'Overlooked' Canberra soccer talent to shine at Australia Cup

The Knights punched their ticket to the popular nationwide tournament after a resounding 4-2 victory over Monaro Panthers at Deakin Stadium on Saturday night in the Federation Cup final.

"Progressing to the national stage is huge for the club and something that we've been striving towards for the last few years. We're really proud," man of the match, Knights defender Lachlan Fields said.

"The beauty of a knockout tournament is if you show up on the day, anyone can win. We've definitely got pace and quality on the counter-attack, and if we can be clinical I think we can surprise some teams in the Australia Cup.

"We've got a young squad with plenty of talented guys. There's a few that want to progress their careers so anytime you get national recognition and eyes on Canberra it's exciting.

"Sometimes we get overlooked, and we haven't had an A-League Men team so far, so the more publicity we can bring to Canberra to highlight the talent here, it's a benefit for players."

O'Connor flipped the script on the Panthers having been beaten just last weekend in an NPL clash that ended the Knights' 26-game unbeaten streak.

After Jackson Paesler put O'Connor in front early and Monaro equalised through Jenno Ceruti, two Knights goals in as many minutes from Patrick O'Rourke and Aisosa Ihegie on either side of the half-time break made a mountain for the Panthers to climb.

Paesler's second in the 66th minute put O'Connor up by three goals and the result beyond doubt, despite Ceruti's injury-time consolation penalty with the final kick of the game.

Knights centre-back Fields was a standout with his driving runs into the final third setting up both Paesler's goals in what he said has become a bit of a "trademark".

"The coaches have belief in me to do that, and the reason it's so successful is when I start to step up, the players around me realise they can't leave us exposed at the back," he said.

"It's a bit of a high risk, high reward move. I just go into a flow state and it just happens."

O'Connor players were nursing some sore heads after the win, but they remain focused on continuing their dominant season form.

"There were some good celebrations with the club when we went back after the game. It was a good feeling," Fields said.

"We've got two trophies out of four this season and we'd love to get all four if we can.

"There was grand final heartbreak last year, so we still want that trophy."

The Australia Cup round of 32 draw will take place on June 19 at 7pm.

In the earlier match, Belconnen United defended their 2023 Federation Cup victory with a gutsy 1-0 win over Canberra Croatia in the final on Saturday afternoon at Deakin Stadium.

An expertly-executed eighth-minute strike by Pearl Tein sealed the club its 11th Cup title, in a tense battle in front of a Canberra Croatia home crowd.

"I'm feeling very proud that we have added to the history Belconnen has," United coach Scott Conlon said, as Bronte Pyke was named player of the match.

"This means a lot to the club.

"There's a lot of expectation because the group of girls before this group won so often, so that's pressure the team have to deal with, but they're getting the hang of it.

"It's much easier to go into a game as an underdog.

"When we couldn't get a second goal, it gave Canberra Croatia more to fight for and the longer it was one-nil, the more they threw at us, so we did it tough."

Despite Conlon feeling stressed till the full-time whistle, the NPLW ladder-leaders commanded the match from the get-go.

A brilliantly efficient sequence that took just six passes from United's Tasmanian glovewoman Monique Pinkiewicz to goalscorer Tein, proved to be the game-winner.

"This year we're working on chances in front of goal that have a deep build-up," Conlon said.

"Those are combinations we work on and the way we like to play."

There were some question marks over whether Pinkiewicz should have been awarded the goal kick that started the counter-attack, or if a corner was the correct call, and down the right sideline one pass looked very close to going out, but the impressive team goal stood regardless.

Canberra Croatia's goalkeeper Ellie Summers stood tall and fearlessly put her body on the line more than once to keep Belconnen's lead slim going into the half-time break with United consistently testing the home side's defence.

As the match went on Canberra Croatia settled into a rhythm and began to flex their attacking muscles more frequently, though Belconnen too looked dangerous.

It made for a nervy finish for United as Canberra Croatia threatened to find a dramatic equaliser late.

Belconnen's Keira Bobbin came off not long after suffering some leg cramp, as part of a three-player substitution to give the defending champions some fresh legs for the last five minutes.

United substitute Hattie Cram and goal-scoring machine Reilly Yuen both missed golden chances in front of goal before injury time, but it didn't matter as Belconnen held on.

"It was a good fight, Belconnen always make it hard for us," Canberra Croatia captain Brittany Palombi said after the narrow defeat.

"They've been the benchmark this year, but the girls pushed all the way to the end."

With no NPLW action this weekend, Canberra Croatia will have time to reset for their next match against West Canberra Wanderers next Sunday at Melrose.

Meanwhile, Belconnen will indulge in celebrating their Federation Cup triumph with an NPLW bye next weekend.

Federation Cup Finals 2024

Men: O'CONNOR KNIGHTS 4 (J Paesler 24m, 66m, P O'Rourke 47m, A Ihegie 48m) bt MONARO PANTHERS 2 (J Ceruti 38m, 96m-pen).

Women: BELCONNEN UNITED 1 (P Tein 8m) bt CANBERRA CROATIA 0 at Deakin Stadium.