Photo Credit: Sal Giovinazzo - Belconnen United

Monaro Panthers v Woden-Weston FC

Woden-Weston will be aiming to make the leap into the top four this weekend when they face Monaro Panthers away. A convincing 2-1 win over Tuggeranong last week on the road will have instilled further confidence into the Wanderers’ side, who sit only two points outside the first four sides. Having struggled against the sides above them, it is important that Diego Elmoudawar’s team beat those sides below them, and with a squad mostly back to full strength, this is an important match.

For the Panthers, a big loss to Belconnen United will set them back, and it can be tough to rebound from those matches for a young side. However, Angelo Maralit’s team has shown so far that they can be resilient, and bouncing back will be at the forefront of their minds. The last meeting between these sides finished 6-0 and Panthers need to make sure that they establish themselves in the game earlier and don’t let the visitors take over early on.

 

Belconnen United v Canberra FC

This weekend sees another iteration of last year’s Grand Final, as Belconnen United host Canberra FC at McKellar Park. United are on a roll and come in off the back of an 11-0 win against Monaro Panthers last week, to extend their winning streak to eight consecutive matches. They find themselves eight points clear of this weekend’s opponents, and will back themselves having taken the spoils 3-0 the last time these sides met in Round 4.

On that occasion though, Canberra FC were still working back to full fitness. Now, Grace Gill and Chantel Jones are both firing, the defence has tightened up and Mark Risteski has a team with all its moving parts. FC have also won their past two matches in the league, and come into this matchup with momentum. This is sure to be a fantastic matchup with two of the best sides in the competition, and a win for Canberra FC here would pull the margin at the top back to just five points.

 

Canberra Olympic v Gungahlin United

Canberra Olympic will continue the search for their first win when they host Gungahlin United at O’Connor this weekend. Rob Scott’s side continue to struggle on the defensive end, conceding eight goals to rivals Canberra FC last weekend, and on average leak just over six goals a game. And this week, they will need to tighten up against a Gungahlin outfit who have convincingly beaten strong opposition over the last couple of weeks.

A win over the Canberra United Academy last week for Gungahlin was a marker of improvement, having lost that matchup earlier in the season. United are making their experience count as the season progresses and having sat as long as sixth not so long ago, can make the jump as high as second this weekend dependent on results.

 

Canberra United Academy v Tuggeranong United

Both the Canberra United Academy and Tuggeranong United will look to bounce back from defeats last weekend when they meet at Hawker on Sunday. The Academy’s form slump continued as they were soundly beaten by Gungahlin United, and have struggled to recapture their early season form that saw them lead the competition for a number of weeks. However, their fast play style will work for them this week, and they will look for a repeat of the last time these sides’ met with the Academy finishing as 7-1 winners, 

For Tuggeranong, defeat at the hands of Woden-Weston last weekend was a disappointing follow-up to heavy defeat to Belconnen the week before, and Tuggies must start winning again if they hope to be around at the pointy end of the season. A loss here could see Tuggeranong fall as many as eight points off fourth spot at the halfway mark of the season, something that needs to be avoided