The destination of the National Premier League Championship trophy could be decided at the final whistle at about 5pm on Sunday as League leaders O’Connor Knights, one points away from claiming the silverware, visit the only side that can theoretically topple them from the summit, Gungahlin United.
The Gunners hopes though are minutely slim. They require maximum points from all three remaining games, the Knights to lose all three of theirs, and there to be an eighteen-goal swing in their favour in the bargain – a seemingly forlorn cause.
Where there is hope though, there is opportunity and Gungahlin will fancy their chances against the Knights, coming into the fixture off an excellent away win over Tigers FC at the AIS. The Knights defeated the Panthers in a solid display at the Riverside as well, and with the finish line in sight, expect them to not falter.
The race for the top four spots will intensify even further with four sides all harbouring ambitions of making the finals meeting on a bumper Saturday. Canberra Olympic are first up, a home match with a Tigers FC team that appears to be on the slippery slope, their task at O’Connor Enclosed.
Tigers are in a wretched run of form, their early season dalliance with the top of the table seemingly lost amid the dying of the Autumn twilight. Their hold on a top four place appears precarious, but they can help their situation with a win against an Olympic team who are blowing hot and cold themselves.
A narrow loss to Tuggeranong United at Kambah 2 has left Olympic’s hopes of finishing top of the table in tatters, a late Clancy Hislop goal being the difference, however the top four is very much within their grasp, and a win here would cement that status.
Canberra Croatia meanwhile has their destiny very much in their own hands, on the verge of breaking into the finals places with three rounds remaining, and with one of their closest challengers in Monaro Panthers making the always daunting trip to Deakin Stadium to face a team very much in form.
Panthers missed a chance to dent the Knights potential title parade in Round 18, a loss at home compounded by a second-half penalty miss from the usually ever-reliable Roko Strika. That meant back-to-back defeats for Monaro, a sequence of results that has left them looking vulnerable.
Croatia in the meantime have suddenly come on strong. Moving into the closing stages of the season, the reigning League Champions might be witnessing their hold on that particular trophy disappearing but remain in contention for Grand Final honours. With goals aplenty in the ranks, and an increasingly dominant defensive unit, few would bet against them.
At the bottom end of the table a fixture that looked pivotal only a few weeks back has become virtually redundant as the relegation of West Canberra Wanderers was confirmed last weekend following their defeat to Croatia and their direct opponents this week, Tuggeranong United’s 1-0 victory over Canberra Olympic.
The gap between the team’s courtesy of that late Hislop goal increased to eleven points and meant that the Wanderers needed to win at Deakin Stadium to stand any chance of staying alive in the division. That they were unable to do so was hardly a surprise given their form preceding the encounter.
Pride is all that is left to play for at Wanderers Park and the team have done enough to suggest they deserve some sort of reward from the 2023 season. Football is fickle though, and often you don’t get what you feel you warrant. Tuggeranong will be keen to twist the knife that’s already plunged deep into Wanderers flesh.
FIXTURES
ROUND 19
Saturday 19 August
West Canberra Wanderers v Tuggeranong United
Canberra Olympic v Tigers
Canberra Croatia v Monaro Panthers
Sunday 20 August
Gungahlin United v O’Connor Knights
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | O’Connor Knights | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 48 | 18 | +30 | 42 |
| 2 | Gungahlin United | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 48 | 36 | +12 | 33 |
| 3 | Canberra Olympic | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 39 | 26 | =13 | 32 |
| 4 | Tigers FC | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 49 | 39 | +10 | 32 |
| 5 | Canberra Croatia | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 50 | 30 | +20 | 29 |
| 6 | Monaro Panthers | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 28 |
| 7 | Tuggeranong United | 18 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 18 | 53 | -35 | 11 |
| 8 | West Canberra Wanderers | 18 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 15 | 72 | -57 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
17 Maxx GREEN (Gungahlin United)
13 Stephen DOMENICI (Canberra Croatia)
12 Nik TANESKI (Tigers FC)
11 Roko STRIKA (Monaro Panthers)
10 Josh GULEVSKI (Tigers FC), Nik POPOVICH (Canberra Olympic)
9 Micheal ADAMS (O’Connor Knights), Lukman AHMED-SHAIBU (Canberra Croatia), Own GOALS
8 Aisosa IHEGIE (O’Connor Knights)
7 Josh GASPARI (Gungahlin United)
6 Philippe BERNABO-MADRID (Gungahlin United), Amilio KISTA (Tigers FC), Connor MYNOTT-SMITH (Monaro Panthers)
5 Luca FLOREZ (Canberra Olympic), Clancy HISLOP (Tuggeranong United), 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), Jenno CERUTI (Monaro Panthers), Alen JAMES (Canberra Olympic), Patrick O’ROURKE (O’Connor Knights), Patrick SHORE (West Canberra Wanderers), Regan WALSH (O’Connor Knights)
3 Lachlan FIELDS (O’Connor Knights), Jack GREEN (Gungahlin United), Micheal JOHN (Monaro Panthers), Luca MACOR (Canberra Olympic), Marko MILUTINOVIC (Tigers FC), Adam NEOU (Canberra Olympic), Michael PICCOLO (Canberra Croatia), Luke STEVENS (Tuggeranong United), Jason UGRINIC (Canberra Croatia)
2 Riley ANGELOSANTE (O’Connor Knights), Connor BILL (O’Connor Knights), Julian BORGNA (Tigers FC), Daniel COLBERTALDO (Canberra Croatia), FERNANDO Jorquera (Gungahlin United), Sam HABTEMARIAM (Gungahlin United), Beau HARVEY (Monaro Panthers), Nikos KALFAS (Tigers FC), Ryan KEIR (Canberra Croatia), Ed MCCARTHY (Tigers FC), Tom MCLACHLAN (Gungahlin United), Nathen MEGIC (Canberra Olympic), Jackson PAESLER (Gungahlin United), Kaz PATAFTA (Canberra Croatia), Kyle SENIOR (Tigers FC), Callum SMITH (Canberra Olympic), Daniel SPARROW (Canberra Croatia), Antoni TIMOTHEOU (Gungahlin United), Noah VANDERPOL (Canberra Croatia), Atiya WARAGA (Canberra Croatia)
1 Badreldin ABBAS (Gungahlin United), Joaquin ABOT (Tuggeranong United), Angus BAILEY (West Canberra Wanderers), Jake BISHOP (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), Patrick HISLOP (Tuggeranong United), Christian KRESKAS (Monaro Panthers), 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), 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), Doug WOODIWISS (West Canberra Wanderers), Joshua YOUNG (West Canberra Wanderers)