Canberra Croatia starting XI: Arranz (GK), Peraic-Cullen, Grbesa, Spaseski, Zsuzsa, Piccolo, Colbertaldo, Whitehead, Jadric, Ahmed-Shaibu, Pratezina

Subs: Tkatchenko, Vucetic, Jadric, Seselja, Matesa, Sparrow, Yoshida

Goals: Vucetic 86’

Avondale starting XI: Manos (GK), Wellsmore, Brice, D’Argenio, Towns, Trajceski, Fornaroli, Abdallah, Cuba, Tevere

Subs: Mayen, Pisani, Lundy, Cianci, Hogan, Marinkovic

Goals: Fornaroli 30’, Tevere 33’, Cuba 51’ 53’

A goal on the half-hour mark by Bruno Fornaroli and a well-placed strike into the far post by Luca Tevere sent the visitors into the sheds 2-0 up at half time before a Cian Cuba brace in the first seven minutes of the second half all but sealed the match.

“It was good to get back on the score sheet,” shared Cuba. “It’s been a while, so I really enjoyed it.”

The winger also paid tribute to Fornaroli, who could have taken a shot himself but instead chose to square the ball across goal for Cuba’s second.

“I think it says it all there in the pass,” he said. “He’s definitely not an egotistical striker, as they sometimes can be.

“He’s someone that just wants to win. That’s definitely the Uruguayan in him — he just wants to win and at all costs ... he’s not selfish, he doesn’t really think about himself.

“He was just happy to square it off and I was able to finish it off for him.”

Cuba revealed a discussion among players at half time led to their fast start after the break.

“We just didn’t want to back off the start that we had in the first half,” he explained. “We wanted to just basically continue on and really, really keep the pressure on them and try to get as many goals as possible.”

While the players are aware of the situation — they need just one more win to progress — Cuba says they don’t place too much of their focus on the current standings in what is a very challenging Group C.

“We all know that [if we win] one more game we’re into the next round,” he said, “But at the moment, we’re just trying to keep our heads as level as possible … taking it game by game.

“I think our group is … a group of death,” he added. “Every game is a battle. You don’t know who can win, you don’t know what the score’s going to be, you don’t know how exciting or how boring the match might be.

“It’s one of those groups where each game is basically a fight for your life … you just don’t know what can happen.”

A spectacular consolation goal late on through Keegan Vucetic made the final score 4-1, which Cuba says disappointed the Avondale players.

“It was an unbelievable goal,” he admitted, “but I think we let ourselves down late on.

“We just took our foot off the pedal and we allowed that to happen … we want to make sure we don’t let that happen from here on in.”

After being on the road for three consecutive weeks, Avondale now play their final two matches at home against NWS Spirit and Preston Lions, and Cuba is looking forward to the support.

“It’s going to be massive,” he said. “We don’t always have the biggest amount of fans, but we definitely have the loudest … our fans are great.

“I think this Championship has been a massive thing for [the clubs involved]. A lot of clubs are getting a lot of exposure now … I think it’s really opened a few people’s eyes in the sense that we’ve got a strong competition within the state leagues and it’s not just the A-League that can bring big numbers — it’s also us.

“And we also show a good brand of football,” he continued. “The A-League shows that, but we can also show that as NPL teams and I think it’s just been a massive lift for the game here in Australia.

“[It encourages] the younger generation to really step up and [know] there’s a chance to get noticed, not only in the academies but now also in the NPL teams.”