The minor premiership isn’t the only piece of silverware on offer in the final round, though. The race for the Golden Boot is as tight as it’s ever been, with five players separated by a single goal at the top of the leader board. Here’s how things stack up amongst the key players as we enter the final round of NPL action…
Fausto Erba (Adelaide Olympic) – 11 goals, 17 matches
The Olympic skipper sits equal top of the charts, albeit having played two fewer matches than the two other players with whom he shares the lead to give him an excellent scoring rate of 0.65 per match.
Erba enjoyed a purple patch throughout the middle of the season, where he scored ten of his goals in a 12-match run (most of which coincided with Olympic’s stretch of positive results).
The big Italian feasted on Comets last time out, netting twice as they romped to a 3-0 victory, so both he and Olympic will be hoping for a similar outcome tomorrow night.
Jonathon Rideout (South Adelaide) – 11 goals, 19 matches
Rideout entered the NPL with a reputation, having finished as the winner of last season’s State League One Golden Boot off the back of an incredible 34 goals in 22 matches, 17 clear of Sturt’s Gonzalo Rodriguez in second place.
While the prolific marksman hasn’t kept up his obscene scoring rate in his first NPL season since 2017, his goals and presence up front have played a large part in their positive performances this season.
He enters the final round having gone goalless in each of his last six appearances and didn’t find the back of the net against Sturt earlier in the year, so he’ll have to pull out all the stops to get both himself and his side over the line tomorrow night.
Marc Marino (Campbelltown City) – 11 goals, 19 matches
The Campbelltown forward has passed his previous best goal tally of eight from last season to sit in equal first on 11 strikes entering the final round.
Marino’s best period of the season was undoubtedly his form from Rounds 4 to 8, during which he scored eight goals and helped his team to three wins and two draws after a slow start.
He scored what turned out to be the winner in Campbelltown’s last meeting against Blue Eagles and will be confident of increasing his goal tally once more as his side guns for a move up the table.
Joshua Mori (MetroStars) – 10 goals, 20 matches
Mori has quietly put together a great season in the red and gold, notching ten times in 20 matches to sit within a whisker of the lead for the league’s top goal scorer.
Most of his goals have come in clumps, with two in three at the start of the season, four in as many games from Rounds 10 to 13 and four in his last three outings as MetroStars continue to hold onto third spot.
One of his goals did come against this weekend’s opponent in the reverse fixture, as they eased to a 3-1 win away from home against Raiders, so he’ll be hoping for more of the same tomorrow.
Alexander Mullen (Campbelltown City) – 10 goals, 21 matches
The experienced midfielder finds himself in contention for a top individual honour with his most productive campaign in front of goal since 2017, when he netted 13 times for Para Hills Knights.
As Campbelltown’s resident penalty taker, Mullen has been entrusted to convert from the spot throughout the season, a role which he’s performed with aplomb under pressure.
He wasn’t required to hit the scoreboard last time Campbelltown took on Blue Eagles, but he’ll be focusing on getting his side into as strong a position as possible first and foremost (and quietly hoping to outscore his teammate Marino).