Tigers FC will appeal a one-match ban for their captain Mark Shields after he copped two yellow cards during their Canberra premier league major semi-final triumph.
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Shields was sent off for attempting to draw a penalty in the second-half of their 1-0 win over Canberra Olympic on Saturday.
The loss of Shields could be a major blow for the Federation Cup winners, who have struggled to fill the void of departed star Nico Abot.
Coach Gaby Wilk believes his captain "didn't deserve the red card" and will appeal the suspension next week.
"I'll talk with the [Capital Football] president and I'll watch it online because I don't think he did anything wrong," Wilk said.
"If you're looking for a penalty you stay on the floor but Mark got up straight away when he fell down. He never does these things but that's soccer.
"Mark is one of our best players but if he can't play then I'll just have to put someone else in."
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Shields broke the Tigers' scoring drought and booked their grand final ticket with a match-winning goal in the 50th minute of the semi-final clash.
Cooma capitalised on a corner kick awarded after Olympic's rare lapse in defence and Hussain Fureje swung the ball to Shields, who scored by the far-right post.
But the match was ultimately won by Tigers' makeshift back line who were too strong for Olympic's star forward pack.
Wilk brought Jose Defilippi and Tony Spaseski to the back despite barely playing there all season, while defender Michael Gurny earned a first grade re-call.
But arguably their workload lessened after Olympic's star forward Nik Popovich was also sent-off the field with a second yellow card.
The Olympic striker copped the punishment for a late challenge on Tigers' Nahuel Guerrero and will miss their preliminary-final clash with Gungahlin United.
The Gunners earned a second-week finals berth with an emphatic 5-2 victory over reigning champions Canberra FC.
Gungahlin will be licking their lips with an under-strength Olympic side, who are also sweating on the fitness of Stephen Domenici.
The star striker came limping off the field with a calf-strain during their semi-final loss and will be monitored throughout the week.
But coach Frank Cachia has confidence in his bench, should Olympic be forced to take the field without two regular starters next week.
"We've done everything right in giving players opportunities to play and build their confidence over the year," Cachia said.
"If we didn't have confidence in our players then I'd be nervous. But first and foremost we have to get back to what we do well then concentrate on what we have to do to beat Gungahlin.
"Both sides will put their best foot forward and whoever wins will take a fair bit of confidence into the grand final."
Cooma will meet the winner of Olympic and Gungahlin's preliminary-final clash in a championship decider.
Tigers have two weeks to prepare for the grand final and will welcome injured defender Laurence Redmond back into the fold.
"I'm very pleased with my players. We proved why we were coming first all season and why we won the Federation Cup," Wilk said.
"The last couple of weeks have been a little slippery but everyone is very happy and confident now that we've come back.
"Hopefully we can win the grand final. Two from three isn't bad, you know."
NPL Canberra
Minor semi-final: GUNGAHLIN UNITED 5 (Antoni Timotheou, Misko Naumoski, Jack Green, Michael John 2 goals) bt CANBERRA FC 2 (Jordan Lamb, Jason Ugrinic goals)
Major semi-final: TIGERS FC 1 (Mark Shields goal) bt CANBERRA OLYMPIC
Lucie Bertoldo
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
