The jostle for the top four places in the Men’s Capital Futsal League continues this weekend with a trio of contests that could well help to shape the make-up of the finals positions come the start of 2023.
League leaders North Canberra Fire could make life very difficult for their opponents, UC Stars, to make that top four should they manage to maintain their unbeaten start to the season in the opening match of the Round on Friday evening.
The Fire’s explosive start to the season has threatened to be derailed in recent weeks, and the pacesetters were given an almighty scare by bottom of the table Queanbeyan-Palerang Power in Round 6, only a brace of quickfire goals helping to overturn an early deficit keeping the Fire wagon rolling.
The Stars were in good form themselves last time out, warning a point from a 6-6 draw with ANU Apex in a pulsating University derby and come into this fixture having taken two points from their last three matches and only losing the other match by the odd goal in thirteen. It’s a form rise that they will need to maintain if they are to upset the Fire.
South Canberra Swift have moved to within four points of the summit of the table, with a game in hand, and will be eagerly anticipating any sort of Fire slip-up as they aim to close the gap even further when they meet Queanbeyan-Palerang Power on Saturday night.
This isn’t the same Power that we saw in the early weeks however and they are developing into a team that is much better that its league position would currently suggest. That they pushed the leaders the Fire all the way in Round 6, and fell just three goals short, is a testament to the turnaround in their performances.
Swift however haven’t been beaten since Round 1, winning all three of their matches that followed their debut display, and earning tough wins against both the Stars and the Lightning. The Swift won the match-up 13-1 in Round 2, but we expect this to be a much closer contest.
The round concludes with the spicy looking affair between West Canberra Lightning and ANU Apex on Sunday, a duel between a pair of sides who both have ambitions on top spot. The earlier meeting this season ended in an exhilarating 4-4 draw and there is likely to be a similarly tight feel to this match.
Currently, the Lightning sit three points above their opponents from ANU, but the Apex have a game in hand and have been pushing towards a run of form that will not only keep them in the top four, but cold push them up to be challenging for the title.
A brace of draws against the Lightning and the Stars, punctuated in between by a narrow wone goal defeat to the North Canberra Fire, showcase their potential. For Lightning, who have now picked up five points from the last twelve, a return to their Round 1 form would be most welcome.
MEN
Friday 9 December
North Canberra Fire v UC Stars (20:00)
Saturday 10 December
South Canberra Swift v Queanbeyan-Palerang Power (19:00)
Sunday 11 December
West Canberra Lightning v ANU Apex (19:00)
TABLE
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |
| 1 | Fire | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 57 | 24 | +33 | 13 |
| 2 | Swift | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 9 |
| 3 | Lightning | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 17 | +11 | 8 |
| 4 | Apex | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 26 | +5 | 5 |
| 5 | Stars | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 43 | -18 | 2 |
| 6 | Power | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 54 | -42 | 1 |
LEADING SCORERS
15 Maxx GREEN (Fire)
9 Luca FLOREZ (Fire), Samuel THOMSON (Fire)
7 Edward MCCARTHY (Swift), Patrick SHORE (Apex), Nicholas SUBASIC (Lightning)
6 Riley BROWN (Fire), Bailey SORENSON (Fire),Luke STEVENS (Apex)
5 Lucas ALCAZAR-STEVENS (Swift), Daniel FULTON (Lightning), Juan Sebastian OSPINA (Swift), Jackson PAESLER (Swift), Kai THORNTON (Apex), Own GOALS
4 Jake FITZGERALD (Apex), Johnny HAJDU (Stars), Brandon HAWKER (Fire), Brad MALONE (Fire)
3 Sherab GUO (Stars), Clyde HOLO (Stars), David JENKINS (Power), Michael RINAUDO (Stars), Blaise VLAZLOVSKI (Apex)
2 Andrew AITCHISON (Stars), Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (Power), Ben BASSER-SILK (Lightning), Ashley BLOUNT (Lightning), Julian BRITTON (Apex), Sam CARTERS (Lightning), Jenno CERUTI (Apex), Alistair DAVIS (Fire), Jason FARRELL (Lighting), Connor FALUSI (Stars), Brett FORWARD (Lightning), Hamed JADEER (Stars), Michael MOSCARITOLO (Stars), Alen JAMES (Swift)
1 Vinnie BRASIL (Stars), Michael CAHILL (Power), Arnold CHOI (Power), Mahmoud HALAWANI (Power), Lachlan HARRINGTON (Stars), Robert MCKAY (Fire), Braulio MELO (Apex), Bruno MELO (Apex), Michael NOLAN (Lightning), Zach PRITCHARD (Stars), Marko RATHOUSKI (Stars), Daniel ROBERTS (Swift), Sam ROESTBAKKEN (Power), Martin SANTOS (Power), Jordan SELEMS (Power), Will SHEPPARD (Lightning), Michael SYDNEY (Lightning), James WILSON (Power)
