Palerang United men took on ANU Blue at the ANU with an injury depleted squad after the tough win from last week. The game started off competitively though with both teams controlling some good phases of play. ANU applied plenty of pressure on the Palerang United defence and had a series of corners midway through the first half but with no luck on goal. Andrew Crisp was on his game in goals for Palerang United making several good saves which buoyed the team. An excellent build up from the back to the forwards saw a neat chip pass from Ben Pritchard to Mitch Moon on the left wing and Mitch sprinted away from the ANU defenders to slam the ball past the ANU keeper to hand Palerang United the lead. Halftime came and went and the boys were happy with the first half but knew ANU were a fit bunch who would play out the full ninety minutes. The second half was an even contest in the first twenty five minutes with both teams creating chances on goal then Leith Crawley teamed up with Tristan Neate with a series of passes and Leith chiped the ball over the ANU defenders for Mitch Moon to ran away and slot in his second goal of the game. Palerang United  2-0 up with only 20 minutes to go and looking the goods for a win. ANU made a few changes and kept pressing Palerangs defence and managed to score with 15 minutes to go with a great header from a corner kick. Five minutes later ANU managed to equalise as a tiring Palerang defence started to run out of steam. In many ways a draw would be a great result but ANU hit the lead with about 7 minutes to go. Palerang United managed to lift for the final five minutes and a brilliant free kick from Troy Clark saw the ANU keeper miss the ball over his head and a ricocheted clearance landed at the feet of Mitch Roberts who slammed the ball at the goal only to be saved by an outstretched foot of an ANU defender. That was pretty much the last chance of the game and what was looking like a good win was a rather disappointing loss. The boys were disappointed but knew they can match this team and will look forward to the return game in Braidwood. This week Palerang United take on Belsouth in Braidwood with a 1pm kickoff so come on down and cheer the team on.