The current league leaders meet the current League Champions on Sunday afternoon as Gungahlin United and O’Connor Knights go toe-to-toe at AIS Grass 1, the pair meeting again soon after they played out a highly entertaining, yet ultimately, goalless draw at the Australian Institute of Sport.
Since then, the Knights have not been at their fluent best, a narrow escape against Yoogali, followed by a derby loss to Canberra Croatia leaving them in fifth place on the table, albeit with a game in hand which if won would put them back top, such is the congested nature of the title race.
By contrast Gunners rediscovered their scoring touch last weekend, bagging nine against Yoogali, perhaps more significantly the fact that seven different players found the back of the net, indicating that their goal drought was well and truly over.
Overall, in all competitions, this is the eleventh match in the NPL era between the teams, Knights have five wins, Gunners’ have four wins and there has been two draws. The two teams have combined for a total of thirty league goals in six matches, plus a further fourteen goals in three cup and finals fixtures.
Monaro Panthers will be seeking a return to form as they welcome Tuggeranong United to the Riverside Stadium, with both teams realistic contenders for the top four, and the Panthers eyeing up the silverware at the head of the league table.
Either result would mean a welcome three points, especially for the Panthers who, having reached the summit of the NPL table ahead of Round 11, suffered their worst performance of the season in being clearly second best to a Tigers FC team who were in rampant mood.
That was the Panthers only defeat in the last seven however, meaning that should they recover from that blip against the Tigers, they will be right back near the top of the pile, and history suggests they should do so.
Of the last ten NPL fixtures in this series designated as home Monaro matches, the Panthers have only failed to win once, although four have been draws. Meanwhile, the win over Olympic last week broke a sequence of four matches without a win in all competitions for Tuggeranong.
A Tigers FC team that is seemingly equipped for a title tilt will put that to the test as they travel to Solar Mad Stadium to tackle bottom of the table Yoogali SC, requiring points to make sure that they can take advantage of any slip-ups from their fellow championship chasers.
Last week, the Tigers put their name well and truly in the mix with that win over the panthers, and with a plethora of players returning after injury, Ali Efe’s team are looking like serious contenders for top spot. The return of Nik Popovic to active duty the latest boon to the squad.
For Yoogali their Round 11 visit to Gungahlin was a chastening experience. Hammered by nine goals without reply, and seeing defender Luke Pandolfo sent off, culminated in an afternoon to forget for the men from Griffith. They’ll seek a response from their group and, judging by their past two home performances, may get one.
The Canberra Classico has probably never seen the like of the match-up at O’Connor Enclosed in Round 11 as Canberra Croatia, third on the table and two points behind the league leaders, travel to meet a Canberra Olympic side who are only six points above the relegation trapdoor.
This meeting will be the 26th Canberra Classico in the NPL era with Canberra Croatia leading the way by thirteen wins to ten, with two matches having ended in draws, with Croatia dominating the meeting in Round 6 at O’Connor Enclosed, comfortably winning 4-1.
Croatia is now six without defeat and have not lost since Round 5 and have secured three wins and a draw from their last four matches on their travels. By contrast, Olympic are on a run of only one win in their last ten matches, the 4-3 success in Griffith in Round 9.
The Blues are desperate for a win, in part to push for an unlikely top four placing over the next ten matches, but in the main to ease any lingering doubts over whether they might be sucked into a scrap for survival. Doing so against their great rivals would be a prime incentive.
FIXTURES
ROUND 12
Saturday 29 June
Canberra Olympic v Canberra Croatia (O’Connor Enclosed, 15:00)
Monaro Panthers v Tuggeranong United (Riverside Stadium, 17:45)
Sunday 30 June
Yoogali SC v Tigers FC (Solar Mad Stadium, 13:15)
Gungahlin United v O’Connor Knights (Woden Park, 15:00)
All matches are streamed live on BarTV Sports.
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Gungahlin United* | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 30 | 13 | +17 | 22 |
| 2 | Tigers FC** | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 8 | +18 | 21 |
| 3 | Canberra Croatia | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 20 |
| 4 | Monaro Panthers | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 20 |
| 5 | O’Connor Knights | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 13 | +5 | 20 |
| 6 | Tuggeranong United | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 22 | -5 | 14 |
| 7 | Canberra Olympic | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 19 | 30 | -11 | 6 |
| 8 | Yoogali SC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 47 | -40 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
14: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Gungahlin United)
6: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers)
5: Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia)
4: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Augustine BANGURA (Gungahlin United), Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Davaadelger OKTYABRI (Tuggeranong United), Own GOALS
3: Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Olympic), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic/O’Connor Knights), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Michael KATSOULIS (Gungahlin United), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Gungahlin United)
2: Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Jeremy HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Michael JOHN (Canberra Olympic), Tyson LIVERMORE (Monaro Panthers), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Daniel OLAOYE (Gungahlin United), Jackson PAESLER (O’Connor Knights), Joshua PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Jordan REZEK (Tuggeranong United), ROMEO (Gungahlin United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Harry TRUMAN (Canberra Olympic)
1: Jack BITANI (Tigers FC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Izach CLEMENTS (Canberra Olympic), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Adam DE FRANCESCHI (Monaro Panthers), Axel GARBIN (Yoogali SC), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Marley JACKSON (Tigers FC), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia), Christopher JOHN (Yoogali SC), Chirstian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Jack LEVERETT (Tuggeranong United), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Shinzaburo NAKAYAMA (Canberra Olympic), Alessandro PENA (Tigers FC), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Canberra Olympic), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Patrick SHORE (Canberra Olympic), Julian SMITH (Gungahlin United), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Kristian TOKIC (O’Connor Knights), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC), Ryan ZANATTA (Yoogali SC)
*Gungahlin United deducted three points for field an ineligible player in the 3-0 win against Tigers FC
**Tigers FC awarded a 3-0 win, and three points, for Gungahlin United fielding an ineligible player
