger area that was handled by a Monaro defender leaving the referee no option but to award the spot-kick from which Kalfas thundered home, straight down the middle, to send the match into extra-time and set the stage for Fallas’ heroics, a la the Dutch custodian Tim Krul at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
CLICK HERE for the full match report.
