Saturday 2nd April will see the long wait for PlayStation® 4 National Premier League football come to an end as the ten clubs that comprise the Canberra version of the national competition dust off the cobwebs and take to the field for the first time in anger as the season kicks-off with five matches across the Capital city.
 
The first fixture of the eagerly anticipated calendar is at the Australian Institute of Sport where the FFA COE clash with Tuggeranong United. It has been well documented that Tuggeranong failed to gain a single point in 2015 but an opening day match-up with the new intake of FFA COE hopefuls could be just what the club needs under the direction of new Head Coach Miro Trninic.

Trninic welcomes a brace of signings from Greece into his squad and he will be hoping that lively forward Nikolaos Kalfas and midfielder Emilio Rista can continue on the good form that they have shown in pre-season. Kalfas has been amongst the goals and will likely become a firm crowd favourite while Rista has shown some neat touches and good distribution.

The FFA COE group are a new batch and have played a couple of friendly games against the CU Academy sides winning 7-4 against the U17 team and, remarkably, 8-5 against the NPL squad. They certainly appear well-equipped to score goals but can they keep them out at the other end?
 
Action will then switch to McKellar Pak for the early evening encounter between Belconnen United and the CU Academy. The Blue Devils will be anxious to start the season with three points at home to the Premier League newcomers whilst Pat McCann’s young charges will be out to prove a point as well, a combination that should make for an entertaining match. 

Blue Devils welcome back prodigal son Dustin Wells into their matchday squad alongside the returning Michael Taurasi, adding extra spice into the final third of the field, an area they were lacking a little in 2015. The loss of the reliable David Kemp (retired) and Jack Blackley (overseas), alongside the retirement of stalwarts David Arranz and Matt Valeri will be tough to cover.

McCann’s Academy have blown hot and cold in pre-season showing some excellent combination play but shipping a number of goals. Getting a settled side may be the first port of call for the former Woden Valley head honcho, but there is little doubt that there is plenty of quality in the ranks. 
 
On Sunday afternoon a trio of matches will complete the first round of the program with Champions Canberra FC beginning the defence of their League title with a home match against Monaro Panthers at their well-appointed Deakin Stadium ground. Fresh from Charity Shield success, FC will be favourites to start the season with a victory as Thomas James goes hunting for more goals against his former club. The addition of Ryan Keir to the team, the centre-0back scored two trademark headers in the 4-1 Shield win over Gungahlin United, adds more stability to the back-line for Zoran Glavinic. 

Monaro meanwhile will enter the match with a very young squad, off-set by the goal-getting power of ex-Tuggeranong United and Canberra Olympic hit-man Mark Shields. They will need to strike first, and early, to knock FC off their stride and attempt to get the home crowd on the backs of their heroes before they settle.

Grand Final winners Canberra Olympic, one of the pre-season favoruites for success, begin with a home match versus Gungahlin United at O’Connor Enclosed whilst Tigers FC, sure to be in the mix at the season’s end begin their push at Nijong Oval where Woden-Weston FC will be the visitors. 

Olympic enter the season with a highly settled squad with the addition of Jeremy Habtemariam, Jack Pettit and Michael John their only significant pieces of business in the off-season. John may be out for the season already however with a knee injury, so the luring of Victor Yanes out of his sabbatical may prove to be a masterstroke from Frank Cachia. Gungahlin meanwhile will be put to better their Charity Shield loss to Canberra FC where they were second best for large parts of the match. Tidying up their defensive frailties from set-plays will be critical.

Finally, Tigers FC meet Woden-Weston FC. The Tigers have been full of goals in pre-season, as usual, whilst an inexperienced Woden-Weston FC will be hoping that new Spanish signing Richy Hurtado Lora can fulfil the promise he has shown in their friendly matches. The Tigers welcome in Daniel Barac and Stephen Domenici to improve their firepower even further alongside Nicolas Abot, snapped up from the Indonesian Super League. 
 
THIS WEEKS FIXTURES

Round 1
Saturday 2nd April
FFA COE v Tuggeranong United (AIS, 2pm)
Belconnen United v CU Academy (McKellar Park, 5.30pm)
Sunday 3rd April
Canberra Olympic v Gungahlin United (O’Connor Enclosed, 3pm)
Canberra FC v Monaro Panthers (Deakin Stadium, 3pm)
Tigers FC v Woden-Weston FC (Nijong Oval, 3pm)