As the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition goes into its final round there are three teams in contention for the Premiership title.
Blacktown City, Sydney Olympic and Manly United all have a chance to get their hands on the silverware and here’s what needs to happen for them to secure the top prize.
Blacktown City
Blacktown City have the advantage heading into Round 22, with two points more than their competitors.
As they face up against Sydney Olympic, a win would see them take the easy route to glory as they would secure the Premiership.
If they come away with a draw, they have a much stronger goal difference of 20 that should keep them ahead of Manly United if the Northern Beaches outfit secure a win.
A loss would see them out of contention as Olympic would jump them on the ladder, leaving either Olympic and Manly as the winners.
Sydney Olympic
If there was a must-win game of the whole season, this is it for Olympic.
As the last winners of the Premiership amongst the top 3, Olympic would relish the opportunity to get another to add to their 2018 title, particularly among their loyal fans at Belmore Sportsground.
Olympic will need to secure a win over Blacktown City if they want the top honours – a draw won’t be enough.
Not only will they need to get the win against one of the league’s most dangerous sides, they will also need to hold onto a superior goal difference over Manly in case they also win their match, which would see them on even points.
Manly United
Manly United will have the tough situation of not knowing whether they win the Premiership until after the game.
The Northern Beaches boys need to win their match and hope for an Olympic win. They’ll need to score as many goals as possible to ensure they have a strong enough goal difference to get on top of Olympic
If there is a draw between Blacktown and Olympic, Manly have the uphill battle of scoring a huge number of goals to get in line with Blacktown’s goal difference which is currently double their own.
With Manly facing a hungry Rockdale side that will be fighting for finals their Premiership fight has the most hurdles, but it is still possible and will be an incredible feat if they can pull it off.