Riverina Rhinos v Monaro Panthers | Saturday, 3pm @ Solar Mad Stadium

Monaro will be aiming to bounce back from two 5-0 hidings when they travel to Griffith on Saturday to face the Rhinos. Consecutive heavy losses at the hand of Canberra Olympic and Canberra FC have all but put paid to their already outside chances of finals, and now are locked in a battle with the Rhinos to avoid the wooden spoon. Last time these two met in the league the Rhinos triumphed 3-0 only for that result to be recently overturned, before the Panthers beat them 1-0 during the week following. With both those results been quite a while ago it is hard to use them as a marker heading into this game, but the Rhinos have been impressive at time and will prove a tough opponent for the Panthers. That combined with the road trip here could make this a challenging outing for the visitors.

For the Rhinos, their last meeting was a win over Gungahlin United which completed the double over them for the season, and they will have some confidence heading into this. Artur Rattel scored the winner there and he continues to be impressive so far this season and will pose a big threat in this outing. The Rhinos results at home this season have been far from consistent, but this match begins a three match home stand that will go a long way towards determining how they finish this season. Their next two from here are against Canberra FC and Canberra Olympic though so a win here and picking up momentum will be important.

 

Woden-Weston v Tuggeranong United | Saturday, 3pm @ Woden Park

Tuggeranong United have the chance to break a two-match losing streak on Saturday as they visit Woden-Weston to entrench their spot in the top three.

A loss last week to Belconnen United came a round after they were beaten 3-1 by Tigers in Cooma and they now sit five points off first and five points ahead of the chasing pack in fourth heading into their final five games of the season. After going ahead against Belconnen last weekend, they ended up behind before levelling things up, only to be cut down by a quick two-goal burst inside the final 20 minutes. A full 90-minute performance will be required here against a team that they have already faced twice this season. United lost to Woden-Weston in the FFA Cup Qualifying Rounds before then seeing them off in the league the following weekend, so this can be seen as something of an unofficial tie-breaker between the two clubs for the season.

The Wanderers were beaten 4-1 by Olympic last weekend in a clash where the score line arguably did not reflect the balance of play at O’Connor. Rey Castro’s men have been a side there or thereabouts for much of the season but often struggling to put the finishing touches on games, as against Belconnen United recently, but have the chance here to go up against a side with a backline as suspect as their own. The two matches between the teams have been nothing short of entertaining so far this season and this one promises to be similar. Woden-Weston are still filled to the brim with attacking talent but are quickly seeing their chance at a finals berth slip away. They sit five points out of fourth and need to pick up maximum points here and rely on other results to keep them in it.

 

 

Belconnen United v Canberra Olympic | Saturday, 5:30pm @ McKellar Park

Belconnen United and Canberra Olympic will meet in a Grand Final rematch at McKellar Park on Saturday night as the hosts try to keep their foot in the door of the four.

They sit even on points with Gungahlin United but behind on goal difference and with Gungahlin having a game in hand on them as well the Blue Devils need to be on the front foot. These sides clashed earlier in the season when Olympic prevailed as 3-2 victors at Melrose, but home ground advantage should work to some degree here. United finished 4-2 winners after coming from behind at Kambah last week against Tuggeranong United who had beaten them earlier in the season, so they have some form in reversing results. Olympic are a different beast though and are rolling at the moment heading into the back stretch of the season, so the hosts must get off to a strong start here and avoid falling behind early.

Olympic’s only loss in recent weeks was in a rescheduled clash with Gungahlin where they fell to an own goal, but outside that they have been in strong form, scoring nine goals and conceding just once in their last two matches. Stephen Domenici has returned to the side and scored twice in two games, and Dom Giampaolo has also hit a purple patch through the second half of the season. Frank Cachia’s side have six games left from here and are 10 points ahead of fifth spot, and realistically are all but safe for finals with their form. However top of the table is well within their sights for another year, and a win here against a finals rival would be a big boost on that quest.

 

 

 

Gungahlin United v Canberra FC | Sunday, 3pm @ Gungahlin Enclosed & LIVE on BarTV Sports

We head out to Gungahlin Enclosed on Sunday for a rematch of the Federation Cup final with Gungahlin United set to take on Canberra FC.

United are entrenched in the battle for fourth spot with a number of other teams and face a tough battle for points in this outing. They have lost both encounters against this weekend’s opponent so far this season, going down in both the final and their league clash at Deakin Stadium in round four despite scoring first. Their 2-2 draw with Tigers last week ended in a flurry of action as they fell behind in the 94^th minute only to equalise in the 97^th through Ben Obst, but with Tigers having the bye this weekend they have a great chance to put space between themselves and one of their competitors for fourth. Gungahlin have six matches remaining for the season, the same as Tigers and one more than Belconnen United and they need to take points from as many as possible. Last year a slip-up on the final weekend from Tuggeranong was the only thing preventing their last match being a sudden-death play off for fourth and they will want to avoid ending up in a similar situation this year.

Canberra FC came back strong from a few weeks off league action with a thumping win over the Panthers last weekend and they will look to bring that form forward into this encounter. Thomas James continued an impressive season with a brace in that outing and was ably supported by a brace from Ryan Keir and a strike from Matthew Waters. They will prove a tough opponent for United to breach as well having conceded only seven times across the entire season while leading the league in scoring. Both times they have faced Marcial Munoz’s team this year they have scored three goals and Paul Macor will be hoping for more of the same output this time around. They are only two points behind Canberra Olympic but have a game in hand on them, and have seven matches remaining until the end of the season in which to close that gap so at this stage merely keeping in touch with them will suffice.