Canberra will cap off a cracking week of football on Wednesday night when they host their second A-League club in the space of seven days.
Canberra will cap off a cracking week of football on Wednesday night when they host their second A-League club in the space of seven days.
A combined All Stars team from the Capital Football-s National Premier League competition will take on the Newcastle Jets at McKellar Park.
The match will follow Canberra Olympic-s entertaining clash with the Western Sydney Wanderers last Wednesday evening.
The weekend wasn-t without its fair share of action as well with Canberra FC-s injury-time victory over Olympic in a top of the table clash all but securing them the league title.
Canberra Olympic defender Hristijan Tanoski is one of only a couple of players that is set to feature in all three matches having played a key role in the Wanderers friendly and Canberra FC showdown while also having been named in the All Stars side.
“It was a great experience to come up against the Wanderers and to have been named in the All Stars squad is a great achievement.
“It was one of my goals to make the All Stars side as it is good to receive recognition for how you are playing.”
To kick off what was a week of football festivities, Olympic welcomed last years Premiers Plate winners to the AIS Athletics Field.
The two sides went into the second half of the match level at 1-1 after Olympic-s Mark Shields 21st minute goal cancelled out Labinot Haliti-s 9th minute opener.
“It is really good to play quality opposition and we did really well as a team against them.
“The first eighty minutes it was neck and neck and then when a few of our younger players replaced our stronger ones we just fell off a little bit.”
New Wanderers signing Tomi Juric scored in the 81st before an injury time sealer from Mark Bridge saw the A-League side claim a 3-1 win.
Tanoski will be hoping to change his fortunes on Wednesday evening as he gets set for the Jets.
“I-m sure I will be nervous running out against the Jets but you have to be able to perform in every situation.
“Hopefully this All Stars side can back up our strong performance last week against the Wanderers and give the Jets a good match.”
No doubt the visiting A-League sides have reignited talk of one day having a Canberra side featuring in Australia-s top tier of football; something that Tanoski would be very keen on.
“I believe that Canberra could definitely have a successful A-League club down here.
“There has always been great youth depth and support which I think could help make the team successful.
“I one day want to play in the A-League and after my experiences this week I now know how hard I have to push myself to get to that level.”
After his side lost to Canberra FC on the weekend, Tanoski will now be looking to help his side to the grand final victory.
“We are now focused on making and winning the grand final.
“As a side we now have to focus on having a good rest of the season and putting ourselves in the best position to make the final.”
Tanoski and the Canberra NPL All Stars take on the Newcastle Jets on Wednesday night at McKellar Park, Belconnen, with kickoff at 7pm.
Tickets for the match are on sale now from the Capital Football Office or can be purchased on the gate at the match. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for concessions.