A summit meeting between two of the contenders for the National Premier League title headlines Round 10 as Monaro Panthers welcome Gungahlin United to the Riverside Stadium under the floodlights on Saturday evening.
Both teams have been busy over the past week, whilst most of the competition has been focusing on a free weekend, as the Panthers clashed with the O’Connor Knights in the Australia Cup Qualifying Final, the Gunners following suit with an NPL catch-up match with the same opponents on Wednesday.
In their outings prior to the Final the Panthers slayed the Knights unbeaten record, whilst Gungahlin stumbled to their first loss on-field this season, a penalty from Atiya Waraga deciding the fate of their home match with Canberra Croatia at the AIS.
This meeting will be the 21st in the NPL era between the teams with Gungahlin leading by eleven wins to three, with six matches having ended all-square. The Panthers head into the game unbeaten in their last five NPL matches and will be out to put down a marker.
Canberra Olympic eased some of the pressure that was surrounding the eight times League Champions at the wrong end of the table with their win over Yoogali in Round 9, and they will be out to maintain their form when Tigers FC enter O’Connor Enclosed on Saturday afternoon.
Goals are often a give when this par meets in the NPL, in a combined 25 matches they have netted an incredible 104 goals between them, and this term has seen both score eighteen prior to this match-up.
The Tigers haven’t got the best of records when visiting O’Connor to meet Olympic, their last win at the venue was back in 2021, and their injury list has been crippling for much of the campaign, the week off for Cup Final matches maybe helping the Tigers in this regard.
The 4-3 win at the Solar Mad Stadium may yet turn out to be a turning point for Olympic, the introduction of new recruits Virgil Moutaud and Sam Habtemariam paying instant dividends as the men in blue secured a huge three points to move six clear of the drop zone. Can they increase that margin in Round 10?
A resurgent Canberra Croatia look to continue their recent run of form since the return of Dean Ugrinic as Head Coach when an in-form Tuggeranong United make the trip to Deakin Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Maybe there will be a hint of revenge in the air for Croatia who suffered a rare loss to Tuggeranong at Kambah 2 earlier in the season, the men from the South coming away with a 3-2 win over the red juggernaut and keen to record a league double over their hosts.
To do so Tuggeranong will need to reverse the historical trend. Tuggeranong have only ever won once in NPL visits to Deakin Stadium and have only ever collected five points from a possible 33 against their hosts.
The 1-1 draw at the AIS against the Tigers meant that United have only lost once in their last six NPL outings, whiles Croatia are unbeaten in four, having won three and drawn one since the change of coach. With the home team seemingly kicking into gear, this has the potential to be a cracking fixture.
It is getting close to desperation time for Yoogali SC who remain without a win or a point this season after going so close against Canberra Olympic at home in Round 9. The visit of the reigning League champions, O’Connor Knights, would be just the tonic to rectify that scenario.
The Knights proved too good in their Round 4 meeting at O’Connor Enclosed earlier in the campaign, but the men from Griffith were in the match for large spells of the contest, only a goal four minutes from time from Niko Perinovic to make it 2-o really settled the nerves.
Aisosa Ihegie later added a third deep into time added on, and the forward has been in excellent form this season, leading the line and utilising his blend of power and pace to unsettle defences. The home side will ned to be on their toes to subdue him as they seek an upset.
Time is running out for Yoogali, even though the season is not even halfway through. They cannot afford to slip any further away from those above them in the table if they are to maintain their NPL status. For the Knights, the points are equally precious as they seek to maintain their push for back-to-back League titles.
FIXTURES
ROUND 10
Saturday 15 June
Canberra Olympic v Tigers FC (O’Connor Enclosed, 15:00)
Monaro Panthers v Gungahlin United (Riverside Stadium, 17:45)
Sunday 16 June
Yoogali SC v O’Connor Knights (Solar Mad Stadium, 13:15)
Canberra Croatia v Tuggeranong United (Deakin Stadium, 15:00)
All matches are streamed live on BarTV Sports.
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Gungahlin United* | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 10 | +11 | 19 |
| 2 | Monaro Panthers | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 17 |
| 3 | O’Connor Knights | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 17 |
| 4 | Tigers FC** | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 7 | +11 | 15 |
| 5 | Canberra Croatia | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 14 | +4 | 14 |
| 6 | Tuggeranong United | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 19 | -3 | 11 |
| 7 | Canberra Olympic | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 18 | 25 | -7 | 6 |
| 8 | Yoogali SC | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 36 | -30 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
13: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Gungahlin United)
5: Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers)
4: Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Davaadelger OKTYABRI (Tuggeranong United)
3: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), 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), Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Michael JOHN (Canberra Olympic), Michael KATSOULIS (Gungahlin United), Tyson LIVERMORE (Monaro Panthers), 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)
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), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Jack LEVERETT (Tuggeranong United), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Shinzaburo NAKAYAMA (Canberra Olympic), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Daniel OLAOYE (Gungahlin United), Jackson PAESLER (O’Connor Knights), 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), Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Gungahlin United), 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
