By Chris Webb

Queanbeyan City v Brindabella Blues | Friday, 26^th April – 7pm @ Everlast Enclosed

Friday night lights sees round three of the NPL 2 kick off with Queanbeyan hosting Brindabella, or is it Brindabella hosting Queanbeyan, at Everlast Enclosed in the deep south.

Both sides are coming into this one with zero points and two losses to their name, and while it remains early in the season both will be desperate for points to get them off the foot of the table. This is unexpected territory for a club with the ambitions of City, as such it seems Goran Josifoski is already having difficulty keeping all his players on side. His team however played decent football in their last outing, with Vasko Petrovski a rock in midfield, and with the return to fitness of big Irishman Davie McCarron, belief should be high. Although the potential extended loss of the experienced Alan Gaston to a seemingly gruesome Achilles injury could prove costly.

Brindabella on the other hand have had a tough start to the season playing two of the competition favourites in Weston and ANU, shipping four goals both times.

Coach Jeremy Butler could blame tired legs for the latest defeat after a testing midweek FFA cup match with powerhouse Canberra FC, but after the Easter break that excuse won’t hold. Substitute Richard Spiers saw red against ANU and will be unavailable for the Blues this week. Star striker Jono Toole was absent for the ANU game, and his return will be essential to Brindabella’s plight to finding some goals. The battle of the cellar dwellers is set to be a spicy affair. Avengers’ End Game will be out for weeks, so do yourself a favour and spend your Friday evening down in Calwell instead.

 

Wagga City Wanderers v ANU FC | Saturday, 27^th April – 3pm @ Gissing Oval

The Students make the long trip out to Wagga, as the Wanderers play host to this intriguing match-up of two of the early season favourites. After their emphatic round one win big things are expected from Wagga City however they were brought back down to earth with a tight 2-1 loss to the undefeated White Eagles the next week, with Justin Curran grabbing the consolation.

Wagga City were without a number of their top recruits including Jake Ploenges and Prince Thompson as well as American Frank Macias, however they did debut their other American recruit, the imposing Paul Milner.

ANU also suffered a one goal loss to the White Eagles, back in round one, but bounced back in style with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Brindabella. 2017 Golden Boot winner Andrew Manley opened his account with a brace while fellow forwards Rowan Peterkin and Chase Deans also troubled the Sporting Pulse data enterer.

Star players Matt Gazy and Max Mottl both started that match from the bench and ANU will be hoping to slip them into the starting line-up sooner rather than later. Two teams that come September are likely to be fighting it out for finals football, these match-ups often prove crucial in the final league standings, but as it stands anything could happen here.

 

O’Connor Knights v Southern Tablelands | Saturday, 27^th April – 3pm @ Kaleen Enclosed

After their unexpected hiding in week one, the Knights bounced back in style with a 3-1 win, and now welcome the wildcard in Southern Tablelands United. New recruits Greg Bullock and the much-lauded youngster Tom Cosentini both got their Knights careers up and running with early goals last week, however the game wasn’t wrapped up till late when substitute Josip Jadric scored the third, with the experienced speedster grabbing a goal deep into added time. Miro Trnicic’s side will be quietly confident, however they are playing a side that has played only once, beating the 2018 Premiers.

 

The Southern Tablelands United side had a difficult introduction to the Capital League in their inaugural year in 2018. But the fledging club has strengthened well for 2019, bringing back to Goulburn talented striker Eric Noheli, who has European football experience as well as NPL experience with Belconnen United.

Further to Noheli they have added a number of youngsters with NPL youth experience mainly with Gungahlin United such as Ethan Simon, all while keeping hold of the 2018 core, most notably the talented Hartin brothers and livewire striker Aaron Swanson. Swanson amassed a very impressive 12 goals for the Steamers last term in a struggling side, and started the season with a bang, bagging himself a hat-trick in week one against Queanbeyan City. That victory turned a lot of heads, and the Steamers will be hoping the train keeps on rolling through, while the Knights will be looking to derail their progress.

 

Narrabundah FC v Canberra White Eagles | Saturday, 27^th April – 3pm @ Narrabundah

Narrabundah kicked off their campaign in round two with a disappointing 3-1 loss to O’Connor and things don’t get any easier with the visit of the high-flying Eagles to Narrabundah Oval has moved into the 21st century with the removal of the diesel lines. Things were not all one way in the Bulls’ first outing, as Eugene Mazzulla grabbed the goal to put his side within touching distance, before the game was taken away in added time.

The Canberra White Eagles on the other hand sit atop of the league ladder with two impressive wins over two of the league’s pre-season favourites. While they are soaring, things may not be so rosy with the Eagles, as the rumour mill speculates the team may be all out of Moroccan spice with star striker Zin Eljammoudi, scorer of both goals in round two, possibly being unavailable for an extended period. How the Eagles fill that large dreadlocked sized hole will quite intriguing, with creative player Milan Santrac likely to pushed forward into the #9 role. All signs point to another Eagles victory however this might be the perfect game for Narrabundah’s pacey frontline to hit the Eagles on the counter.