National Premier Leagues: Capital Football
Round 10 – Preview

Saturday 14th June
Tuggeranong United v Belconnen United (Kambah 2-1)
Round 10 of the National Premier Leagues: Capital Football season kicks off on Saturday afternoon at Kambah 2 as Tuggeranong United meets Belconnen United. At the start of the season if you had suggested Tuggeranong, a team that finished with the wooden spoon last season, would be a point off top spot at the half-way stage then the men in white coasts may have been coming for you. But that’s exactly where we stand at this moment in time with Steve Forshaw having assembled a battling side that plays neat and tidy football and has worked its way to five wins from eight matches. The Blue Devils will provide a true litmus test of how far this Tuggeranong side can go and, with the pair meeting on Tuesday evening in the Quarter Finals of the Federation Cup, could potentially provide a season defining moment. It’s not a good time to be facing Belconnen however as the Blue Devils come into the match off the back of a sensational 10-1 drubbing on Monaro Panthers in which they hit six goals in the opening half hour. There is speed, skill, finishing prowess and no lack of talent in a Belconnen squad that look genuine title contenders as they search for a trophy. No-one will take Tuggeranong for granted, not least the Blue Devils, but a win here, with Canberra FC travelling to the notoriously difficult Nijong Oval, would send the visitors top.

Sunday 15th June
Woden Valley v FFA COE (Kaleen Enclosed)
This could be a pivotal moment for both Woden Valley and the FFA Centre of Excellence as they lock horns for the first time in the 2014 National Premier Leagues: Capital Football season at Kaleen Enclosed on Sunday afternoon. If the manner and result of their last fixtures is any sort of guide we should be in for a tight match with little to choose between the pair. Woden had the bye last week after coming out on the wrong end of a 1-2 loss to Tuggeranong United at this same venue whilst the FFA COE succumbed to Tuggeranong by the exact same score-line in their Round 9 match at Kambah last weekend. This would suggest that we can expect a tight match with few opportunities for both teams and with four points separating them on the ladder anything could happen. What is obvious is that whoever loses will be in with a torrid time to try and make the top four. With only five points from seven matches, Woden are currently ten points off the pace whilst the FFA COE are scarcely better off, some six points off the cluster of five aiming for those finals spots. A negative result for either team might just spell the end of any lingering hopes as we enter the second half of what has been an unpredictable campaign so far.

Cooma Tigers v Canberra FC (Nijong Oval)
First meets third at Nijong Oval on Sunday afternoon as Canberra FC makes the trip South to NSW and a date with Cooma Tigers. Only one points separates these two sides but momentum is a funny thing and it’s Cooma who enters the tie on a crest of wave having won their last five matches on the back of losing their opening two. Canberra FC meanwhile has taken four points from their last nine, including a 0-1 loss to Canberra Olympic last weekend which has put the chase for top spot wide open as five teams are within a point of each other at the top. Whilst FC was being downed by Olympic, the Tigers were grinding out a gritty 2-1 win over Canberra City with a last minute goal from icon Robbie Cattanach giving them a precious win. Cattanach leads all scorers in the competition with ten goals from six matches and without him the Tigers are a different side. Jordan Lando ably deputised for Stephen Domenici last time out and netted a goal to give proof that there are others in the squad who can contribute outside of the much vaunted ‘Tigers trio’. A win for Cooma here will raise expectations of another championship year. For FC getting three points from a tough venue would enhance their reputation as the team to beat and make up for their Olympic setback.

Monaro Panthers v Canberra City (Riverside Stadium)
Whilst league positioning may not make this the most attractive of propositions for the average punter looking for a National Premier Leagues: Capital Football fix this weekend there is no doubting the amount of pride that will be at stake when Monaro Panthers welcome Canberra City to the Riverside Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Both teams have suffered a disappointing campaign to date with the home team having only managed two wins and a draw from eight fixtures whilst City’s record is even worse, a solitary draw giving them their only point this season. When the pair met in midweek in May in a re-arranged Round 1 tie it was the Panthers that came out on the right side of the ledger, emerging with a 3-1 victory thanks to goals from Darian McGarry-Watson, Josh Calabria and Kamal Ahmed. If they are to repeat the feat in this match it’s likely they would have to score first. City has looked solid when defending a stalemate but has often struggled to impose themselves as an attacking threat when they have gone behind. The return of last season’s leading goal scorer, Sam McDonald, may help in that pivotal area, but with the Panthers playing at home and with local support behind them, they will start the match as slight favourites to keep up the pressure on a chase for a place in the top four and finals football.

TABLE

LEADING SCORERS
10 Daniel BENNETT (Canberra FC), Robbie CATTANACH (Cooma Tigers)
9 Jason UGRINIC (Belconnen United)
7 Alex OLORIEGBE (Canberra FC), Robbie DEELEY, Mark SHIELDS (Canberra Olympic)
6 Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United)
5 Goran MUKEVSKI (Belconnen United), Stephen DOMENICI, Goran JOSIFOVSKI (Cooma Tigers)
4 Philippe BERNABO-MADRID, Aaron EVANS (Canberra FC), Thomas JAMES (Monaro Panthers)
3 Tom McLACHLAN, Michael TAURASI (Belconnen United), Domenic GIAMPAOLO (Canberra FC), Peter KEKERIS (FFA COE), Josh CALABRIA (Monaro Panthers), Jon TOOLE (Tuggeranong United), Lukas COLE (Woden Valley), Own GOALS
2 Jack BLACKLEY (Belconnen United), Gimale ESSACU, Misko NAUMOSKI (Canberra City), Michael REEVE, Callum SMITH (Canberra Olympic), Daniel ARZANI, Daniel MASKIN, Kosta PETRATOS (FFA COE), Darian McGARRY-WATSON, Deng PADIET (Monaro Panthers), Daniel COLBERTALDO, Michael JOHN, Muad ZWED (Tuggeranong United), Regan WALSH (Woden Valley)
1 Taylor BEATON, Aisosa IHEGIE, David KEMP (Belconnen United), Adam DOBELL (Canberra City), Ian GRAHAM, Josip JADRIC, Ryan KEIR (Canberra FC), Nick BOBOLAS, Daniel FULTON, Josh GASPARI, Oliver WIEDERKEHR (Canberra Olympic), Jordan LANDO (Cooma Tigers), Nicholas D’AGOSTINO, Charlie DEVEREUX, Jamal REINERS, Kye ROWLES, Zak WATERS (FFA COE), Kamal AHMED (Monaro Panthers), Sean KIDDEY, Harry PETTIT (Tuggeranong United), Conor NOLAN, Andrew SLAVICH, Mitch STEENBERGEN (Woden Valley)