Canberra United Academy v Woden Weston | Saturday, 3pm @ Hawker Football Centre

Only two weeks removed from their last meeting, the Canberra United Academy and Woden-Weston will clash at Hawker on Saturday afternoon. Woden-Weston will be looking to avoid a repeat of the 8-2 thrashing they copped from the Academy last time, and avoid making it a fourth winless weekend in a row. A 2-1 loss to Canberra Olympic last week came despite the Wanderers having plenty of the ball, but being hit on the counter when they did give it up. They will need to be more ruthless with any chances they create this weekend against an Academy side that is more than capable of doing damage on the counter.

Their 3-1 win over Gungahlin United was aided by a first start and dominating play down through wide areas throughout the match. The Academy have the pace and skill to match it with just about any team in the competition, and that is what helped them to a big win in this fixture just a fortnight ago. Karly Roestbakken is back in the mix following suspension and she will be an important factor again here helping to make the side tick. The Academy have the competition’s most potent attack having scored 30 goals in just eight matches, but that swashbuckling style leaves them open at the back, having conceded 16 to boot. They will need to be careful of leaving themselves exposed at the back against a Woden-Weston side with plenty of pace out wide as well.

 

 

Belconnen United v Monaro Panthers | Saturday, 5:15pm @ McKellar Park

A ninth consecutive win to begin the season is on the cards for Belconnen United when they host Monaro Panthers at McKellar Park on Saturday evening this week. United snuck past Tuggeranong United 3-0 last weekend, but Antoni Jagarinec was less than pleased with the performance and changes may be in store for the Blue Devils for this matchup. The previous meeting between these two saw Belconnen finish 5-0 winners at Riverside, and they will be aiming to build on that here at McKellar Park. The goals are spread so far across United’s frontline with all of Maddy Whittall, Jessie Williams and Gemma Murphy beginning the season strongly and Jagarinec will be hoping to see that team effort continue here.

For Monaro, this will be a testing fixture against the best side in the competition. Ian Worthington has overseen a strong improvement in the squad from last season, with the Panthers already equaling their win total from 2017. They are still struggling to score goals though averaging only one a match, and it is against teams like Belconnen where they are hard pressed to create clear-cut chances. Even a point here could put them as high as equal fifth on points dependent on other results and put them in a good place ahead of the week off and a reasonably tough run of fixtures on the other side.

 

Gungahlin United v Canberra FC | Sunday, 3pm @ Kaleen Enclosed

A crunch clash looms at Kaleen on Sunday when Gungahlin United host Canberra FC looking to make ground on the top four. United have not won in their past three matches including a second loss of the season to the Academy last round and they need to begin asserting themselves in the hunt for finals. A slow start once more hurt Diego Iglesias’ side, and he will be looking for a better opening 15 minutes here against a side who have been starting well so far. Freyja Jacobson continues to play in great form and has been their major goal threat in recent weeks, and their whole attack will need to step up against the second best backline in the competition. The hosts are yet to keep a clean sheet this season which continues to be an issue in their results, but against a strong attack like Canberra FC it will be hard to break that duck now.

For the visitors, they remain three points behind Belconnen United and are continuing to keep pace with them since round one. Last week’s 4-0 win over Monaro was a seventh straight win since that opening loss to their 2017 Grand Final opponents, and have scored 26 goals and conceded just two in that seven game stretch. Mark Risteski has seen his goals come from a number of avenues, and their depth may enable him to rest a couple of players this weekend. He will need to be wary of a still-strong United team though and their ability to strike on the counter. This match precedes a big matchup with Canberra Olympic and then a number of weeks later with the Academy, but a win here would allow Canberra FC to head into next weekend’s break sitting very comfortably.

 

Canberra Olympic v Tuggeranong United | Sunday, 3pm @ O’Connor Enclosed

Tuggeranong United will continue the search for their first win of the season when they face Canberra Olympic at O’Connor on Sunday afternoon. Michael Aldred’s side are yet to pick up a point this season and have scored just twice all season, both courtesy of the boot of Adriana Ilheo. The last time these two met saw Tuggeranong thumped 5-0 at Kambah, but that was prior to Olympic dropping off as part of a three-match losing streak that has seen them struggle at times. United went down 3-0 to ladder leaders Belconnen last weekend after falling to Monaro the week before, and with the side conceding over three goals a game on average something will need to change at the back.

For Eddie Senatore and his Olympic outfit last weekend provided a desperately needed win after losing four matches in succession before it. Olympic were on the back foot for large parts of the match but defended resolutely and came out with a win thanks to two first half goals from two chances. Bec Kiting did not play last week and will have a big impact if she is back, while Sally Rojahn and Grace Field played well in midfield for Senatore’s side. Meg McLaughlin will face her old side for the first time in this outing, and will give the Tuggeranong defense a strong test as he works her way back into her best form. Olympic look the favourites in this outing and look set to keep their place in the top four heading into the weekend off unless Tuggeranong can spring an upset.