Canberra United Academy v Belconnen United | Saturday, 1^st June – 5pm @ Hawker

A monster top four matchup beckons at Hawker on Saturday night as first placed Belconnen United visit the Canberra United Academy, sitting in fourth. The Academy lost for just the second time all season last weekend against Gungahlin, too often spurning chances and failing to deal with Freyja Jacobsen’s second half set piece. They now sit only one point ahead of Woden-Weston in fifth who play at the same time, and could find themselves out of the four dependent on results. They have done plenty of work since their 6-0 loss to Belconnen in the Federation Cup earlier this season, but will still need to be at their absolute best to challenge the ladder leaders.

Belconnen meanwhile fought their way to a 4-0 win over the Monaro Panthers last Saturday night, and Antoni Jagarinec’s side are still nursing a number of injuries as the season begins to turn the halfway corner. Bronte Pyke and Sam Price are still out of action, while Maddy Whittall could be a chance to return here. Keira Bobbin has deputised very well up front for Whittall though and will be a handful for the Academy backline here. Belconnen are yet to concede a goal in the league but with Pyke out there will be a tough job for someone to take on in marking Hayley Taylor-Young.

 

Monaro Panthers v Woden-Weston | Saturday, 1^st June – 5pm @ Riverside Stadium

Fresh off a win in the maiden Wanderers derby, Woden-Weston head to Riverside this Saturday to take on the Panthers. Monaro have had a busy week, playing most recently on Thursday night in a loss to Olympic and will need to be wary of a potentially tired squad. The Panthers charged hard towards the end of the game but Olympic were able to run out winners by a goal and Ian Worthington’s side are still searching for their second win of the campaign. Darby Whiteley has added spark to the side while she is back in the country and her pace will be a factor here, but the focus must remain on tightening up at the back against a Wanderers wide who have scored more than anyone else outside the top four.

Woden-Weston struck late last weekend against the Wanderers and will want to avoid falling behind in this outing. Two free-kicks from Rachel Lyon brought them undone on the day, and this match is important given they can finish the first half of the season in the top four if other results fall their way. It’s a big month ahead for Mark Boyd and Sarah West with some big league clashes approaching as well as the Federation Cup Final pitting them against Belconnen United in two weeks. A win here gives them all the right momentum heading into that period, but anything less could widen the gap to the four and leave them chasing points through a tough month.

 

Canberra FC v Gungahlin United | Sunday, 2^nd June – 2pm @ Deakin Stadium

2^nd visits 3^rd in a massive Sunday afternoon clash wen Gungahlin United and Canberra FC meet at Deakin Stadium. United pulled off an important victory at GEO last weekend to leave them four points ahead of Sunday’s opponents and in a strong spot to finish the first half of the season as it wraps up. They have gone on a tear since losing to Belconnen United earlier in the season and have conceded just five goals outside of that game at less than a goal per game. They were disciplined against the Academy, holding one of the league’s best scoring teams to just a single goal but will have their work even further cut out this weekend against the firepower of Nik Brozinic’s side.

Canberra FC had the weekend off in round eight and will be fresh coming into this clash at their home ground. Grace Gill is a chance to return after a number of weeks off and she will provide a big boost to the Canberra FC midfield against their strong opponents. Their last outing was an emphatic win over Tuggeranong United in a scrappy contest and Brozinic will be keen for his side to impose themselves on this clash a bit more. He has plenty of attacking weapons at his disposal and a very tight defence that has been breached just six times in the league. Whatever the result, this is sure to be a belter of a game and one of two massive top four clashes this round.

 

Canberra Olympic v Wagga City Wanderers | Sunday, 2^nd June – 3pm @ O’Connor

Canberra Olympic picked up their first win of the league season on Thursday night with victory over Monaro and will look to bring that momentum into Sunday’s clash with the Wagga City Wanderers at O’Connor Enclosed. Laura Berry scored twice from the penalty spot in that game and Rose Wills added what turned out to be the winner as the visitors pressured the hosts well and earned two trips to the penalty spot. The Wanderers will be a different prospect though, having been a strong challenger in many of their games so far, but Olympic can jump them if they can take the points at O’Connor and finish the first half of the season in eighth spot.

Wagga City pushed Woden-Weston all the way last weekend and held the lead for large parts of the game, but could not finish it off and were undone by a late push from the home side. Rachel Lyons continues to be one of the form players in the competition and netted two wonderful free kicks, and she will be important in this outing. A win for Wagga would move them all the way up into sixth spot depending on the result at Riverside the evening before, a strong position ahead of hosting fixtures in six of the final nine rounds.