The final round of the OPC NPL takes place this weekend and the mathematics are simple. Two places are up for grabs and three clubs are vying for the. Quite simply, three into two doesn’t go. So, what are the permutations?
TUGGERANONG UNITED
Maximum available points: 30
A visit to Deakin Stadium is on the cards for Tuggeranong United where they know that a win would secure qualification for the Finals. A draw might be enough, depending on whether Gungahlin United do not manage to win by six clear goals at Stryda Park on Saturday evening.
GUNGAHLIN UNITED
Maximum available points: 28
The Gunners must win against Monaro Panthers at Stryda Park to have any hopes of making the top four. Even then, they are relying on League Champions Canberra Croatia to defeat Tuggeranong United to make the finals. A Tuggeranong draw could open the door for Gunners, but they’d need a big win for it to matter.
QUEANBEYAN CITY
Maximum available points: 27
The only way that Queanbeyan City can make Finals in their debut season in the NPL is if they beat Tigers FC at the Australian Institute of Sport and both Gungahlin United and Tuggeranong United lose their respective matches.
There’s also a race for second place which is a little easier to do the maths on. A Tigers FC win over Queanbeyan City will secure a Qualification Final spot and a match against Canberra Croatia at Stryda Park next weekend. A draw opens the door for Monaro Panthers who could steal that spot with a win against Gungahlin United. Should Tigers FC lose, a Panthers draw will be enough for them to finish second on gaol difference.
League Champions Canberra Croatia are in the enviable position of having already won the title, and secured passage to the Australian Championships. They can afford to lose to Tuggeranong United and still remain top of the table.
At the other end of the table, pride is on the line. Yoogali SC only needs a draw when O’Connor Knights visit Solar Mad Stadium on Sunday to make sure that they don’t end the season bottom of the OPC NPL. A Knights win will see them end the season in seventh wit Yoogali propping up the table.
Another factor to bring into the equation are accumulated yellow cards. With a host of players in the top six currently on three cards, one more would mean suspension from the first round of the finals series. This may well impact team selection across the weekend.
A reminder that all matches are screened live and exclusive on Capital Football’s YouTube channel across both Saturday and Sunday.
FIXTURES
ROUND 21
Saturday 30 August
Tigers FC v Queanbeyan City (AIS, 15:00)
Monaro Panthers v Gungahlin United (Stryda Park, 17:45)
Yoogali SC v O’Connor Knights (Solar Mad Stadium, 15:00)
Sunday 31 August
Canberra Croatia v Tuggeranong United (Deakin Stadium, 15:00)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Croatia | 20 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 75 | 24 | +51 | 48 |
| 2 | Tigers FC | 20 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 47 | 32 | +15 | 40 |
| 3 | Monaro Panthers | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 59 | 23 | +36 | 39 |
| 4 | Tuggeranong United | 20 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 43 | -14 | 27 |
| 5 | Gungahlin United | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 33 | 53 | -20 | 25 |
| 6 | Queanbeyan City | 20 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 33 | -14 | 24 |
| 7 | Yoogali SC | 20 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 24 | 48 | -24 | 12 |
| 8 | O’Connor Knights | 20 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 32 | 63 | -31 | 11 |
TOP SCORERS
17: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers)
16: Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
15: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
14: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United)
10: Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United)
9: William AKIO (Tigers FC), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers)
8: Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights/Tigers FC), Ayumu KIMURA (Gungahlin United), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia)
7: Jenno CERUTI (O’Connor Knights), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers), Own GOALS
6: Nico ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC), Michael JOHN (O’Connor Knights)
5: Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers)
4: Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers/Tigers FC), Giancarlo D’ADDARIO (Gungahlin United), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers / Canberra Croatia)
3: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Stefan DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Zac LAWRENCE (Tuggeranong United), Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Misko NAUMOSKI (Queanbeyan City), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC), Sam WHITEHEAR (Tigers FC)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC / Gungahlin United), Augustine BANGURA (Tigers FC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia)
1: Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Isaac DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Cole FALCO (Tuggeranong United), Luca FLOREZ (Gungahlin United), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), 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), Jack PERAIC-CULLEN (Canberra Croatia), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Sam RACITI (Yoogali SC), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights), Daniel ROBERTS (Queanbeyan City), Joey SEO (Yoogali SC), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Daler TOKHIROV (Yoogali SC), Noah VANDERPOL (Queanbeyan City), Hamish WALES (Tigers FC), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
TOP ASSISTS
20: Thomas JAMES (Canberra Croatia)
9: Daniel BARAC (Monaro Panthers), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers)
8: Phakedi MANDA (Monaro Panthers/O’Connor Knights), Nick PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia)
7: Maxx GREEN (Canberra Croatia), Yoshida SHOKI (Gungahlin United)
6: William AKIO (Tigers FC), Stephen DOMENICI (Monaro Panthers)
5: Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC)
4: Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers), Nik POPOVICH (Tigers FC), Thomas ROBERTSON (Gungahlin United), Shandon WHITEHEAD (Tigers FC), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC), Kobi YARIYARI (O’Connor Knights)
3: Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), Giancarlo D’ADDARIO (Gungahlin United), Josh DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Cole FALCO (Tuggeranong United), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Jack LEVERETT (Queanbeyan City), Michael PICCOLO (Monaro Panthers), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Danny REID (Yoogali SC), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Nicholas SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers), Keegan VUCETIC (Canberra Croatia), Riley ZSUZSA (Canberra Croatia)
2: Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (O’Connor Knights/Tigers FC), Angus BAILEY (Tigers FC), Riley BROWN (Gungahlin United), Nikita BYRNES (Gungahlin United), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Chaise DONETTO (Yoogali SC), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Nic EMANUEL (Tuggeranong United), Bevan FOXALL (Tuggeranong United), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Marko JADRIC (Canberra Croatia), Michael JOHN (O’Connor Knights), Loick LESPINASSE (Gungahlin United), AJ MALAUULU (Gungahlin United), Joshua MILICEVIC (Tigers FC), Josh PEDERSEN (Tuggeranong United), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights), Robbie RIMMER (Yoogali SC), Daniel ROBERTS (Queanbeyan City), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Noah STEINACKER (Tigers FC), Ryan STRAUB (Monaro Panthers)
1: Samuel ABA (Queanbeyan City), Niko ABOT (Queanbeyan City), Ben BASSER-SILK (Monaro Panthers), Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Thomas BLAZEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Sam BROWN (Canberra Croatia), Nick DAHL (O’Connor Knights), Xabier DAVIES (Tuggeranong United), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), Bailey DICKENSON (Gungahlin United), Jacob DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Jayce DOTSON (Yoogali SC), FERNANDO Jorquera (Monaro Panthers), Marco GAYER (Monaro Panthers), Matt GRBESA (Canberra Croatia), Hayden HOLLINGER (Yoogali SC), Romeo JAMBREK (Tuggeranong United), Mitchell JERVIS-HAMILTON (Monaro Panthers), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Steven KRESKAS (Queanbeyan City), Luca MACOR (Monaro Panthers), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Harry MARTIN (O’Connor Knights), Archie MCGREGOR (Tigers FC), Max MELLICK (Monaro Panthers), Steve NEALON (Tuggeranong United), Ibrahim OBEID (O’Connor Knights), Deacon PALOMBI (Gungahlin United), Alessandro PENA (Tuggeranong United), Nicholas PRATEZINA (Canberra Croatia), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Charlie RAE (Queanbeyan City), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Monaro Panthers),Luke SAKAMOTO (Tuggeranong United), Vincent SANCHEZ (O’Connor Knights), Cassidy SCHLESINGER (Tuggeranong United), Michael SOUTHAM (Tigers FC), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Giuseppe TINE (Monaro Panthers), Kristian TOKIC (Queanbeyan City), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United)
