Tigers and Olympic face their destiny

Tigers FC and Canberra Olympic will set out to emulate the feats of Tuggeranong United and Gungahlin United this Saturday as they compete for a place in the Round of 32.

The deeds of the two clubs that have already represented the region in the national competition are often talked about and with the top two in the PlayStation® 4 NPL meeting in this decider, a date with destiny awaits the winner.

The match looks too tight to call as a contest with both teams in good form up until last weekend. Maybe with one eye on this monumental showdown, Olympic slipped up in their pursuit of the Tigers at the top of the ladder, falling to a 0-1 home loss to Canberra FC whilst the Tigers were unable to capitalise, being held to a surprising 1-1 home draw by Gungahlin United.

More damaging than the defeat to FC for Olympic was the loss of midfielder Tom McLachlan through suspension, the former Blue Devils talisman joining long-term injured Callum Smith and Michael John on the sideline. With Daniel Colbertaldo and Adam Rogic overseas Olympic will need some rejigging in the centre of the park.

Tigers FC have no such injury concerns with Gaby Wilk’s main headache being who to leave out of the starting line-up. Leading scorer in the PS4 NPL over the past couple of seasons, Alex Oloriegbe, has had to be content with a watching brief for most of the season but is some impact player to bring off the bench, as the forward line of Daniel Barac, Nicolas Abot and Stephen Domenici in fine form.

Domenici has fifteen goals in all competitions this term and Abot is not far behind with thirteen. More tellingly, Abot has netted seven times in this competition alone, including back-to-back hat-tricks in the Quarter Finals and Semi-Finals. It’s this form that has seen the Argentinean spearheading the Tigers attacking triumvirate alongside Domenici and the influential, and physical, presence of Daniel Barac.

There’s no secret that Olympic enjoy playing at Deakin Stadium and they will be happy to occupy the away changing room with Tigers FC taking the mantle of the ‘home’ team for the match. When the pair locked horns in Round 3 at O’Connor Enclosed a feisty affair, which saw Colbertaldo dismissed, ended with a narrow 1-0 success for the Tigers thanks to a goal from Oloriegbe twenty minutes from time.

With so much at stake a similar style of match seems to be likely. For the winner the spoils and a chance to shine on the national stage.

 

MATCH DETAILS

Westfield FFA Cup Qualifying Final
Saturday 18th June 2016
Tigers FC v Canberra Olympic
Deakin Stadium, 17:00)
GATES OPEN AT 16:00

CLICK HERE for squad lists and ticketing details.