Leading the National Premier League table by four points, the O’Connor Knights will be hoping to extend their nine match unbeaten run, and potentially take a giant leap towards a maiden NPL title when they travel to Kambah 2 to take on Tuggeranong United whilst nearest challengers, Tigers FC have the task of downing Canberra Croatia at Deakin Stadium.
The Knights are riding the crest of a wave at the present time, having conceded the fewest goals in the competition, and scoring plenty at the other end. More impressively perhaps, has been their fortitude in coming from behind in their last two outings, securing four points when zero could have been in the offering.
Tuggeranong meanwhile are edging ever closer to NPL safety, an eight point cushion over bottom of the table West Canberra Wanderers with only fifteen points left to play for, means they are almost over the line as far as survival is concerned. Whilst a victory over the leaders would appear unlikely on paper, never write United off at home.
Should the Knights take the points they could well extend their advantage at the top to seven points with only four matches to play should Tigers FC fail to register the maximum return themselves when they travel to Deakin Stadium on Tuesday evening to go head-to-head with Canberra Croatia.
Croatia will enter the fixture off the back of their Australia Cup Round of 32 encounter against Mount Druitt Town Rangers, and the result of that encounter may well dictate the mood ahead of what might be a pivotal moment in the season for both these teams.
The reigning champions have faltered in 2023 but are still clinging onto the coattails of the teams that make up the top four mix, a 4-1 win over Tuggeranong keeping them in the hunt. Tigers meanwhile arrested their form slump with a nervy 2-1 win over West Canberra Wanderers. With the pack closing in, Tigers need to maintain their winning streak.
One of the teams seeking a way into the top four, and on the cusp potentially of achieving the feat, are Monaro Panthers who make the afternoon trip to Melrose Synthetic and Wanderers Park, the home of the West Canberra Wanderers, who’s NPL future appears to be hanging by a thread.
The Panthers match with Gungahlin was curtailed at half-time in Round 16, the scoreboard blank at that stage, but with time running out to stake a place for the finals, the Panthers cannot afford a slip-up against a team that is yet to register a point in the campaign.
Wanderers season was perhaps encapsulated by the stoppage time strike from skipper Doug Woodiwiss against the Tigers at Greenway Enclosed last weekend, a shot that rebounded back off the base of both posts before being hacked away to safety to preserve Tigers lead. The Wanderers need a change of fortune, and soon, if they are to avoid the trapdoor.
The fourth fixture of the weekend is a potentially seismic match-up between Gungahlin United and Canberra Olympic with points vital to the successful season of both of these grand clubs. Olympic currently sit third and the Gunners fourth as the shake-up for finals continues.
Olympic perhaps still have thoughts on the championship crown, but the narrow reverse in the derby last weekend to O’Connor Knights has turned what could have been a one-point gap into something representing more of a chasm, as seven points at this stage of the season might prove a mountain too far to climb.
More worryingly for them, and more tellingly, a defeat to Gungahlin would put them behind the Gunners heading into the final run-in, this preview being written before the date of the Panthers-Gunners rearranged match was known. This game never fails to deliver and is surely set to be another high point in a topsy-turvy season.
FIXTURES
ROUND 17
Saturday 5 August
Tuggeranong United v O’Connor Knights (Kambah 2, 15:00)
West Canberra Wanderers v Monaro Panthers (Melrose Synthetic, 14:00)
Sunday 6 August
Gungahlin United v Canberra Olympic (AIS, 15:00)
Tuesday 8 August
Canberra Croatia v Tigers FC (Deakin Stadium, 18:30)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | O’Connor Knights | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 44 | 17 | +27 | 36 |
| 2 | Tigers FC | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 47 | 32 | +15 | 32 |
| 3 | Canberra Olympic | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 36 | 24 | +12 | 29 |
| 4 | Gungahlin United | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 43 | 31 | +12 | 27 |
| 5 | Monaro Panthers | 15 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 25 |
| 6 | Canberra Croatia | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 40 | 27 | +13 | 23 |
| 7 | Tuggeranong United | 16 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 17 | 51 | -34 | 8 |
| 8 | West Canberra Wanderers | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 12 | 64 | -52 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
15 Maxx GREEN (Gungahlin United)
11 Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers), Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC)
10 Josh GULEVSKI (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Canberra Olympic)
9 Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Canberra Croatia)
8 Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Croatia), Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights), Own GOALS
7 Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United)
6 Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers)
5 Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Thomas JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Niko KRESIC (O’Connor Knights), Phakedi MANDA (O’Connor Knights), Sam WALKER (Tuggeranong United), Sam WHITHEAR (Tigers FC)
4 Daniel BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Philippe BERNABO-MADRID (Gungahlin United), Clancy HISLOP (Tuggeranong United), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Patrick O’ROURKE (O’Connor Knights)
3 Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Micheal JOHN (Monaro Panthers), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Jason UGRINIC (Canberra Croatia), Regan WALSH (O’Connor Knights)
2 Riley ANGELOSANTE (O’Connor Knights), Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), FERNANDO Jorquera (Gungahlin United), Lachlan FIELDS (O’Connor Knights), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Luca MACOR (Canberra Olympic), Ed MCCARTHY (Tigers FC), Tom MCLACHLAN (Gungahlin United), Nathen MEGIC (Canberra Olympic), Jackson PAESLER (Gungahlin United), Kaz PATAFTA (Canberra Croatia), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Kyle SENIOR (Tigers FC), Patrick SHORE (West Canberra Wanderers), Callum SMITH (Canberra Olympic), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Antoni TIMOTHEOU (Gungahlin United), Noah VANDERPOL (Canberra Croatia)
1 Badreldin ABBAS (Gungahlin United), Joaquin ABOT (Tuggeranong United), Angus BAILEY (West Canberra Wanderers), Jake BISHOP (Tigers FC), Julian BORGNA (Tigers FC), Riley BROWN (West Canberra Wanderers), Lachlan CAMPBELL (O’Connor Knights), Kofi DANNING (Canberra Olympic), Elie DARWICH (Canberra Olympic), Dylan DEEP-JONES (Monaro Panthers), James DRISCOLL (O’Connor Knights), Dom GIAMPAOLO (Gungahlin United), Franc GRECO (Canberra Croatia), Sam HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Patrick HISLOP (Tuggeranong United), Tyson LIVERMORE (O’Connor Knights), Tony MADAFFARI (Tigers FC), Archie MCGREGOR (Monaro Panthers), Lewis MCKINNEY (Tuggeranong United), Zac MCLAREN (Monaro Panthers), Max MELLICK (Canberra Olympic), Misko NAUMOSKI (Gungahlin United), Adam NEOU (Canberra Olympic), Tomohiro OGAWA (Tigers FC), Lasse OLRIK (Canberra Olympic), Harrison PALIC (O’Connor Knights), George PAVESE (West Canberra Wanderers), Euan PETERKIN (Tuggeranong United), Jordan REZEK (Tuggeranong United), Jayden RIPPON (West Canberra Wanderers), Nicholas ROUFOGALIS (West Canberra Wanderers), David SESELJA (Canberra Croatia), Tony SPASESKI (Canberra Croatia), Daniel SUBASIC (Canberra Croatia), Hristjan TANOSKI (Tigers FC), George TIMOTHEOU (Gungahlin United), Robert TKATCHENKO (Monaro Panthers), Harry TRUMAN (West Canberra Wanderers), Liam VICKERS (West Canberra Wanderers), Joshua YOUNG (West Canberra Wanderers), Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia)