Australia Cup campaign ends in heartbreak for spirited Yoogali SC outfit

The legginess from the long trip from Griffith looked to affect the start for the Yoogali SC side, with Tuggeranong taking the lead after Jack Leverett blasted one home from an acute angle after eight minutes.

They were lucky not to be two goals down inside 20 minutes as a scuffed clearance from Michael DePaoli in goal found its way to a Tuggeranong player, and if not for a header from Luke Pandolfo, the shot would have ended up in the empty net.

The Yoogali side was able to find their feet and had the chance to create some chances to get back into the game, but the final pass let them down.

It wasn't until a long-range free kick from Jordan Baveresco found the head of Darren Bailey in the 37th minute, when they made their first attempt on target.

It looked like it would go from bad to worse for the visitors as Lucas Fabris was sent off for a handball on the goalline, but Davaa Oktyabri missed the resulting penalty, which kept the scoreline at 1-0 heading into halftime.

Yoogali were given way back into the game an hour after Joey Preece was brought down in the box and up stepped Bailey, who blasted it home.

Patrick Hislop looked to have scored the match-winner from outside the box, and while the flag went up after a brief discussion between the referee and linesman, the goal stood for Tuggeranong to head into the next round with a 2-1 victory.

Yoogali will now look to carry that spirit and confidence gained from the second half display into their NPL clash with Tigers FC at Solar Mad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The search for the first points will receive a bonus coming up against an undermanned Tigers outfit on their home turf.

It has been a mixed start for the Tigers side who have started the season with two wins, a draw and most recently a defeat.

The under 23s will kick off the action on Saturday at 1.15pm with the first grade clash to follow at 3.15pm.