The Croatian derby headlines Round 11 of the National Premier League as Canberra Croatia make the short trip to O’Connor Enclosed to take on Australia Cup Qualifying Cup winners O’Connor Knights in a vital match at the top end of the competition.
This will be the eighth NPL derby meeting between the two with the Knights having won three to Croatia’s two with two draws, despite Croatia scoring more goals in the series, leading the count narrowly by eleven goals to ten.
Knights have been the team with the upper-hand in recent derby clashes, officially unbeaten against Croatia in their last seven meetings in both league and cup matches, whilst Croatia have only won once in four trips to play the Knights away in the NPL, the first game between the pair in 2022, since then they have lost one and drawn two.
Whilst the rivalry on the pitch might be intense, this is a friendly one off the pitch, but passions are likely to be inflamed due to the importance of coming away with the three points as the league table is starting to feel a little congested in the top spaces and the title chase heightens.
Croatia won comfortably last time out, 3-0 against Tuggeranong. Knights meanwhile showed their champions mettle once again, reduced to ten-men for a large part of the second-half in Griffith after Lachlan Fields was sent off, and yet finding a way to win, as they invariably do. Micheal Adams found the winner against Yoogali, and he might have a big say once again.
The battle of the Big Cats runs concurrently to the Croatian derby over at the Australian Institute of Sport as Tigers FC meet Monaro Panthers in another match that will have a massive bearing on the placings at the top of the NPL table.
Earlier this season the Panthers recovered from going a goal down to an early Amilio Kista strike to take a 3-1 success, levelling matters via a Roko Strika penalty on the half-hour, allowing second-half goals from Ben Basser-Silk and Jenno Ceruti to secure the points.
These two teams often give us a match filed with goals, and myriad talking points, and the relatively successful beginning to the 2024 campaign by both lends this fixture an added edge.
Monaro enter the fixture having become a big part of the title talk, their comprehensive 3-0 home win over Gungahlin United at the Riverside giving notice of their ability and intent, whilst the Tigers put together a sterling twenty-minute second-half blitz to down Canberra Olympic at O’Connor.
In that spell scored three times and could easily have doubled that tally but for the heroics of Olympic stopper Seb Usai, and the woodwork, and with Monaro in equally competent mood in front of goal, this has the potential for fireworks.
Gungahlin United will expect to continue their good start to the 2024 NPL campaign when they meet bottom-of-the-table Yoogali SC at the AIS on Sunday afternoon, only the second ever league meeting between the two teams.
The Gunners swept aside the challenge of Yoogali in Round 5 this year, winning 4-0 via goals from Jeremy Habtemariam, Shandon Whitehead, and a brace from Golden Boot leading striker Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu.
However, the verve and vigour appears to have fallen out of the Gunners form in recent weeks, they are now 287 minutes without a goal, having failed to score in their last three matches, a run of form that has seen them pick up just one point from the nine that have been on offer.
That’s in stark contrast to the Gunners of early 2024, where goals were flowing by the bucketload and Ahmed-Shaibu seemed to be scoring with every single shot on target. A recurrence of that type of instinctual finishing will be critical for Gungahlin, and they’ll see up the visit of Yoogali as a chance to do just that.
Once more Yoogali were hugely competitive in a match, they had the O’Connor Knights at 1-1 with seconds remaining at Solar Mad Stadium last weekend and will seek to replicate that kind of display against the Gunners as they seek that elusive maiden NPL point.
At Kambah 2, Tuggeranong United will be seeking to continue their recent excellent return against Canberra Olympic as they welcome their guests to Kambah 2 having taken Seven points from the last nine against them.
Indeed, United have only lost once to Canberra Olympic in NPL action in their last six meetings, Tuggeranong having won the last two, including a 2-1 win in Round 5 this season, with three of the other quartet of fixtures ending in draws.
In the match at O’Connor earlier in the season, a Luca Florez goal had Olympic in front at the break, only for second-half strikes from Jordan Rezek and Sam Walker to hand Mitch Stevens and his team a second win in succession, backing up their 3-2 win over Canberra Croatia a week previously.
Olympic were very much in the contest during their Round 10 match with Tigers FC last weekend, only falling foul to a rampant Tigers in a short-spell during the second-half, precipitated by an Olympic substitution that, on the outside at least, unbalanced the delicate equilibrium.
United were decent against Croatia, but decent wasn’t enough and a careless use of possession, plus some rudimentary mistakes, cost them any hope of points. They can’t afford that to be the case again against Olympic if they are to cling to the coattails of the top four.
FIXTURES
ROUND 11
Saturday 22 June
O’Connor Knights v Canberra Croatia (O’Connor Enclosed, 15:00)
Tigers FC v Monaro Panthers (AIS Grass Field 1, 15:00)
Sunday 23 June
Gungahlin United v Yoogali SC (AIS Grass Field 1, 15:00)
Tuggeranong United v Canberra Olympic (Kambah 2, 15:00)
All matches are streamed live on BarTV Sports.
TABLE
P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
1 | Monaro Panthers | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 7 | +12 | 20 |
2 | O’Connor Knights | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 20 |
3 | Gungahlin United* | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 13 | +8 | 19 |
4 | Tigers FC** | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 8 | +14 | 18 |
5 | Canberra Croatia | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 17 |
6 | Tuggeranong United | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 22 | -6 | 11 |
7 | Canberra Olympic | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 19 | 29 | -10 | 6 |
8 | Yoogali SC | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 38 | -31 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
13: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Gungahlin United)
6: Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers)
5: Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
4: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Davaadelger OKTYABRI (Tuggeranong United)
3: Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Olympic), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic/O’Connor Knights), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United), Own GOALS
2: Augustine BANGURA (Gungahlin United), Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Michael JOHN (Canberra Olympic), Michael KATSOULIS (Gungahlin United), Tyson LIVERMORE (Monaro Panthers), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Jackson PAESLER (O’Connor Knights), Joshua PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Jordan REZEK (Tuggeranong United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Harry TRUMAN (Canberra Olympic), Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia)
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), Jeremy HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Marley JACKSON (Tigers FC), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia), Christopher JOHN (Yoogali SC), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Chirstian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Jack LEVERETT (Tuggeranong United), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Shinzaburo NAKAYAMA (Canberra Olympic), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Daniel OLAOYE (Gungahlin United), Alessandro PENA (Tigers FC), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Canberra Olympic), ROMEO (Gungahlin United), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Patrick SHORE (Canberra Olympic), Julian SMITH (Gungahlin United), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Gungahlin United), 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