A mammoth clash awaits in the Battle of the Big Cats at Stryda Park on Saturday evening as Monaro Panthers, currently in third place, extend a welcome to Tigers FC, a point ahead of them, in a pivotal clash in the OPC National Premier League.
The Round 16 meeting, the third time the pair have met this campaign, will be the thirtieth in the NPL, the teams having met 29 times previously, with Panthers having won eight, Tigers 17, with four draws.
Half of those matches have been at the Riverside Stadium, Panthers have won six, the Tigers seven, with two draws, but it’s been Monaro who have had the edge in 2025 taking four of the six points on offer so far with a 5-2 win earlier in the season at this venue, and a 2-2 draw in Round 8.
With Canberra Croatia in action earlier in the day, the result will be known by the time these two take to the field, with second place very much up for grabs, and a potential title tilt not out of the question for two in-form teams.
The League leading Canberra Croatia will be favourites to extend their advantage at the top of the table when they lace up for the third ‘Cevapi Derby’ of the year against a misfiring O’Connor Knights at O’Connor Enclosed.
The Knights are on a five-game losing streak in the NPL, having not won since defeating Tigers FC in Round 10, whilst their opponents have lost two of the last four NPL matches they have played, despite winning the six prior to that run.
Croatia will be without the suspended Matt Grbesa and Tony Spaseski, the duo both gaining a fourth yellow card of the season and serving a ban ahead of next Wednesday’s Australia Cup Round of 32 tie against MetroStars at Deakin Stadium.
Last time out the Knights took the lead against Croatia but then were forced to watch on as the title chasers romped to a record 9-1 derby day demolition. The Knights will need to be at the top of their game to make sure that this one also doesn’t blow out against a team that rattled in seven against Tuggeranong in Round 15.
Tuggeranong United will seek to bounce back from that thumping by Croatia at the Australian Institute of Sport when they welcome Gungahlin United, hopefully to their Kambah 2 base, on Sunday afternoon.
Predicted bad weather may curtail the match at that venue, something Tuggeranong will be keen to avoid having seen their home advantage cruelled last weekend. Tuggeranong though have only picked up one win in the last four matches, and two in the last seven.
The hosts haven’t beaten Gungahlin in a home game since R5, 2020. Since then, Gunners have won three and drawn two on their travels South and enter this match with only one loss in the last four.
That capitulation at home to Monaro Panthers last weekend came off the back of a trio of excellent victories, the most eye-catching that of the 5-4 epic against Canberra Croatia. A return to that kind of free-flowing attacking football would be welcomed by the Gunners travelling faithful.
Meanwhile, over in the Riverina, Yoogali SC will welcome Queanbeyan City with both teams eyeing up the points after contrasting weekends in Round 15. Whilst City were beaten 1-0 by Tigers, Yoogali were finding their form in a 2-0 away win over O’Connor Knights.
Indeed, but for some profligate finishing, the winning margin for the men from Solar Mad Stadium, the venue for this Round 16 match-up, would have been considerably higher that the two-goal cushion they obtained.
News emanating from High Street suggests the departure of talismanic forward Nico Abot, the Argentine striker calling time on his Queanbeyan journey and heading back overseas leaving a gaping hole on the goalscoring front that Samuel Aba and Abderrahim Dellahi will aim to fill.
With the Knights hosting a rampant Croatia, a home win would move Yoogali off the foot of the league table with five games remaining and set them up nicely for the run-in.
FIXTURES
ROUND 16
Saturday 26 July
O’Connor Knights v Canberra Croatia (O’Connor Enclosed, 15:00)
Monaro Panthers v Tigers FC (Stryda Park, 17:45)
Sunday 27 July
Tuggeranong United v Gungahlin United (Kambah 2, 15:00)
Yoogali SC v Queanbeyan City (Solar Mad Stadium, 15:00)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Croatia | 15 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 60 | 16 | +44 | 36 |
| 2 | Tigers FC | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 23 | +9 | 30 |
| 3 | Monaro Panthers | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 45 | 17 | +28 | 29 |
| 4 | Queanbeyan City | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 25 | -9 | 20 |
| 5 | Tuggeranong United | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 35 | -17 | 17 |
| 6 | Gungahlin United | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 39 | -18 | 15 |
| 7 | O’Connor Knights | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 23 | 45 | -22 | 10 |
| 8 | Yoogali SC | 15 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 35 | -15 | 9 |
TOP SCORERS
13: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers)
12: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
11: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
8: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights/Tigers FC), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia)
6: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC)
5: William AKIO (Tigers FC), Jenno CERUTI (O’Connor Knights), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers), Own GOALS
4: Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United)
3: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Stefan DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Ayumu KIMURA (Gungahlin United), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers / Canberra Croatia), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Sam WHITEHEAR (Tigers FC)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC / Gungahlin United), Augustine BANGURA (Tigers FC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Giancarlo D’ADDARIO (Gungahlin United), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Michael JOHN (O’Connor Knights), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Zac LAWRENCE (Tuggeranong United), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia)
1: Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Isaac DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Luca FLOREZ (Gungahlin United), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Nikola JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Chistian JUNNA (O’Connor Knights), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Alex-Junior MALAUULU (Gungahlin United), Harry MARTIN (O’Connor Knights), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Nathen MEGIC (Tigers FC), Alessandro PENA (Tuggeranong United), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Daniel ROBERTS (Queanbeyan City), Joey SEO (Yoogali SC), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Noah VANDERPOL (Queanbeyan City), Hamish WALES (Tigers FC), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
TOP ASSISTS
17: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
9: Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers)
8: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
7: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia)
6: Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights)
5: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia)
4: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Tigers FC), Kobi YARIYARI (O’Connor Knights)
3: William AKIO (Tigers FC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Giancarlo D’ADDARIO (Gungahlin United), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Josh DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Chaise DONETTO (Yoogali SC), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Cole FALCO (Tuggeranong United), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Josh PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights), Robbie RIMMER (Yoogali SC), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
1: Samuel ABA (Queanbeyan City), Niko ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights), Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Riley BROWN (Gungahlin United), Xabier DAVIES (Tuggeranong United), Bailey DICKENSON (Gungahlin United), Jacob DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Marco GAYER (Monaro Panthers), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), AJ MALAUULU (Gungahlin United), Harry MARTIN (O’Connor Knights), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Max MELLICK (Monaro Panthers), Nicholas PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Charlie RAE (Queanbeyan City), Daniel ROBERTS (Queanbeyan City), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Monaro Panthers), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Kristian TOKIC (Queanbeyan City), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia)
