Michael Zakoski and his team knew what they had to do at Melrose Synthetic to walk away with their first three points of the 2022 NPL season.
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They needed to stay disciplined at the back.
And it paid off on Saturday, with Belconnen United taking a 2-1 win against West Canberra Wanderers in the homeside's first match of the season.
It only took United two minutes to open the scoring through second phase play off a corner. Dustin Wells sent a corner over the awaiting crowd in the box, before individual brilliance from Phillippe Borgeaud made it 1-0.
He chased down the ball and fired off a left footed strike from the sideline that was misjudged by the Wanderers goalkeeper.
United were determined to kickstart their winning run following a disappointing 3-0 loss in round one, and Zakoski said he was proud of his side's response this week.
"We knew that West Canberra really wanted to pull us out of our shape and we talked a lot through the week about keeping the back four disciplined and not being pulled away," he said.
"In the second half we created a lot of chances but we just weren't as clinical and effective as we should have been."
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The visitors doubled their lead 35 minutes later through Christian Kreskas' footwork. He shook his defender and took the ball to the baseline, before he was clipped in the box.
The referee pointed to the spot and showed Shae Thornton a yellow card. Youngster Maxx Green made no mistake to send Belconnen 2-0 up into the sheds.
The next 40 minutes remained scoreless, with Belconnen set to keep a clean sheet, until the Wanderers grabbed one back to make it 2-1 in the dying stages.
AT A GLANCE
NPL men's round 2:
- Belconnen United FC def West Canberra Wanderers FC 2-1
- O'Connor Knights def Canberra Olympic FC 6-2
- Saturday - Canberra Croatia FC v Tigers FC
- Sunday - Gungahlin United FC v Monaro Panthers FC, 3pm Gungahlin Enclosed
NPL women's round 2:
- Belconnen United FC def Gungahlin United FC 5-1
- Sunday - West Canberra Wanderers FC v Canberra United Academy, 12.45pm Melrose Synthetic
- Sunday - Canberra Olympic FC v Tuggeranong United, 2.30pm O'Connor Enclosed
- Sunday - Canberra Croatia FC v Wagga City Wanderers FC, 2.30pm Deakin Stadium
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Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
