Canberra United Academy v Monaro Panthers | Saturday, 5pm @ Hawker Football Centre

The Canberra United Academy can take a step towards securing their spot in the top three as they welcome the Monaro Panthers to Hawker on Saturday. They have bounced back strongly from their heavy loss to Belconnen United in Round 15 with wins against Woden-Weston and Gungahlin United and will be favourites here. Their two matches against the Panthers have finished as 7-1 (Round 4) and 7-0 (Round 11) wins for them and Ryan Grogan will encourage his side to push for more goals here as well. They have scored the second most goals in the league but have also been leaky at the back, and conceded a goal inside two minutes in that Round 11 meeting.

The Panthers fell 3-0 to Canberra FC last weekend and continue to search for their fifth win of the season. They may find that in the coming weeks as they face Woden-Weston and Tuggeranong United, both of whom they have beaten but will be hard pressed to get a result from this outing. Ian Worthington’s side struggled in attack last weekend against a disciplined Canberra FC outfit but may find more freedom to attack against the Academy. Early pressure last time they faced off resulted in a goal but whether they attack from the outset or sit back and defend here remains to be seen.

 

Belconnen United v Canberra Olympic | Saturday, 5pm @ McKellar Park & LIVE on BarTV Sports

It’s first meets fourth on Saturday night at McKellar Park as Belconnen United host Canberra Olympic. United are eight points clear with five games to play and are still undefeated for the season. United have won both clashes between these two sides, including a 7-0 thumping in Round 11 but Olympic have been playing well of late and will be essentially at full strength. Grace Maher has returned to form on the back of her recovery from surgery, while Meg McLaughlin has played herself into form including a second six-goal haul of the season last weekend against Woden-Weston. That took her to 21 goals and she will be an important player against a backline that has still only concede five goals for the season.

For United a 6-0 win last weekend against Tuggeranong kept the ball rolling and they are within touching distance of wrapping up the top of the ladder with games to spare. After this week they face Woden-Weston, Canberra FC, Gungahlin United and the Academy in a catch up game so the run home is far from simple, but Antoni Jagarinec will likely look to manage his team heading into the finals series. His team need to be wary of the link-up in the Olympic side between Maher and McLaughlin but will be confident of taking the result from this match. Their only drop of points came in a tight draw against Gungahlin at McKellar but outside of that the ground has proven a fortress for them, and they will use that to advantage in this outing.

 

Woden-Weston v Canberra FC | Sunday, 2pm @ Woden Park

Despite a heavy loss to Canberra Olympic last weekend Woden-Weston are still in the race for a finals spot, but need to make a move soon with an eight-point gap ahead of them and four matches to play. The Wanderers were much better in the second half after conceding five unanswered goals in the first 45, but they will have to be at their best for the full 90 minutes this time out. The side has been hit heavily by injuries, resulting in a weakened squad and that will work against them here. So many new combinations caused problems and their backline opened up early on but as they became more comfortable the defence improved and the chances dried up somewhat for Olympic. Despite the loss of some key goal scorers last week the Wanderers were still a threat moving forward and they will look to make it count again against Canberra FC.

Canberra FC have locked themselves into a top three spot but remain only four points ahead of the Academy in third place, and a win here would go a long way to solidifying top two. A first-half goal last week was enough to stave off Monaro until Rachael Goldstein’s brace in the final 10 minutes, but Mark Risteski may hope that his team can kill off the game a bit earlier this weekend. After this weekend Canberra FC take on the Academy and then Belconnen United so it is imperative that they pick up maximum points in this outing. Despite losing Chantel Jones mid-way through the season Risteski’s side have pushed on, and locking in a top two spot will be an important step to avoid a sudden-death first round clash in finals. Expect Canberra FC to push the envelope here as they chase an important win.

Gungahlin United v Tuggeranong United | Sunday, 3pm @ Gungahlin Enclosed

Gungahlin United will know where they stand on Sunday, and if they can jump right back in to the top four with a win. They relinquished their spot last weekend as they fell to the Academy, but with Olympic facing a tough ask against Belconnen United there is every chance they could find themselves back in the finals spots if they see off Tuggeranong United. United struggled to get going in the first half last weekend and left themselves with it all to do in the second stanza, and despite a strong 45 minutes were unable to undo the damage of the first half. Two defensive lapses cost them goals in the first and Diego Iglesias will hope that those mistakes can be ironed out for this week. Nat De Marco was again impressive and she shapes as a key players as the business end of the season gets going, but the whole team will need to be on their game this weekend.

A heavy loss to Belconnen United last weekend extended the losing streak to all 17 games of the season for Tuggeranong United and the next few weeks should be a proving ground with a view to the next campaign. Michael Aldred’s young side have lacked the experience of the sides around them and with some players backing up from reserves having fresh legs to call upon from the bench has proved to be an issue as well. They have gone down to Gungahlin in both contests by a 3-0 scoreline and getting on the board here would be a step in the right direction. They have still scored only nine goals in 17 games while shipping 64 at the other end so there are improvements to be made all round as the season winds down.