With the League Championship title already secured and under their belts, Canberra Croatia can now have a massive say in who stays in the top-flight as two of their remaining three matches are against the bottom two, starting this weekend when they make the trek North to meet Belconnen United at McKellar Park.
Having secured the silverware against Gungahlin United, it will be interesting to see how Head Coach Dean Ugrinic deploys his troops for the fixture with all the need for the points with those in Sky Blue. Will they take their foot off the accelerator and open the door for their opponents?
The Blue Devils may hope so, their grip on life in the NPL is precarious to say the least with their advantage over West Canberra Wanderers who occupy the relegation spot, only a solitary point.
Whilst Croatia were seeing off the Gunners to win the trophy, Belconnen were slumping to a disappointing 0-4 loss to Canberra Olympic, a reverse that worsened their goal difference and will increase the pressure on them ahead of this match. They need to dig deep, find the reserves within, and hope to spring an upset.
Waiting for any kind of Belconnen slip-up, and in desperate need of points themselves, are West Canberra Wanderers who begin a tricky looking run-in with a visit to second placed Monaro Panthers on Saturday evening.
On paper this looks like a tough evening for the Wanderers, and yet they need only look back at the brace of matches played between the teams for signs of hope. The previous meeting at the Panthers’ Riverside venue was only settled by an 88th minute penalty in favour of Monaro, whilst the most recent clash, played at Melrose, ended scoreless.
Panthers eased to a 2-0 win over O’Connor Knights at home in Round 18 and took a one-point advantage over Gungahlin United with only three matches left in the regular season, a slender lead in the points race which they will be keen to maintain.
The Wanderers had to be content with a point from their 1-1 home draw with Tigers FC at Melrose Synthetic, the visiting team pegging back the Wanderers who had taken the lead via a goal from Jackson Paesler, and they will be acutely aware that they will need to the resilience they have shown in recent weeks to survive.
The race for the top four has swung in favour of Canberra Olympic over the last week, two wins in the space of four days seeing Steve Ujdur guide the team into the top four ahead of a potentially pivotal meeting with Tigers FC at O’Connor Enclosed.
Leading the Knights by a point, and their immediate opposition by four, Olympic could take a giant leap towards securing a place in the end of season jamboree should they be able to claim the three points.
They head into the match off the back of a four-goal win over Belconnen United, a performance that saw Luca Florez score twice to take his tally to three goals in his last two outings, a rediscovery of his goal-den touch that could not have come at a better time for Olympic.
Tigers stalemate with Wanderers increased the number of draws they have had this season to an unprecedented nine, meaning they have now managed to end up sharing the spoils in exactly 50% of NPL matches contested in 2022. If they are to maintain an outside chance of the finals, they will need to avoid the same here.
O’Connor Knights grip on fourth slipped last week but they are still very much in contention to make the top four based on their performances in the first part of the season and the visit of Gungahlin United to O’Connor Enclosed gives them the opportunity to bounce straight back rom successive defeats.
After clawing a point back with two stoppage time goals against Tigers at Hawker Football Centre, back-to-back losses to Canberra Olympic and Monaro Panthers has seen the Knights fall to fifth, but a victory in this match would ensure the pressure continues to mount on those above them.
Gunners meanwhile are struggling to string together successive matches, a combination of injuries and unavailability stymieing them at the most critical part of the campaign. The absence of Philippe Bernabo-Madrid (suspended) and Niko Abot (injured) leaves a whole that needs to be filled up top, and Will Roberts might just be the man to do it.
FIXTURES
ROUND 19
Saturday 27 August
Belconnen United v Canberra Croatia (McKellar Park, 15:00)
Tigers FC v Canberra Olympic (AIS Grass, 15:00)
O’Connor Knights v Gungahlin United (O’Connor Enclosed 15:00)
Monaro Panthers v West Canberra Wanderers (Riverside Stadium, 17:45)
TABLE
P | W | D | L | GD | PTS | ||
1 | Canberra Croatia (c) | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | +36 | 43 |
2 | Monaro Panthers | 18 | 8 | 8 | 2 | +17 | 32 |
3 | Gungahlin United | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | +11 | 31 |
4 | Canberra Olympic | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | -10 | 22 |
5 | O’Connor Knights | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | -10 | 21 |
6 | Tigers FC | 18 | 6 | 9 | 6 | -12 | 18 |
7 | Belconnen United | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | -21 | 15 |
8 | West Canberra Wanderers | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -11 | 14 |