After a brace of drawn matches in the two games that survived the leaky roof at Daramalan College, there are three hugely important matches in Round 4 with the first versus third clash between North Canberra Fire and ANU Apex appearing to be vital for the hopes of both of finishing top.
The Fire dropped their first points of 2022 when they were played out a twelve-goal thriller with West Canberra Lightning, a match of epic proportions that was scintillating to behold and there is every reason to believe that the match-up with ANU Apex will provide equal thrills.
Apex saw their match cancelled against the South Canberra Swift and enter the weekends trio of matches only three points off the summit and with that postponed match in hand on the league leaders.
The Apex showed their powers of resilience in coming from behind with seconds remaining to earn a draw against the Lightning in Round 2, the 4-4 draw showing the league that the University side are serious title contenders. A positive result here would underline that feeling.
The Lightning could return to the top of the table on Friday evening should they be able to defeat the resurgent Queanbeyan-Palerang Power in the early evening kick-off, but with the Power finding their feet with their maiden point of the competition in Round 3, that is far from a given.
Trailing by three clear goals with nine minutes to play in their match with UC Stars, the Power showed remarkable powers of recovery to gain a draw, scoring three times in a little over a minute.
Defensively, they looked a lot better than in their opening two matches, and the Lightning will be aware they’ll have to work hard to earn anything from the encounter. Lightning will start favourites, their league placing is enough to earn them that right, but the Queanbeyan side will keep them honest throughout.
University of Canberra Stars will have been disappointed not to have recorded their first win having surrendered that three-goal advantage against the Power, but they were much improved and will provide a stiff examination for South Canberra Swift when they meet on Sunday afternoon.
Swift remain nicely placed on the table, a game in hand and only four points off the top ranked Fire. They will target this one as a winnable match, but will have been impressed by the Stars early performance against the Power, their capitulation in that minute that allowed Power back something that the Stars will be keen to avenge.
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Friday 18 November
West Canberra Lightning v Queanbeyan-Palerang Power (18:00)
Saturday 19 November
North Canberra Fire v ANU Apex (17:00)
Sunday 20 November
UC Stars v South Canberra Swift (17:00)
TABLE
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |
| 1 | Fire | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 11 | +29 | 7 |
| 2 | Lightning | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 5 |
| 3 | Apex | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 11 | +6 | 4 |
| 4 | Swift | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 3 |
| 5 | Stars | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 30 | -17 | 1 |
| 6 | Power | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 36 | -30 | 1 |
LEADING SCORERS
10 Maxx GREEN (Fire)
8 Samuel THOMSON (Fire)
7 Luca FLOREZ (Fire)
4 Riley BROWN (Fire), Patrick SHORE (Apex), Bailey SORENSON (Fire), Nicholas SUBASIC (Lightning), Own GOALS
3 Lucas ALCAZAR-STEVENS (Swift), Daniel FULTON (Lightning), Clyde HOLO (Stars), David JENKINS (Power), Brad MALONE (Fire), Edward MCCARTHY (Swift), Juan Sebastian OSPINA (Swift), Kai THORNTON (Apex), Blaise VLAZLOVSKI (Apex)
2 Julian BRITTON (Apex), Sam CARTERS (Lightning), Alistair DAVIS (Fire), Sherab GUO (Stars), Hamed JADEER (Stars), Jackson PAESLER (Swift), Luke STEVENS (Apex)
1 Andrew AITCHISON (Stars), Ashley BLOUNT (Lightning), Vinnie BRASIL (Stars), Michael CAHILL (Power), Jenno CERUTI (Apex), Connor FALUSI (Stars), Jason FARRELL (Lighting), Jake FITZGERALD (Apex), Brett FORWARD (Lightning), Lachlan HARRINGTON (Stars), Alen JAMES (Swift), Robert MCKAY (Fire), Bruno MELO (Apex), Michael MOSCARITOLO (Stars), Michael NOLAN (Lightning), Marko RATHOUSKI (Stars), Daniel ROBERTS (Swift), Martin SANTOS (Power), Jordan SELEMS (Power)
