In their first ever season of top-flight football, Queanbeyan City have a chance to go into the top four and take a step towards playing finals football in the National Premier League, as they welcome longtime rivals O’Connor Knights, to High Street.
City come into to the clash, having fell to defeat against the league leading Canberra Croatia, while missing six first team regulars in a spirited performance, with debutant goalkeeper Finn Beasley making several strong saves to keep his side in the game.
The earlier meeting between these two sides ended in a six-goal demolition for O’Connor, a result Goran Josifovski will be looking to reverse.
This might be the best time to do so, as the Knights head to High Street off the back of a 5-1 loss at home to Monaro Panthers. The men from O’Connor have been struggling for form this season, with three wins so far. Two of those have come in the last five matches, with a 9-1 loss in the Croatian Derby in between the successes.
Currently sitting eight points adrift of Croatia in first place, Monaro Panthers can keep in relative touching distance of the league leaders as they prepare to welcome eight placed Yoogali SC to Stryda Park on Saturday evening.
Panthers are in strong form at the moment, with 17 goals in their last five matches with only the one loss in that time. They were made to work hard for the points last week against the Knights, with a four goal second half propelling the side to a 5-1 win away, as five different names got on the scoresheet.
Making the long trip to face the in-form Panthers, is a Yoogali side that hasn’t tasted success since Round 5, a 5-1 hammering of defending premiers Gungahlin at Solar Mad Stadium.
The men from Griffith might be wondering what could have been, losing out to ten-men Tuggeranong last weekend, but will have to put that in the back of mind if they are to get any sort of result against Monaro.
The high-flying and dominant Canberra Croatia will looking to keep their distance from the chasing pack when they line up against Gungahlin United at Deakin Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
It’s been a far from ideal league title defence for Gungahlin, with only the one win to their name in this campaign to date. Javier Roca’s side will be looking to turn their fortunes around, as we head into the bac half of the season. The addition of new imports brings with them a huge amount of promise going forward, however are yet to materialise into tangible results.
The free scoring Canberra Croatia will be looking to extend their lead at the summit, depending on other results. Dean Ugrinic has been dominating the competition, with a 2-1 loss at the hands of Tigers FC the only blemish on their near perfect record thus far. To date, they have scored 45 goals in the league whilst only conceding eight in their 11 games played. They face a tough test over the coming weeks, starting with Gungahlin and followed by top of the table clashes against Tigers and Monaro.
Closing out the round, Tuggeranong United welcome Tigers FC to Kambah 201, hoping to put some distance between themselves and those sitting just outside the top four.
Tuggies will be without key player Luke Stevens for the highly important clash, the forward shown a red card against Yoogali. Despite being down to ten men for much of the game last week, Mitch Stevens’ side held out for an important win at home. Second half goals from Steve Nealon and a Michael Di Paoli own goal propelled the men from the south of Canberra to the points, keeping them entrenched in the top four for the time being.
Tigers find themselves relatively comfortable in the top four, seven points ahead of Tuggeranong in fourth but also nine points off Croatia in first. A win in round 11 over Gungahlin gives the side hope in their quest for top spot, and a place in the Australian Championship, and a win against Tuggeranong could potentially bring them one step closer.
FIXTURES
ROUND 12
Saturday 28 June
Queanbeyan City v O’Connor Knights (High Street, 15:00)
Monaro Panthers v Yoogali SC (Stryda Park, 17:45)
Sunday 29 June
Canberra Croatia v Gungahlin United (Deakin Stadium, 15:00)
Tuggeranong United v Tigers FC (Kambah 2, 15:00)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Croatia | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 8 | +37 | 30 |
| 2 | Monaro Panthers | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 37 | 14 | +23 | 22 |
| 3 | Tigers FC | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 26 | 18 | +8 | 21 |
| 4 | Tuggeranong United | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 20 | -7 | 14 |
| 5 | Queanbeyan City | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 20 | -12 | 11 |
| 6 | O’Connor Knights | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 32 | -14 | 10 |
| 7 | Gungahlin United | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 29 | -21 | 6 |
| 8 | Yoogali SC | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 29 | -14 | 5 |
TOP SCORERS
11: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers)
9: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
7: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia)
6: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights/Tigers FC), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC)
5: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Jenno CERUTI (O’Connor Knights), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers)
4: William AKIO (Tigers FC), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Own GOALS
3: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers / Canberra Croatia), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Augustine BANGURA (Tigers FC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WHITEHEAR (Tigers FC)
1: Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Giancarlo D’ADDARIO (Gungahlin United), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Luca FLOREZ (Gungahlin United), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Nikola JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Michael JOHN (O’Connor Knights), Chistian JUNNA (O’Connor Knights), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Harry MARTIN (O’Connor Knights), Nathen MEGIC (Tigers FC), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Alessandro PENA (Tuggeranong United), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Joey SEO (Yoogali SC), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
TOP ASSISTS
12: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
8: Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers)
7: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia, Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
5: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Phakedi MANDA (O’Connor Knights)
4: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Kobi YARIYARI (O’Connor Knights)
3: Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Tigers FC)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), William AKIO (Tigers FC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Chaise DONETTO (Yoogali SC), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Cole FALCO (Tuggeranong United), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia)
1: Samuel ABA (Queanbeyan City), Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights), Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Riley BROWN (Gungahlin United), Xabier DAVIES (Tuggeranong United), Josh DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Bailey DICKENSON (Gungahlin United), Jacob DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Marco GAYER (Monaro Panthers), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Max MELLICK (Monaro Panthers), Josh PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Nicholas PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Charlie RAE (Queanbeyan City), Robbie RIMMER (Yoogali SC), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Kristian TOKIC (Queanbeyan City), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
