Marcial Munoz's outfit overcame Tigers FC 2-0 at Deakin Stadium on Saturday, with the Gungahlin mentor saying their grand final berth is an added bonus after a roller coaster year.

They now face the daunting task of trying to defend their title against minor premiers, Canberra Croatia, who kept their unbeaten season intact with 1-0 over Belconnen United.

Munoz was impressed by his team's ability to bounce back after a tough month, saying they looked "much more humble" on the park.

"The performance was back to what we know which is, again, the possession-based, attacking game," Munoz said.

"We got back to our essence and off the ball we tried to recover well. We were much more hungrier, it was much better.

"It looked like we were a much more humble team out there."

Gungahlin had four corners and a free kick in the opening 20 minutes but could not take advantage of the majority possession, with the scores locked nil-all at half-time.

Josh Gulevski had a chance to put Gungahlin ahead in the 22nd minute when he carved through the Tigers' defence and took on their goalkeeper. But the finish was tame and the ball rolled straight into Jakob Cole's gloves.

Mark Shields came within a whisker of giving Cooma a one-goal advantage leading into half-time when he pounced onto a Hussain Furje corner in the 44th minute.

His attempt hit the crossbar from a yard away and Gungahlin struggled to clear the scramble, with the Tigers unlucky to find the net.

Gungahlin broke the deadlock in the 51st minute when Michael John sent a stunning, left-footed strike into the top corner.

He took a Green through-ball in his stride and peeled away from five Tigers defenders, before putting the shot away with a slick finish.

Cooma responded with two solid attempts on goal in two minutes, with Laurence Redmond and Shields each sending a shot wide.

Zachary Barbatano, who came off the bench, put the result beyond doubt for Gungahlin when he finished off a brilliant passage of play- which saw Jeremy Habtemariam denied in the middle.

"[Barbatano] is one of the best talents in Canberra. His ability once the game has settled has been extraordinary last year and this year," Munoz said.

"Whenever he comes on he creates something, he adds something to the attacking piece. When we get the ball to him near the box, he's going to do something special."

AT A GLANCE

NPL Canberra Championship Series round three: GUNGAHLIN UNITED 2 (John 51' Barbatano 78') bt TIGERS FC 0, CANBERRA CROATIA 1 bt BELCONNEN UNITED 0