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

The Canberra United Academy will look to close in even more on second spot as they take on Tuggeranong on Saturday at Hawker. A 5-0 win during the week over Woden-Weston followed their defeat of Canberra FC and they now sit just one point off second placed Canberra FC. That will be extra motivation heading into this weekend and Ryan Grogan will be fully focused on a convincing win here. They won strongly the last two times these teams met and it should be more of the same, with a dominant attack including the impressive Aoife Colvill likely to be too much for the United backline.

Tuggeranong fell 4-0 during the week in Federation Cup after a narrow loss to Monaro in the league last weekend and are now just looking to see out the rest of the campaign. They have a couple of tough matches to wrap it up with the Academy this weekend followed by Canberra FC next, but it gives Michael Aldred the chance to try some different combinations and new players if he so desires. United have improved but lack an experienced edge and strong finisher, and that shows in their return of just nine goals for the campaign. They are likely to let the Academy have the majority of possession here and look to hit on the counter, but must ensure they take any chances that are presented against a side like this.

 

Belconnen United v Canberra FC | Saturday, 5:15pm @ McKellar Park & LIVE on BarTV Sports

Belconnen United and Canberra FC will meet for the final time in the regular season when they clash at McKellar on Saturday evening. United clinched a historic eighth straight Premiership on when they beat Woden-Weston on Sunday afternoon, but Antoni Jagarinec will not be taking his foot off the pedal for this outing. The Blue Devils will be out to make a statement to one of their biggest rivals as the finals approach having lost to this weekend’s opponents in the Grand Final last season. United have hit their straps at the right time and goals are coming from everywhere, with Brontey Pyke continuing a strong season last weekend as she netted a hat-trick. They will be hard to beat at home here, having dished out a 4-0 thumping in round one of the same matchup.

Canberra FC come in off the back of a loss to the Academy last weekend and a Federation Cup win over Tuggeranong United during the week. With the Academy likely to see off Tuggeranong the pressure is now on Canberra FC to hold on to second spot with only two matches left, and will need to pick up points here. The Academy are now only a point behind but with a game in hand so there is work to be done here for Mark Risteski’s side. They have lost both matchups to United this season, one at both Deakin and McKellar Park and have a Federation Cup meeting with the Academy approaching during the week as well. A result here will be tough to come by but it is imperative that they push for it.

 

Gungahlin United v Woden-Weston FC | Sunday, 3pm @ Kaleen Enclosed

A loss to Canberra Olympic last weekend put a dent in Gungahlin United’s finals hopes but there is still a chance if they can knock off Woden-Weston here and win next weekend. United created chances last weekend but were unable to turn the majority of their possession into clear-cut opportunities and struggled to apply real pressure until the dying stages as they pulled a goal back. They will need a favour from Canberra Olympic’s opponents in the final two weeks if they are to claw their way back into the top four but getting this close has been an impressive feat from Diego Iglesias after losing the bulk of a strong squad from last season. Expect United to come out fast in this outing to give themselves every chance possible.

Woden-Weston went down 5-0 to the Canberra United Academy in Thursday night’s Federation Cup encounter and are just seeing their way through to the end of the season after mounting problems with injuries and personnel. A loss to Belconnen United last week continued a tough run of results and the side promised plenty early but their form waned as the season went on. This will be a tough matchup for the Wanderers but one that they are capable of pulling a result from, and if they execute their gameplan well then they are a chance to take points off a United side in desperate need of them.

 

Canberra Olympic v Monaro Panthers | Sunday, 3pm @ O’Connor Enclosed

Canberra Olympic will meet Monaro for the second time this week after their 8-2 triumph in the Federation Cup on Thursday night. Meg McLaughlin and Sally Rojahn netted hat-tricks in that outing and Emma Guo added two goals as Olympic ran riot, but one wonders whether they may be rested this weekend with a semi-final on the horizon during next week. An impressive victory over Gungahlin United last weekend put Olympic in the box seat for a top four spot despite missing Grace’s Maher and Field, but they must be wary of a Monaro side that beat them earlier this season. Olympic have steadied since then and appear to be in a good space heading into the final few weeks of the season and should be hard to beat here.

For Monaro this match gives them a chance to rebound from their midweek hammering, although the score line was not necessarily reflective of the match as a whole. The last two weeks of the season sees them take on teams they have beaten previously in Olympic and Woden-Weston, so there will be some optimism that the side can finish the campaign on a high. While overall a disappointing season, the side have still accumulated five wins to this point and the continuing emergence of Zoe Szeremet as a bona-fide goalscorer, including both goals on Thursday, has been a continued positive. Depending on which Monaro side runs out on Sunday they could give Olympic a push at O’Connor.