In theory, there was little to play for in the final round of the Capital Football NPLW1 2020 season. After all, finals spots were already decided.

Right ? Wrong.

Round 9 games that were held this week included:

Canberra Croatia vs Gungahlin United (Beyond 90’s match of the round)
Canberra Olympic vs Tuggeranong United
Wagga City vs Woden-Weston
Canberra United Academy vs Belconnen United

Match of the Round: Canberra Croatia vs Gungahlin United

A two minute burst of goal scoring with 20 minutes to play from Canberra Croatia’s dual Graces – Field and Gill – broke the 1-1 halftime deadlock in the favour of the home side, who won 3-1 over a plucky Gungahlin United. The result ensured that the home side finished the season with the flawless record of eight wins from eight games, but there were also some good signs for third placed Gunners as they head into next week’s semi-final.

The top four may have already been determined but aside from Canberra Croatia’s ambitions to finish on maximum points, both sides were playing for that most precious of qualities coming into finals: momentum. 

Coach Nik Brozinic turned out a full strength Canberra Croatia line-up, with Lara Agnew coming into right back for Cecilija Matic, who had taken a minor knock last week.

Gungahlin coach Diego Iglesias opted for the same lineup and formation used in Round 8 against Wagga City, with the only change being Elke Aitolu’s return to the starting line-up in place of Erika Pennyfield. Beyond 90 hasn’t covered Gungahlin United since Round 5, and since then there have been tweaks to the backline. Stefi Lejins, who played under Heather Garriock at Canberra United Academy as a right back in 2019, has shifted into a centre back role alongside Maddie Perceval to cover for the injured Dhiaan Sidhu, while Ruby Gambale has been playing at right back for Alex Paterson, who is away due to work commitments. Jade Brown has also of late started games in a familiar advanced role. 

Played at Deakin Stadium, the game started in exhilarating end-to-end fashion. Perhaps in recognition of the loss of the Lejins engine in midfield, Gungahlin’s Tianah Miro was everywhere in true box-to-box midfielder fashion. For the home side, Agnew was also impressive, making multiple overlapping runs down the right flank and creating several chances for her attacking line.

Canberra Croatia drew first blood in just the sixth minute when Alice Churchill played a magnificent diagonal ball into the heart of the Gungahlin penalty area from the left. Grace Field met it perfectly on the run but struck with little power, yet the reliable Kailey Tonini struggled to gather the ball cleanly, and it managed to bounce off the top of her glove and into the goal.

In a sign of their resilience, the Gunners found a way to equalise within five minutes of conceding. Taking advantage of a rare mistake from Canberra Croatia defender Rhiannon Fensom in attempting a backpass to her keeper Ally Hinson, Miro pounced but her shot was saved in fine style by Hinson. The ball ricocheted off the keeper’s feet out to Aitolu on the edge of the penalty area, who guided it low and with accuracy into the bottom left corner just beyond Hinson’s reach.

While possession honours were even for the first 20 or so minutes, the home side began to exert pressure on the Gunners for the balance of the first period, which was largely played inside the Gungahlin half. Kudos must go to the Gungahlin defence in this period for absorbing pressure, blocking attacks and looking to play out. Lejins in particular seemed to be relishing centre back duties, and was instrumental in keeping the competition’s equal top goalscorer Britt Palombi fairly quiet.

There were no changes to either side as the second half began, but Grace Field and Grace Gill were to swap 9 and 10 roles for significant periods of this half. Possession honours were once again quite even for the first period of the second half, and the pace of the game was more measured.

A moment of Gill wizardry swung the game Canberra Croatia’s way with 20 minutes to go. Receiving the ball from Krista Hagen with her back to the Gungahlin goal, Gill simultaneously dragged the ball back to disorient her defender and swivelled 180 degrees to face forward, then took a touch and unleashed a top bins rocket from just inside the penalty area to make it 2-1.

Just one minute later Canberra Croatia struck again when a ball in from Hagen – a frequent originator of good things for them – was miscued in the penalty box by Gambale, deflecting off Lejins and into the path of the unmarked Field, who dispatched it neatly past Tonini.

Light drizzle started falling as the game wound its way to its conclusion. With next week’s semi-finals in mind, both coaches made full use of their respective benches for the remainder of the match. The Gunners tried to press their case for additions to the scoreboard late in the game with several shots from outside the CCFC penalty area, but none of them proved troublesome to Hinson and the score stood at 3-1 to the home side.

The Canberra Croatia train keeps rolling and it will be interesting to see if a finals opponent over the next two weeks can find a way to apply the brakes.

Gungahlin were undone today by two simple errors and a piece of Gill magic, but should not be despondent about their match. In a pleasing sign, at no stage today did they drop their heads. Iglesias may have some selection quandries should both Paterson and Sidhu become available for finals appearances.

Palombi didn’t manage to get on the scorecard today, and so shares golden boot honours with Canberra Olympic’s Nicole Begg for the regular season at eight goals each.

Next Sunday afternoon sees back-to-back semi-finals played at Deakin Stadium, with Belconnen United taking on Gungahlin United at 2pm, and Canberra Croatia taking on Canberra Olympic at 4.30pm. The winners of both games will advance to the 2020 Grand Final.

Final score:

Canberra Croatia 3 (Field 6′ 71′, Gill 70′)

Gungahlin United 1 (Aitolu 11′)

Teams:

Canberra Croatia – Coach: Nik Brozinic

Ally Hinson, Alice Churchill, Amy McLachlan, Rhiannon Fensom, Lara Agnew, Krista Hagen, Jamie Berkeley, Grace Gill (c), Sharon Chao, Grace Field, Brittany Palombi
Subs: Jordan Ujdur (60′ => Chao), Cecilija Matic (75′ => Agnew), Christina Grauer-Kompos (85′ => Palombi), Eisha Ratsch (88′ => McLachlan), Alexa Panagiotopoulos (85′ => Gill)

Yellow cards: Nil

Gungahlin United – Coach: Diego Iglesias

Kailey Tonini, Ruby Gambale, Stefi Lejins, Maddie Perceval (c), Ayla Robertson, Rachael Corbett, Stella De Marco, Tianah Miro, Jade Brown, Elke Aitolu, Ella-Rose Brown
Subs: Brigitte Sander (75′ => Robertson), Erika Pennyfield (75′ => Corbett), Anna Wilkinson (75′ => Aitolu)

Yellow cards: Nil

Around The Grounds:

Canberra Olympic 6 – 0 Tuggeranong United
Wagga City 5 – 0 Woden-Weston FC
Canberra United Academy 2 – 1 Belconnen United
Monaro Panthers – bye

Ladder:

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