Game. On. 2017. The official matchday program of the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Capital Football Season 2017
Cover Photo: Lawrence Atkin Grand Final Day! This weekend marks the culmination of the 2017 Playstation4 National Premier Leagues Men’s competition, as the U/18’s, U/20’s and first grade Grand Finals are played out at McKellar Park. On Sunday the action continues as the U/13’s, U/14’s & U/16’s kick off their Grand Finals at Woden Park. Good luck to everyone competing, and remember that if you can’t be around all of Saturday, all three games will be streamed LIVE thanks to BarTV Sports on Facebook and Youtube. The PS4 NPL Women’s action also continues this weekend, with a blockbuster Preliminary Final between Gungahlin United and Canberra FC kicking off at Deakin on Sunday. The winner of that matchup will face Belconnen United in the Grand Final next Sunday here at McKellar Park, in what will be a perfect way to round off a great season of Winter Football.
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Olympic see off Gungahlin to reach GF Canberra Olympic 2 (Nathan Megic 2’, Stephen Domenici 90+2’) def. Gungahlin United 0 By Matt Nicoletti
Canberra Olympic progressed to the PS4 NPL Grand Final once more courtesy of a 2-0 win over Gungahlin United on Saturday afternoon. Olympic came out hard after their loss to Belconnen in the Qualifying semi-final last weekend, and stunned United as they took the lead in just the second minute. A corner flew over the pack to find Nathan Megic unmarked, and after taking a touch the defender lobbed the ball over Jason Denham and into the far side of the net. The battle moved into the midfield after the goal, with both sides trading possession constantly as tackles flew in and players lost the ball. United began to control more of the possession and bang on the door of Olympic’s defence, but the backline remained resolute and snuffed out the majority of Gungahlin’s attacking raids. Frank Cachia’s side appeared happy to sit deep and fight on the counter attack, but the United defence also worked well to defuse these, with Stephen Domenici frustrated a number of times by good work at the back as he looked to break free. United had their best chance of the first half just before half-time as the ball was whipped in towards Michael Rinaudo, however the forward was only able to put the shot wide with Angelo Konstantinou out of position in goals. Rinaudo had another good chance on the other side of the break as his side trailed by a goal, but his header from Jason O’Dwyer’s cross flashed narrowly wide past the post less than a minute in. Olympic continued to defend as Gungahlin chased the game throughout the second half, but held out well with few real chances coming at them. Marcial Munoz made a number of changes looking to introduce something different into the game, but Cachia’s defence remained well marshalled as the half wore on. Olympic sealed the game in stoppage time though, as Bernard Rene’s cross field ball evaded Jack Green and found Domenici in space, and the Golden Boot winner made no mistake as he fired home to round the score line off at 2-0.
Playstation4 National Premier Leagues Grand Final Saturday 9th September - 4:30pm Kickoff McKellar Park
Belconnen United Dyllon AITOLU Taylor BEATON Phil BORGEAUD Izach CLEMENTS Thomas COSENTINI Nick DAHL Daniel FABRIZIO Matt GRBESA Adam GLASER Ben JACKSON Finn JURAK Zac MAYBURY Leo MAZIS Goran MUKEVSKI Cameron REINHART Sam SMITH Michael TAURASI Jason UGRINIC Dustin WELLS Sam WHITHEAR Harry WILLIAMS
Coach: Dean UGRINIC
Canberra Olympic
Nicholas BOBOLAS Tim BOBOLAS Joshua CALABRIA David CARDER Robbie CATTANACH Daniel COLBERTALDO Stephen DOMENICI Daniel GIOVINAZZO Josh GULEVSKI Jeremy HABTEMARIAM Michael JOHN Angelo KONSTANTINOU Adrian MACOR Tom MCLACHLAN Nathan MEGIC Jack PETTIT Michael REEVE Bernard RENE Brad SAWYER Callum SMITH Jordan TSEKENIS Victor YANES Phil YARNOLD Coach: Frank CACHIA
Centre Referee: Luke Withell Assistant Referees: Owen Goldrick, Greg Taylor Fourth Official: Bruno Kehl
It’s that time of year! It’s here! Finally, we reach the zenith of the Playstation4 National Premier Leagues Men’s season, the day that so many teams strive to appear in and only two manage to reach. It is a rematch of the Qualifying Final two weeks ago, where a spirited display from Belconnen United and two huge saves from Finn Jurak in the penalty shootout denied Canberra Olympic a direct path to the Grand Final. United Head Coach Dean Ugrinic repeatedly said during the year that his side could match it with the top teams, and after the semi-final win admitted that the result was to some degree a validation of those claims. But now his side faces a bigger task, as they need to show that they can do it on the biggest stage. Olympic progressed here the long way after that defeat, going into a Preliminary Final showdown with Gungahlin United last weekend and coming out 2-0 winners, to earn their shot at a third Championship in a row. Frank Cachia’s side are gunning for the treble once more after their Premiership and Federation Cup triumphs. Belconnen United return to the Grand Final after a two-year absence from the big dance, with their last appearance coming in the 2014 iteration where they claimed a penalty shootoout win over Canberra FC. Their semi-final win was their first over Olympic this season after going down twice earlier in the season, and Ugrinic will be hoping that good things come in pairs. Belconnen United v Canberra Olympic in 2017 Round 4 Canberra Olympic 4 def. Belconnen United 3 Round 13 Belconnnen United 1 def. by Canberra Olympic 2 Qualifying Final Canberra Olympic 2 def. by Belconnen United 2 (2-4 on Penalties)
Playstation4 National Premier Leagues U/20 Grand Final Saturday 9th September - 1:30pm Kickoff McKellar Park
Canberra Olympic Andrew AITCHISON David CARDER James CHRISTIS Daniel FOUAD Daniel GIOVINAZZO Jamie GUO Jackson MCNEE Zedan MUTLU Alex OGBONNA Johnny OGORMAN Dimitri PARASCOS Nick ROUFOGALIS Brad SAWYER Sam SMITH Michael SOUTHAM Shae THORNTON George VOLIS
Belconnen United Badeldrin ABBAS Dylan AITOLU Ben BASSER-SILK Riley BASSO Martin CROME Tom COSENTINI Samuele DAMBROSIO Adam GLASER Ben JACKSON Jayde JAMES-WARD Deakin JEWELL Abraham KEMP Patrick ODURO Alhajy SESAY Sam SMITH Sam WHITHEAR Harry WILLIAMS
Playstation4 National Premier Leagues U/18 Grand Final Saturday 9th September - 11am Kickoff McKellar Park
Tigers FC
Benjamin ANDERSON Rhys ANDERSON Nikolas BLASKOVIC Lachlan CAMM Daniel CARDONE Dylan COLBERTALDO Zach COSSETTINI Gian FIORESE Harry ECONOMOPOULOS Geordie FREEMAN David GURNEY Jordan HOST Oliver MCDONNELL Joshua MERKEL Ayoub MOHAMED Gabriel OSINGA David RODRIGUEZ Riley SHIELD Liam WILLE
Belconnen United
Sam ASPLUND-MEINECKE Cameron CHAMBERS Tom COCHRANE Martin CROME Miguel DA SILVA Lucas FALCONER Kyle GALLAGHER Ricci JAMES-WARD Deakin JEWELL Waiata KENTWELL-JACKSON Jonathon LEAYR Josh MCCARTHY Liam RAE Jacob SCOTT Harry SUBASIC Bailey TOSCAN Alex WILSON
PS4NPLW Semi-FInals Belconnen United 3 (Whittall 6’, 86’, Raymond 45’) def. Gungahlin United 2 (Corbett 34’, Aitchison 71’)
Canberra FC 2 (Gill 29’, Jones 53’) def. Woden-Weston 1 (McGlashan 25’)
Playstation4 National Premier League Women’s Preliminary Final Sunday 10th September - 4pm Kickoff Deakin Stadium
Gungahlin United Ilahna AITCHISON Najwa ALLEN May BAILEY Rachel CORBETT Grace FIELD Georgia FOGARTY Ashlyn GARRITY Alex Lawrence Alex MARTENS Ashleigh PALOMBI Brittany PALOMBI Alex PATTERSON Erika PENNYFIELD Maddy PERCEVAL Sally ROJAHN Darby WHITELY
Coach: Diego IGLESIAS
Canberra FC
Alice CHURCHILL Ivana GALIC Diarna GENOVESI Grace GILL Racheal GOLDSTEIN Kassandra GUGLIELMAN Krista HAGAN Hiwot JOHNSTONE Chantel JONES Millie MALLINSON Amy MCLACHLAN Hayley MCLACHLAN Gabrielle RISTESKA Georgia STEWART Kate THORNTON Marcia WALLIS Bridget WRIGHT Coach: Mark RISTESKI
Canberra FC topple Wanderers to advance Canberra FC 2 (Grace Gill 29’, Chantel Jones 53’) def. Woden-Weston 1 (Cassia McGlashan 25’) A second-half winner from Chantel Jones lifted Canberra FC past Woden-Weston and into the Playstation4 NPL Women’s Preliminary Final, in a 2-1 victory at Woden Park on Saturday. Wanderers came into their first finals series brimming with confidence, and holding the advantage over their opponents with a win and two draws in their three matchups this season. Both sides began tentatively in the do-or-die clash, neither wanting to make the first big move as they slowly prodded for an opening. But it would be the finals first-timers making the biggest impact early, as they took a deserved lead 25 minutes into the first half. Cassia McGlashan finished off a good move as she fired off the crossbar and in, to give her side the upper hand early on. But that lead would only last four minutes, as the hosts struck back. Grace Gill picked up the ball outside the area, had a look, before firing a rocket past Nat Lacey in the Woden-Weston goal to drag her side level on the cusp of the halfhour mark. The scores remained level at the break following a testing 45 minutes, and with it all to play for in the second half. It was Canberra FC who came out of the blocks strongest in the second stanza though, and they took the lead just eight minutes in to the half. Chantel Jones broke through the defense of the Wanderers and poked the ball past Lacey in goals to take the lead and the momentum heading into the final 30 minutes of football. With Woden-Weston now forced to chase the game, Mark Risteski’s side were in a position to drop back and defend their lead, and did so successfully as they repelled attacks from a desperate Wanderers side to see out the match.
PlayStation4 National Premier Leagues Women’s Capital Football Finals Week 2 Fixtures 1st Grade Sunday 10th September Preliminary Final - Gungahlin United v Canberra FC - Deakin Stadium - 4pm Reserve Grade Sunday 10th September Preliminary Final - Canberra FC v Woden-Weston - Deakin Stadium - 1:30pm NPLW U/17’s Sunday 10th September Preliminary Final - Canberra FC v Woden-Weston - Deakin Stadium - 11am NPLW U/17’s Saturday 9th September Preliminary Final - Belconnen United v Monaro Panthers - Woden Park- 12pm NPLW U/15’s Saturday 9th September Preliminary Final - Belconnen United v Monaro Panthers - Woden Park- 12pm NPLW U/13’s Saturday 9th September Preliminary Final - Belconnen United v Canberra FC - Woden Park- 10am