Cooma slip up as Canberra salvage a draw on home soil

The undefeated Tigers couldn't take their sixth straight win as Canberra handed their visitors a 1-all draw in a Canberra Premier League clash at Deakin Stadium on Sunday.

Canberra set the scene and took control of the powerhouse clash from the first whistle to deny Cooma another three-points.

But the top-level performance was marred early on as Canberra star Jordan Lamb came down on the slippery field clutching his hamstring and Tigers' Tony Madaffari walked off a minute later with a crook shoulder. Canberra coach Luka Ujdur said Lamb will be out for at least three weeks.

"It just goes to show that we need the full eighteen complement of players," Ujdur said.

"We have to be able to leverage off every player. Everybody is going to get their opportunity and they're going to have to work hard for it."

Cooma capitalised on the loss of Canberra's key player and took just ten minutes to mark the scoreboard.

Darren Bailey chased the ball down the sideline from halfway and crossed the ball over to Hussain Fureje who chipped it over the keeper into the right corner.

Dimitrios Parascos rode the momentum and nearly netted a second goal for the visitors as he bypassed two defenders and narrowly missed the right post.

Canberra had majority of possession throughout the first half but couldn't break down Cooma's defensive wall. Ujdur believes his side were a far better structured team despite being down at halftime.

"I thought we were far better tactically, physically and mentally," Ujdur said. "If they expected an easy game they weren't going to get that and we showed up to the occasion.

"We were smart with the ball but maybe in the offensive third we weren't effective with that last pass and last shot at goal."

Cooma came back firing in the second half with star forward Nicholas Abot taking two shots at goal within the opening minutes. But the visitors quickly lost momentum and wasted a vital free kick after right-forward Dimistrios Parascos was studded in the shin.

Five minutes of chaos turned the game around as Canberra capitalised on Cooma's missed chances. The home-side drew a free kick off an undisciplined defender and Ryan Keir completed the set play with a header into the upper-right hand corner.

The game was all but won for Canberra in the next offensive play after a Jason Ugrinic flick came off the bar with no whistle blown.

"It is what it is and you can't change it," Ujdur said.

"[The team] feel a little robbed and I think we deserved the three points. Unfortunately that's how it goes if you don't put your chances away."

With scores locked with four minutes to go, Canberra goalie Daniel Barac pulled off a spectacular save to keep the game even. Tigers interchange player Jared Tonini booted the ball across to an open Abot before Barac jumped from behind to catch it airborne.

Both sides fought neck-and-neck as the final minutes trickled down but no team was successful in claiming a victory.

Cooma assistant coach Jair Wilk praised his men for their hard-fought draw against the reigning premiers.

"It was a hard game especially in the second half," Wilk said.

"I'm very proud of the boys and the way they performed today. With the history that Canberra FC has, it's never easy to win at their home ground so I think we've done well to get a draw."

Meanwhile Canberra Olympic defeated Woden-Weston 2-1 at O'Connor Enclosed. Gungahlin smashed Riverina Rhinos 5-1 while Tuggeranong pulled off their 'best performance of the year' to defeat Belconnen 3-0 on Saturday.