Cooma Tigers defeat Belconnen United in Canberra National Premier League to close gap on league leader

A double to Robbie Cattanach and goals to Stephen Domenici and Goran Josifovski secured all three points for the Tigers to build on their strong form.

The Tigers are in a tie for third place on the ladder on 12 points with Canberra Olympic and Tuggeranong United is just four points adrift of league leaders Canberra FC.

Belconnen remains in second on 13 points despite collecting just a solitary point from its past three games, that coming from a 2-2 draw with Canberra FC a fortnight ago.

Belconnen coach Dean Ugrinic admitted his side was in the middle of a tough period but was confident it would be able to ride the wave and return to its best before too long.

"We're just in a bit of a form slump at the moment and, regardless of what we did out there, it just wasn't working for us,'' Ugrinic said.

"The guys were much better than they were the previous week (in a 3-1 loss to Olympic), but sometimes the bounce of the ball goes the way of the opposition.

"It was just a tough day at the office.''

Cattanach showed why he is one of the best players in the competition with two stunning strikes inside the final 20 minutes.

He scooped up a free kick from outside the box for his first, before launching a shot from 30 metres over the top of the United goalkeeper and into the top corner to complete his brace.

In other games, Tuggeranong scored twice in the opening 20 minutes before hanging on for a 2-1 win against Woden Valley; Robbie Deeley and Mark Shields both had doubles as Olympic belted Canberra City 6-1; and the FFA Centre of Excellence easily accounted for the Monaro Panthers 5-1 in the first game on the new synthetic pitch at the AIS.

Canberra National Premier League: Tuggeranong United 2 bt Woden Valley 1 at Kaleen Enclosed. Canberra Olympic 6 bt Canberra City 1 at Gungahlin Enclosed. Cooma Tigers 4 bt Belconnen United 2 at McKellar Park. FFA COE 5 bt Monaro Panthers 1 at AIS Synthetic.