The star striker ditched the red-and-white jersey and is now scoring goals for Belconnen United against his former side.

Taurasi scored two match-winning goals for the Blue Devils in their crucial 2-1 win over Canberra at McKellar Park on Saturday.

The victory could see Belconnen return to the top-half of the ladder as the race to reach the finals draws to a dramatic close.

But the result easily could have gone the other way as Canberra nearly broke ahead with eight minutes remaining.

The referees disallowed a stunning goal and sent Deakin's Daniel Subasic to the sin-bin after he fouled a Devils defender in the box.

Belconnen coach Steve Forshaw sighed with relief when the linesman indicated the foul and believes it gave his men extra motivation to push ahead.

"It was a brilliant header but at the end of the day the referee saw the push," Forshaw said.

"It would have been disappointing had it been allowed because we worked so hard to not give it away and defended our penalty area well.

"The blood pressure rose a little bit but we kept going because we were playing against ten men, the lack of discipline probably helped us."

Belconnen were granted a free-kick in the 92nd minute and played it before Deakin set-up their defensive structure. Taurasi took advantage of the quick set-play and scored two passes later.

"It was magic and a big relief," Taurasi said.

"It's special scoring against Deakin because they've been one of the marquee in clubs in Canberra for a long time now. It's good to get a goal against them and win the game."

The match-winning goal came after Taurasi first marked the scoreboard in the 49th minute.

The clubs were drawn nil-all at halftime but Belconnen came out firing and took control of the second-half.

Forward Adrian Macor received the ball of a corner but was surrounded by three Deakin defenders. He shielded the ball and tapped it to Taurasi, who struck it into the bottom-right corner.

But it took less than a minute for Canberra to respond as Jason Ugrinic sent the ball flying into the top left-corner and leveled the score.

"We had just mastered control and lost it completely," Forshaw said.

"We gave away a sloppy equaliser. It was a lovely finish to give him credit, but we should have cleared it.

"But right at the death we pinched one and got them at the right time."

Meanwhile Gungahlin United defeated Monaro Panthers 2-1 at Riverside Stadium.

Tigers FC will host Woden-Weston at Nijong Oval in Cooma on Sunday, while second-placed Canberra Olympic take on Tuggeranong United at O'Connor Enclosed.

AT A GLANCE

Canberra Premier League

Belconnen United 2 (Taurasi) bt Canberra FC 1 (Ugrinic); Gungahlin United 2 bt Monaro Panthers 1.