Gold Coast Knights can secure their first NPL Queensland Men’s Premiership on Sunday while six teams are still in contention for the fourth and final Finals position ahead of the weekend’s Round 21 action.
Knights who start the weekend five points clear of second placed Moreton Bay United will be crowned Premiers with a win against the already relegated Olympic at the Croatian Sports Centre.
Scott McDonald’s side, who defeated Olympic 4-2 in the Kappa Pro Series final a fortnight ago could still seal the title if they lost, provided Moreton Bay and Gold Coast United fail to win on the weekend.
Moreton Bay face a sixth placed Peninsula Power side who must win and hope other results go their way if they’re to avoid missing out on finals football for the first time since they were promoted to the NPL in 2019.
Power won the reverse fixture 2-1 in what was Head Coach Aaron Philp’s first game back in charge and remain undefeated in the league since his return to the helm.
Third placed Gold Coast United go up against eighth placed Rochedale at Coplick Sports Park on Sunday afternoon.
Both sides look to bounce back from defeats last weekend which left United six points adrift of top spot and Rovers five points shy of fourth spot.
Lions look to strengthen their grip on fourth spot when they travel to Heath Park to face already relegated Eastern Suburbs on Sunday.
Darren Simes side, who played out a thrilling 4-4 with Easts in the reverse fixture could lock in their finals spot or eliminate all of the chasing pack bar Brisbane City with a win provided Karl Dodd’s side also win.
Brisbane City make the trip up the Bruce Highway to face Sunshine Coast Wanderers with both sides knowing nothing less than three points will realistically keep their finals hopes alive.
City defeated the Wanderers 5-1 when the pair met at CTM Stadium in May but are winless in two whilst the Wanderers have tasted defeat just once in eight outings since Kevin A’Herne Evans took charge of the side in June.
Young Roar head to Compass Grounds to face Redlands United knowing they must win and hope Lions lose if they’re remain in the finals hunt in the final round of the regular season.
Redlands secured their NPL status for next season with a 2-2 draw in their last outing against City and are still able to finish as high as sixth with wins in their final two matches if other results go their way.
All of the weekend’s NPL Queensland Men’s Round 21 action kicks off at 4pm on Sunday and will be live streamed FQTV or the Football Queensland YouTube channel.