League leaders Tigers FC welcome third-placed Gungahlin United to the Australian Institute of Sport on Saturday afternoon as the two top-scoring teams meet in a showdown that promises exciting football, and goals.
The Tigers have scored ten times in their last two matches, whilst conceding eight, whilst Gungahlin have notched nine and conceded six the goal-fest including a quite incredible 6-4 encounter that went the Tigers way just a couple of weeks ago at the Riverside Stadium in Queanbeyan.
Between them., their matches in league and up in the 2023 season have seen a combined total of 117 strikes plundered in a total of twenty-two fixtures, the two teams entertaining the neutrals from the first kick of the campaign.
Maxx Green has been the main protagonist for Gungahlin, his sixteen goals in all competitions including seven braces, the striker remarkably yet to complete a hat-trick for the Gunners. Stopping his threat will be crucial for Tigers, whilst the Gunners need to contend with the Tigers ability to score at will.
At the Riverside Stadium, Monaro Panthers meet O’Connor Knights in what is shaping up to be a massive match in the battle for a place in the top four, both clubs currently sitting nicely and shaping up for a push at the top.
For the Panthers, shaking their unbelievable win-loss streak that has been in place since last year’s Grand Final is critical and this weekend would be the ideal time to snap that sequence of results.
Panthers eased past West Canberra Wanderers last time out, the Knights doing much the same against Tuggeranong United at O’Connor Enclosed and with the O’Connor side having claimed a narrow 2-1 success in the meeting in Round 4 earlier this season, there would not be much in this one.
Canberra Olympic will aim to snap a two-game losing streak as they meet Tuggeranong United at O’Connor Enclosed on Saturday afternoon, knowing that a victory might propel them back to the top of the NPL table depending on the outcome of the Tigers-Gunners clash the same day.
The 0-5 home loss to Gungahlin United in Round 9 was the worst example of Canberra Olympic for a while, perhaps a fall-out from the disappointing Australia Cup Qualifying loss to Canberra Croatia, or just a bad day at the office?
The return of Nathen Megic from suspension will be important, as would be the potential recall of the injured Nik Popovich and Adrian Macor, three players who missed the home loss to Gungahlin.
For Tuggeranong, the search for points continues as they seek to try and drag themselves clear of fellow strugglers West Canberra Wanderers. Having pushed Olympic to the limit in the Cup earlier in the campaign, they may feel they can spring a surprise.
West Canberra Wanderers meanwhile welcome Canberra Croatia to Melrose Synthetic with both teams requiring points, albeit with perhaps differing end goals in mind, as the hosts search for a way off the bottom of the table and the visitors seek points to reignite their top four hopes.
Croatia came back from the dead at the AIS last weekend as they overturned a 4-2 deficit deep into stoppage time to earn a point in a game that appeared to be dead and buried, via a brace of two late goals.
Croatia need to tighten up defensively if they are to push back into contention for finals, but they need to begin this weekend on a surface which isn’t their favourite. Wanderers know that their need s mighty. Kick-starting a resurgence is needed, and where better to start then against the current League Champions.
FIXTURES
ROUND 10
Saturday 17 June
West Canberra Wanderers v Canberra Croatia (Melrose Synthetic, 14:25)
Canberra Olympic v Tuggeranong United (O’Connor Enclosed, 15:00)
Gungahlin United v Tigers FC (AIS Grass, 15:00)
Monaro Panthers v O’Connor Knights (Riverside Stadium, 17:45)
TABLE
P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
1 | Tigers FC | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 18 | +15 | 22 |
2 | Canberra Olympic | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 12 | +12 | 21 |
3 | Gungahlin United | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 30 | 20 | +10 | 17 |
4 | O’Connor Knights | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 11 | +10 | 17 |
5 | Monaro Panthers | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 13 | +5 | 15 |
6 | Canberra Croatia | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 9 |
7 | Tuggeranong United | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 31 | -22 | 3 |
8 | West Canberra Wanderers | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 38 | -33 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
10 Maxx GREEN (Gungahlin United)
9 Josh GULEVSKI (Tigers FC)
8 Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers)
7 Nik POPOVICH (Canberra Olympic)
6 Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Own GOALS
5 Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Canberra Croatia), Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers)
4 Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Phakedi MANDA (O’Connor Knights), Patrick O’ROURKE (O’Connor Knights)
3 Philippe BERNABO-MADRID (Gungahlin United), Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Croatia), Micheal JOHN (Monaro Panthers), Clancy HISLOP (Tuggeranong United), Jason UGRINIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)
2 Riley ANGELOSANTE (O’Connor Knights), Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia), FERNANDO Jorquera (Gungahlin United), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Ed MCCARTHY (Tigers FC), Nathen MEGIC (Canberra Olympic), Kaz PATAFTA (Canberra Croatia), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC)
1 Badreldin ABBAS (Gungahlin United), Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Jake BISHOP (Tigers FC), Julian BORGNA (Tigers FC), Riley BROWN (West Canberra Wanderers), Kofi DANNING (Canberra Olympic), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Dom GIAMPAOLO (Gungahlin United), Sam HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Tony MADAFFARI (Tigers FC), Archie MCGREGOR (Monaro Panthers), Tom MCLACHLAN (Gungahlin United), Max MELLICK (Canberra Olympic), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Lasse OLRIK (Canberra Olympic), Jackson PAESLER (Gungahlin United), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Jayden RIPPON (West Canberra Wanderers), Nicholas ROUFOGALIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Kyle SENIOR (Tigers FC), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Callum SMITH (Canberra Olympic), Hristjan TANOSKI (Tigers FC), Antoni TIMOTHEOU (Gungahlin United), Liam VICKERS (West Canberra Wanderers)