Monaro Panthers 2 (Zoe Szeremet 1’, 76’)def. by Gungahlin United 6 (Ilahna Aitchison 6’, Ashleigh Palombi 7’, Darby Whiteley 17’ 87', Erika Pennyfield 47’, May Bailey 63’)

Gungahlin United put themselves in the box seat for a major semi-final berth with a 6-2 win over Monaro Panthers at Riverside Stadium on Saturday.

United came in on a short turnaround after a win over the Academy at Hawker last Thursday night, and it looked like that might play a part as Monaro absolutely flew out of the blocks to begin the half.

Zoe Szeremet scored within a minute of the match beginning, and one could be forgiven for thinking a shock was on the cards. However United pushed back, and two goals in two minutes shortly after from Ilahna Aitchison and Ash Palombi gave Gungahlin a seemingly instant lead.

Darby Whiteley continued her rich vein of form after a brace last week, as she scored after 17 minutes to extend the lead to two as it seemed like the goals would never stop. The half calmed down though and the score remained 3-1 at the break.

Erika Pennyfield chipped Olivia Kent in goals two minutes into the second half to push the lead out, and sixteen minutes later May Bailey added to the home side's woes as she netted United's fifth with a nice finish.

Monaro still had some fight and Szeremet cut the margin back with her second goal 13 minutes from time, but Whiteley chalked it off three minutes from time, as her effort on goal could only be parried into the net by Kent.

The win leaves United two points clear of Canberra FC in the race for second place, while Monaro finish their season next weekend away to Tuggeranong.

 

Belconnen United 4 def. Woden-Weston 1

Belconnen United reaffirmed their strength at home on Saturday night as a busy final five minutes helped them to a 4-1 win over Woden-Weston. 

Full report here.

 

Tuggeranong United 5 (Emily Jensen 32’, Meg McLaughlin 56’, 70’, 75’, Alison Corujo 90+3’)def. Canberra Olympic 0

Tuggeranong United rebounded from their loss to Gungahlin United last weekend and began a strong finish to their season with a five goal win over Canberra Olympic.

Both sides began well with Tuggeranong pushing the visitors, but they were unable to break through early as the Olympic defence held strong initially.

But come the half hour mark Tuggies broke through, and Emily Jensen scored for the second week in a row to put her side ahead with 32 minutes on the clock. Olympic rode out the pressure for the rest of the half to trail by only one goal but still struggled to work their way into the match.

Neither side burst out of the blocks in the second half, but Meg McLaughlin soon changed that as she doubled Tuggeranong’s advantage with 11 minutes gone in the half. 14 minutes later the key forward had her brace, and it took only a further five minutes to grab her third goal and complete her hat-trick in 19 minutes. 

That blitz killed off the game as a contest and the hosts cruised home, but there was time for one more goal to round out the score as Alison Corujo pounced on a chance in stoppage time to give Tuggeranong their fifth goal and an emphatic win in the penultimate round of the season.

 

Canberra United Academy 1 (Stella De Marco 64’)def. by Canberra FC 3 (Diarna Genovesi 13’, Bridget Wright 34’, 50’)

Canberra FC set up a final day showdown for second place with Gungahlin United as they brushed off the Canberra United Academy 3-1 at Hawker on Sunday afternoon. 

The visitors came in needing a win to keep themselves in the hunt after Gungahlin’s win a day earlier, and Diarna Genovesi got them off to a great start for that as she scored after just 13 minutes with a well-taken finish. 

Mark Risteski’s side continued to push and Bridget Wright looked dangerous early, and she got on the board too 11 minutes before the half time break to give Canberra FC a two-goal lead. An entertaining first half came to a close with both sides playing the ball on the floor and looking to create chances, and the second half began in the same fashion. 

It was the visitors though who again struck first, and Wright capped off her performance with her second goal just five minutes into the half as her side turned the screws on the youngsters.

But the Academy pushed back and with just over 25 minutes to go Stella De Marco gave them a fighting chance as she tucked home to reduce the deficit to two goals. 

It was a case of too little too late though, and the experience visitors held out comfortably in the remaining time to set up next weekend’s big match.