Canberra Croatia Take Point in Thrilling Draw, Knights Too Good For Tuggeranong

In a thrilling match in the National Premier League, Canberra Croatia managed to salvage a remarkable draw against Tigers FC with two late goals in stoppage time. The defending champions fought back from a 2-4 de�icit to secure a 4-4 draw at the Australian Institute of Sport.

The match came alive in the second half following a relatively uneventful �irst 45 minutes. Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu, a Croatian forward, opened the scoring with an opportunistic strike, converting on his second attempt. Tigers FC received a lifeline when Daniel Sparrow was penalized for a foul inside the box, resulting in Amilio Kista successfully converting from the penalty spot.

Just a minute later, Tomohiro Ogawa took advantage of a turnover and �ired a powerful shot past the returning Sam Brown in the Croatia goal.

Croatia equalized with a penalty of their own, with Ahmed-Shaibu scoring again after Jakob Cole saved his initial attempt but was deemed to have moved off his line prematurely. However, Tigers regained the lead through Kista’s second penalty, awarded when Joran Lamb fouled Josh Gulevski.

Nik Taneski extended Tigers’ lead to two goals in stoppage time, seemingly sealing the victory. However, the game witnessed a dramatic �inale as Sparrow struck in the 94th minute with a shot through a crowded penalty area. In the 99th minute, David Seselja capitalized on a free-kick from Franc Greco to score the equalizer. The �inal moments were marred by Sam Whithear’s sending off after receiving a second yellow card.

Meanwhile, at O’Connor Enclosed, the O’Connor

Knights comfortably defeated Tuggeranong United with a 3-0 win. Aisosa Ihegie opened the scoring early on by heading the ball into the net from close range. Just before halftime, Ihegie provided an audacious back-heel pass to set up Phakedi Manda for the second goal. In the second half, Michael Adams sealed the victory for the Knights with a close-range �inish from a Regan Walsh cross. The victory propelled the O’Connor Knights to third place in the NPL table, positioning them well for a title challenge. They were denied a fourth goal when Tyson Livermore’s effort was disallowed for offside, but it did not affect the outcome of the match.