South Canberra Swift need a point from their final two matches of the Capital Futsal League season to ensure they finish at the top of the pile ahead of the Finals series, but will have their work cut out against a UC Stars team scrambling for the fourth semi-final place when they meet on Saturday evening.
A Swift win would ensure they finish top, anything less and the door will remain ajar for North Canberra Fire who could potentially usurp the Swift should they win their final two fixtures.
South Canberra will be favourites having only lost once this term, yet the Stars will be confident they can follow on from last weekend’s surprise victory over West Canberra Lightning, the 4-1 success keeping alive their hopes as part of a three-way battle for the last knockout spot.
ANU Apex currently have that spot in their hands and yet they face a daunting task against the free-scoring Fire on Sunday night. Apex came back from behind to gain what could be a critical point against Queanbeyan-Palerang Power in their rearranged Round 5 contest nearly stealing all three at the death.
Fire’s hopes of topping the pile may have been extinguished by losing to the Swift in their own match last weekend, and yet they still have a mathematical chance of success in that regard.
Relying on a Swift slip-up the night before, the way the Fire approach this one, with the Apex need for points substantially greater, could well mean that this match-up becomes one of the defining games of the inaugural campaign.
Having earned a point in that 5-5 stalemate with Apex, Queanbeyan-Palerang Power enter the final fortnight of the regular season knowing that a win for them against a West Canberra Lightning team that is safely ensconced in the top four, would be a huge step towards qualification.
A wounded Lightning expect to be back to full strength for this encounter and don’t expect to lose two games in succession. This game kicks off Round 9 and will set the scene and the tone for what is to follow. It’s shaping to be a huge weekend!
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Friday 27 January
Queanbeyan-Palerang Power v West Canberra Lightning (20:00)
Saturday 28 January
South Canberra Swift v UC Stars (19:00)
Sunday 29 January
ANU Apex v North Canberra Fire (19:00)
TABLE
TEAM | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |
1 | Swift | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 67 | 30 | +37 | 21 |
2 | Fire | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 67 | 38 | +29 | 16 |
3 | Lightning | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 39 | 24 | +15 | 14 |
4 | Apex | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 45 | 58 | -13 | 6 |
5 | Stars | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 40 | 57 | -17 | 5 |
6 | Power | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 29 | 80 | -51 | 5 |
LEADING SCORERS
19 Maxx GREEN (Fire)
12 Edward MCCARTHY (Swift), Samuel THOMSON (Fire)
10 Lucas ALCAZAR-STEVENS (Swift), Alen JAMES (Swift), Jackson PAESLER (Swift)
9 Luca FLOREZ (Fire), Patrick SHORE (Apex), Luke STEVENS (Apex)
7 Daniel FULTON (Lightning), Juan Sebastian OSPINA (Swift), Nicholas SUBASIC (Lightning), Blaise VLAZLOVSKI (Apex), Own GOALS
6 Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (Power), Michael ADAMS (Swift), Riley BROWN (Fire), Marco GAYER (Power), Bailey SORENSON (Fire)
5 Vinnie BRASIL (Stars), Jake FITZGERALD (Apex), Johnny HAJDU (Stars), Brandon HAWKER (Fire), Clyde HOLO (Stars), Kai THORNTON (Apex)
4 Ashley BLOUNT (Lightning), Sherab GUO (Stars), Brad MALONE (Fire), Michael MOSCARITOLO (Stars), Daniel ROBERTS (Swift), Michael SYDNEY (Lightning)
3 Ben BASSER-SILK (Lightning), Jenno CERUTI (Apex), Alistair DAVIS (Fire), Brett FORWARD (Lightning), David JENKINS (Power), Marko RATHOUSKI (Stars), Michael RINAUDO (Stars), James WILSON (Power)
2 Andrew AITCHISON (Stars), Julian BRITTON (Apex), Sam CARTERS (Lightning), Arnold CHOI (Power), Jason FARRELL (Lighting), Connor FALUSI (Stars), Lachlan HARRINGTON (Stars), Hamed JADEER (Stars), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Stars), Phakedi MANDA (Swift), Braulio MELO (Apex), Bruno MELO (Apex), Vanh NGUYEN (Swift), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Power), Will SHEPPARD (Lightning)
1 Michael CAHILL (Power), Caleb CULLEN-RUA (Power), Nic DAHL (Swift), Elie DARWICH (Fire), Grant DAVOREN (Lightning), Daniel FELIZZI (Power), Marco GAYER (Power), Mahmoud HALAWANI (Power), Robert MCKAY (Fire), Michael NOLAN (Lightning), Zach PRITCHARD (Stars), Martin SANTOS (Power), Jordan SELEMS (Power), Robert TKATCHENKO (Swift), Herbert YEUNG (Apex)