We have finally arrived. After another gruelling, exciting season of football, the Playstation 4 National Premier Leagues: Canberra Grand Final is here. In a repeat of last season’s big dance, Canberra Olympic will face Canberra FC in a clash steeped in rivalry and history.

 

The storylines are set; Canberra FC looking to avenge the heartbreak of last year, this time on their own turf, while Olympic look to complete a perfect local season.

 

Olympic are enjoying a fruitful season in their 60^th year, still involved in the FFA Cup at the Quarter-final stage and soon to begin the NPL Finals Series after this weekend.

 

However rarely is anything much sweeter than getting one over your local rival, and Olympic will be looking to do that once more having knocked off Canberra FC in last season’s decider.

 

Olympic will be without goalkeeper and Captain Angelo Konstantinou, but Cachia was adamant this week that reserve goalkeeper Jack Pettit will excel in his absence, while Olympic’s leadership group was more than capable of filling the Captain’s absence.

 

Yeah we will miss Angelo, but we prepared for that at the beginning of the year,” Cachia said.

“That’s why we brought in Jack, and we’re 100% behind him.”

 

“We’ve got a leadership group, so Nick Bobolas will take over the captaincy and Adam (Rogic) and Robbie (Cattanach) will be a couple of other leaders, and Phil Yarnold at the back.”

 

The two matches between the sides this season have seen one result go either way, with Olympic’s early Round 2 win at Deakin cancelled out as FC took the chocolates in the Round 11 fixture at O’Connor.

 

Zoran Glavinic’s men will come into this match in blistering form following a 9-1 scoring run across their two finals matches.

 

“Hopefully we can keep the goal scoring,” he said.

 “We scored four against ‘Belco’ (Belconnen United), and five last week and only conceded one; we’re looking to score goals to win games.”

 

The 4-0 win over Belconnen and 5-1 thumping of Tigers marked a remarkable turn of form following two losses to finish the regular season but have provided the right boost at the right time.

 

For one of the few times this season, Canberra FC will go into this match with no major injury after a torrid year; a testament to their resilience as their squad ran dangerously thin at times.

 

Thomas James had a hand in nearly every goal last weekend and will, as usual, be an enormous threat to the Olympic backline throughout the clash. Kye Edwards showed with a hat-trick last weekend that he is a more than qualified accomplice to James’ up front and if the two can find their rhythm they become close to unstoppable.

 

Canberra’s defence looked strong and calm in their thumping of Tigers last weekend, an indication that Glavinic’s men have found the right balance of attack and defence that occasionally appeared to evade them throughout the season.

With both sides very close to, if not full strength, the match is poised perfectly to well and truly decide this year’s Premier.

 

Regardless of the result, this match is set to be an absolute cracker as Canberra FC look to go one better than last year on home turf against their biggest rivals. The Valeri trophy is on offer to the best player on the ground and with so many superbly talented individuals on the park there is no telling who shines brightest.

 

In an exciting development, Capital Football will trial two goal-line assistant referees in the PS4 NPL Grand Final this weekend. Bruno Kehl and Alex McConachie will help Luke Withell to make goal-line decisions during the match.

 

Gates on Sunday will open at 12pm, with admission $5 for adults and $2 for children.