As we reach Round 3 of the National Premier League Men’s competition we are left with two teams with a 100% record and both Monaro Panthers, and Canberra Croatia, will enjoy home matches this weekend.
The league leaders, Monaro Panthers, are back at Stryda Park for a third time this season having already seen off Tigers FC and Tuggeranong United at their home venue amid a blizzard of goals, with O’Connor Knights next to step up.
Eleven goals in two matches, six more against Tuggeranong United to go with the five netted on the opening day against Tigers, has seen the Panthers take a slender lead at the top on goal difference and, with seven struck in the cup as well, they are proving incredibly potent.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Knights have been porous. They have seen eight goals in two league games shipped into their net, plus another five in the cup loss to Gungahlin United, meaning that the usually solid O’Connor backline has been taking something of a pasting.
The Knights have the talent and quality going further forward to help alleviate this, if they can find the right balance. A good place to start would be the former Riverside Stadium, but the lively Panthers are out to continue their hot streak.
Canberra Croatia have also been amongst the goals in the early weeks of the season, four against the Knights in the derby followed by six against Yoogali at Deakin Stadium, and they set out the welcome mat to Queanbeyan City.
Croatia have in fact leathered in fourteen goals in three competitive matches before the third round of the competition, booking a cup Quarter Final match-up with Monaro Panthers after seeing off ANU FC 4-0 at Deakin Stadium in Round 4.
These two last locked horns in the Preliminary Rounds of the Australia Cup back in the 2021 season with Canberra Croatia easing to a 3-1victory against their Capital Premier League opponents, as Queanbeyan were at that time.
City themselves have enjoyed a fine start to life in the top flight, more than happy to have gained two points from two home draws against Yoogali SC and Gungahlin United on successive weekends at High Street. Added to their 3-2 cup win over Belconnen United and City are in fine fettle.
This is their first test away from High Street in the NPL however, so how they deal with being on the road against one of the pre-eminent forces in the league will be a great indication of where the team currently are at.
The third game on Saturday afternoon is a preview of the Australia Cup Qualifying Round 5 match as Gungahlin United head to South Jerrabomberra Regional Sporting Complex to take on a Tigers FC side that appears to be discovering it’s form.
A quirk of the Cup draw means these two will go toe-to-toe on Wednesday 7 May for a spot in the Federation Cup Semi-Finals, and with matches between them usually close affairs, this league clash will be an excellent preview of that forthcoming titanic cup battle.
These points are important for both teams, Tigers having picked up four points from a possible nine in their opening trio of fixtures, the Gunners reeling in two from six with a pair of goalless draws.
Gungahlin United are yet to score an NPL goal in 2025 and haven’t netted an NPL goal for over 300 minutes, the last being a Daniel Olaoye goal against Croatia in the 2024 Qualification Final, whilst Tigers have kept two clean sheets in a row after only managing to stop the opposition scoring once in the previous eight matches.
Rounding off the weekend is Tuggeranong United’s road trip to Griffith to face Yoogali SC, the same pair going at it again just a few days later, on Tuesday 30 April in their Australia Cup Qualifying Round 5 fixture.
The teams have met three times in the NPL with Tuggeranong having won two of the matches, and Yoogali claiming victory in the other., but in In the two matches played at Kambah, Tuggeranong have kept Yoogali scoreless, winning 3-0 and 6-0 in fixtures played last season.
United began the campaign with a credible point against Gungahlin, before a calamitous eleven-minute spell against the Panthers saw them concede four goals on the way to a heavy setback at Stryda Park against Monaro Panthers.
Yoogali meanwhile gained a draw at home to Tigers, a draw on the road in Queanbeyan, before being forced to play with ten-men for three quarters of the match against Canberra Croatia and eventually running out of puff, conceding four times in the final nineteen minutes.
Both will fancy their chances of winning this one, Yoogali are notoriously tough to beat at home, but both equally might have eyes on their cup prize a few days later. Get set for Round 1 of this stoush!
FIXTURES
ROUND 3
Saturday 26 April
Tigers FC v Gungahlin United (South Jerrabomberra Regional, 15:00)
Canberra Croatia v Queanbeyan City (Deakin Stadium, 15:00)
Monaro Panthers v O’Connor Knights (Riverside Stadium, 17:45)
Sunday 27 April
Yoogali SC v Tuggeranong United (Solar Mad Stadium, 15:00)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Monaro Panthers | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 6 |
| 2 | Canberra Croatia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 6 |
| 3 | Tigers FC | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 4 |
| 4 | Queanbeyan City | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Gungahlin United | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Yoogali SC | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 2 |
| 7 | Tuggeranong United | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 1 |
| 8 | O’Connor Knights | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | -7 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
2: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Own GOALS
1: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights), Augustine BANGURA (Tigers FC), Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Nikola JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Alessandro PENA (Tuggeranong United), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers)
TOP ASSISTS
4: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
3: Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers)
2: Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers)
1: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), William AKIO (Tigers FC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC)
