A goal six minutes from time gave O’Connor Knights the bragging rights in the Croatian derby at Deakin Stadium as substitute Aisosa Ihegie emerged from the bench to score his first goal in Knights colours and see his team to a memorable 1-0 success over an out of sorts Canberra Croatia.
Ihegie latched onto a Daniel Roberts through ball and hammered a low finish through the legs of Croatia goalkeeper Jason Matesa to seal the win, a result that puts the Knights into the top four and leaves Croatia languishing in sixth.
Even worse for the home side was the booking picked up by second-half substitute Daniel Sparrow, a caution that will rule him out of the Australia Cup Qualifying Final due to card accumulation. In a helter-skelter match chances were few and far between, but both teams might have scored before the decider. Seb Arranz denied Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu with a superb block with his feet whilst Niko Kresic had a goal ruled out for a narrow offside decision after Micheal Adams had scythed through the home defence. In the end, the positive double change that introduced Ihegie and Phakedi Manda paid dividends as the Knights, led by a superlative midfield display from Daniel Roberts, claimed their first NPL victory at the home of their great rivals.
With a break in NPL action this weekend, Canberra Croatia and O’Connor Knights will both return to league action on the 10th of June with Croatia playing away to Tigers FC at 15:00 whereas O’Connor Knights will be at home also at 15:00.
