Round 14 action in the National Premier League will see the title chasers all competing for the maximum return in order to keep ahead of the congested pack, with Gungahlin United first in action as they make the trip to O’Connor Enclosed to take on Canberra Olympic.
Gungahlin United have had the wood over Olympic recently, having only lost one of their last eleven matches with Canberra Olympic, winning eight and drawing twice. Indeed, the last time that Olympic defeated the men in black and white was back in Round 11, 2019, where the home side were annihilated 7-2 at the Australian Institute of Sport, despite leading inside the opening minute!
Both these teams were involved in 3-0 results last weekend, however in contrasting fashions as Gungahlin United moved clear at the top having seen off Tigers FC by that scoreline at the AIS, whilst Olympic were being defeated by the same margin at O’Connor against the Knights.
Gunners will seek to continue their reemergence as a force at the top end of the NPL having struck sixteen times in their last three matches following a trio of fixtures in which they failed to trouble the scoreboard at all. They’ll be favourites, but Olympic will have pride on the line.
On Saturday evening attention switches to the Riverside Stadium as Monaro Panthers welcome Yoogali SC for only the second ever NPL meeting between the two protagonists. The first, played in Round 3 this season went the way of the Panthers, Roko Strika and Jenno Ceruti scoring late at Solar Mad Stadium.
The Riverside venue is no stranger to Yoogali who won on their last two visits to the ground, scoring nine times in the process in winning their capital League Preliminary final 6-0 against ANU FC, and the Grand Final 3-0 against Queanbeyan City. Joe Preece helped himself to four goals cross the two matches.
Both teams suffered a setback in Round 13, the Panthers falling to a 1-2 defeat to Canberra Croatia after going a goal up inside the opening two minutes of the match at Deakin Stadium, whilst Yoogali slipped to a 0-3 defeat at Kambah 2 against Tuggeranong United and saw Joe Preece sent off.
Form would suggest that the Panthers are the likely winners, but Yoogali made Monaro work extremely hard for the points at Solar Mad Stadium earlier this season, and have the capacity to make life difficult once more.
Canberra Croatia welcome Tigers FC to Deakin Stadium with both teams seeking vital points in order to keep up their title challenge with Croatia having held the upper-hand in recent meetings at this venue, winning seven of the last eight encounters between these two Capital Football giants.
Fixtures between the pair are usually laden with goals, there has been 120 of them in the twenty-six NPL meeting, whilst Tigers FC have scored ten goals to their last four matches against Canberra Croatia but have only won one of them. This includes an epic 4-4 draw in Round 9 last term.
Croatia have enjoyed little success against their opponents in the short term, having only won once in the last four matches played against Tigers FC, the 5-1 success in Round 17 last season. That win came in between two draws and there would be many predicting such an outcome on this occasion.
Tigers come into the match off a busy week, and a tough schedule, having played against Gungahlin United and O’Connor Knights in successive matches and with Croatia in great form this fixture promises to be one of the highlights of the weekend’s calendar.
The O’Connor Knights meanwhile head Southside to Kambah 2 and a match-up with Tuggeranong United, both teams in need of the points to keep up with the red-hot pace being set by the teams pushing higher up the table. Knights, particularly, will be keen to hit the ground running.
With their Australia Cup Round of 32 date with destiny looming soon, the Knights need to be able to juggle the league fixture list, alongside their preparations for their big date with A-League opponents Macarthur FC, and they have been finding that task rather taxing.
Therefore, it was with some relief that the Knights rediscovered their groove in defeating Olympic at O’Connor in Round 13, a three-goal burst seeing them home as Jackson Paesler continued his recent good form in front of goal with a brace taking him to five in his last six outings ahead of their midweek match with Tigers FC.
Tuggeranong meanwhile secured another three points to keep up with the top four last weekend, Steve Nealon netting for the fourth time this season in what has been a productive mid-season switch, and the United faithful will be hoping he has his shooting boots on again this time round.
FIXTURES
ROUND 14
Saturday 13 July
Canberra Olympic v Gungahlin United (O’Connor Enclosed, 15:00)
Monaro Panthers v Yoogali SC (Riverside Stadium, 17:45)
Sunday 14 July
Tuggeranong United v O’Connor Knights (Kambah 2, 15:00)
Canberra Croatia v Tigers FC (Deakin Stadium, 15:00)
All matches are streamed live on BarTV Sports.
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Gungahlin United* | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 37 | 15 | +22 | 28 |
| 2 | Canberra Croatia | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 33 | 18 | +15 | 26 |
| 3 | O’Connor Knights | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 26 |
| 4 | Tigers FC** | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 31 | 14 | +17 | 24 |
| 5 | Monaro Panthers | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 21 |
| 6 | Tuggeranong United | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 23 | -2 | 18 |
| 7 | Canberra Olympic | 13 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 20 | 39 | -19 | 6 |
| 8 | Yoogali SC | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 53 | -46 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
15: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Gungahlin United)
8: Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia)
6: Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers), Own GOALS
5: Augustine BANGURA (Gungahlin United), Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Michael KATSOULIS (Gungahlin United), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC)
4: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Olympic), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Davaadelger OKTYABRI (Tuggeranong United), Jackson PAESLER (O’Connor Knights), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Gungahlin United)
3: Jeremy HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic/O’Connor Knights), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)
2: Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Michael JOHN (Canberra Olympic), Tyson LIVERMORE (Monaro Panthers), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Daniel OLAOYE (Gungahlin United), Patrick O’ROURKE (O’Connor Knights), Joshua PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Jordan REZEK (Tuggeranong United), ROMEO (Gungahlin United), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Harry TRUMAN (Canberra Olympic)
1: Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Jack BITANI (Tigers FC), Samson CARR (Tigers FC), Izach CLEMENTS (Canberra Olympic), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Adam DE FRANCESCHI (Monaro Panthers), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Lachlan FIELDS (O’Connor Knights), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), 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), Santiago LUPINO (Monaro Panthers), 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), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Antoni TIMOTHOEU (Gungahlin United), Kristian TOKIC (O’Connor Knights), 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
