Unbeaten O’Connor Knights take their show on the road this weekend as they make the short jaunt to their local rivals, Canberra Croatia, for the latest instalment in the ‘Cevapi Derby’ an occasion that is one circled early on the calendar of any football fan in the National Capital.
The Knights enter Deakin Stadium for the second time this season having previously defeated their hosts 0-2 in the season curtain-raiser, the Capital Football Charity Shield, but this Round 5 NPL encounter will have far more bearing on what to expect in 2024 than the annual friendly.
With an unbeaten streak officially standing at 22 competitive matches in league and cup action, following midweek cup progression at the expense of Queanbeyan City, O’Connor meet a Croatian side smarting from defeat at the hands of Tuggeranong United, a rare occurrence.
Croatia have slipped to one win and one draw from their four matches and faced a tough cup examination of their own in midweek with their visit to Monaro Panthers. They need an NPL bounce back and soon. This would be the perfect place for them to start.
Gungahlin United are currently sitting pretty at the top pf the table with four wins from four, following their narrow win over the Panthers and they will be keen to extend that to five in a row when they welcome Yoogali SC to the Australian Institute of Sport for a first competitive meeting.
The free-scoring, fast-moving Gunners of early weeks was replaced in Round 4 by a team with a steely core and determination not to concede s they eked out a narrow victory over the Panthers, the defensive quartet selected in imperious form with goalkeeper Aidan Munford equal to any tasks sent his way.
They will need that steel again this week as Yoogali rumble into town, off the back of four losses, and still seeking a first point of the year. The men from Griffith were resilient for large parts of their match with the Knights, but ultimately were unable to find the cutting edge required. A fault they must rectify, and soon.
Tigers FC are strutting their stuff quite nicely at present, their young cubs to the fore in a 3-1 win over Canberra Olympic and seeking a victory to keep the pressure on the early leaders when they fight for supremacy in the Battle of the Big Cats at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday evening against Monaro Panthers.
The Panthers were disappointing in the front third against the Gunners, unable to create many meaningful opportunities of their own as they sought a way to recover from conceding five minutes before the half-time break.
Finn Jurak, on the occasion of his 50th NPL appearance, was in splendid form in goal for the Panthers and might well need to be at his best again in this one as the Tigers much-vaunted attacking arsenal seek a way past the Panthers goalkeeper and his, usually, reliable, and solid defence. This should be a cracker of a contest and one not to miss.
Elsewhere, a Tuggeranong United team full of confidence will head to O’Connor Enclosed to meet a Canberra Olympic side who they will feel they can have the measure of, both teams entering the fixture off differing results.
United took four points off Olympic in their last two meetings, a win, and a draw last season, and come into the match off the back of only their fourth ever NPL success against Canberra Croatia, the epic 3-2 win at Greenway Enclosed raising hopes of a Southside resurgence.
Tuggeranong have never won an NPL match away from home to Canberra Olympic and have only ever beaten them twice in 21 NPL meetings, but this cohort seem to be a different breed and the match will hold no fears.
Olympic has only won two of their last nine NPL matches and only one in their five matches in all competitions this season and will view this fixture as chance to swing an upsurge in form.
FIXTURES
ROUND 5
Saturday 4 May
Canberra Olympic v Tuggeranong United (O’Connor Enclosed, 15:00)
Monaro Panthers v Tigers FC (Riverside Stadium, 17:45)
Sunday 5 May
Gungahlin United v Yoogali SC (AIS Grass 15:00)
Canberra Croatia v O’Connor Knights (Deakin Stadium, 15:00)
All matches are streamed live on BarTV Sports.
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Gungahlin United | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | +10 | 12 |
| 2 | O’Connor Knights | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 9 |
| 3 | Tigers FC | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 7 |
| 4 | Monaro Panthers | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 |
| 5 | Canberra Croatia | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Canberra Olympic | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 3 |
| 7 | Tuggeranong United | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 13 | -9 | 3 |
| 8 | Yoogali SC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 15 | -13 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
8: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Gungahlin United)
4: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
3: Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights)
2: Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Michael KATSOULIS (Gungahlin United), Davaadelger OKTYABRI (Tuggeranong United), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Own GOALS
1: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Augustine BANGURA (Gungahlin United), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers),Jack BITANI (Tigers FC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Adam DE FRANCESCHI (Monaro Panthers), Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia), Michael JOHN (Canberra Olympic), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Shinzaburo NAKAYAMA (Canberra Olympic), Daniel OLAOYE (Gungahlin United), Jackson PAESLER (O’Connor Knights), Joshua PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Canberra Olympic), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Patrick SHORE (Canberra Olympic), Julian SMITH (Gungahlin United), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Harry TRUMAN (Canberra Olympic), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)
