After the block postponement of Round 5 last weekend, the Capital Futsal League is back with a bumper schedule for Round 6, including a catch-up match to be played as the first of a triple-header on Sunday afternoon.
We start with the University derby on Friday night as the UC Stars take on ANU Apex with the University of Canberra outfit knowing that a victory would see them usurp the West Canberra Lightning at the top of the pile, for at least 24-hours.
Stars had the wood on the Apex in their first meeting, back in Round 1, and have kicked on from there with three wins and a draw seeing them well positioned heading into the halfway mark of the CFL season.
For Apex it’s been a hugely frustrating time. Five rounds into the season and we have only seen the ANU team on field twice, the Apex the victims of a leaky roof at Daramalan College, and the postponement of Round 5, meaning that they have been inactive for the past three weeks.
That should mean they are champing at the bit to get out on the pitch and show the watching public what they have. The Stars will be a tough nut to crack though, and ANU will need to be at the very best, both in attack and in defence, if they are to upset the applecart and push for the top spot.
West Canberra Lightning, unbeaten and indefatigable, will be looking for a fifth successive win when they play South Canberra Swift on Saturday, the Lighting out to continue their impressive 100% start to the tournament.
Having scored 43 times, they are far and away the league’s leading scorers and, with only five conceded, they also boast the best defensive record, Nat Lacey appearing at times to be almost unbeatable in the Lightning goal.
Swift have been a tad inconsistent in their three matches, winning once and losing twice, but have shown that they have considerable ability and players who can cause damage for the Lightning. They will need to be incisive going forward and resolute in defence to defeat Lightning, but its achievable.
Swift and Apex will be back in action to start Sunday afternoon off, the catch-up game from earlier in the season, starting the triple-header of matches. As noted, both need the win to be in touching distance of the top four and to keep semi-final hopes well and truly in their sights.
North Canberra Fire and Queanbeyan-Palerang Power complete the Round when they meet on Sunday afternoon, the Fire having confidently won the opening encounter between the pair back in Round 1.
Since then, the Fire have stumbled, a draw and a defeat meaning they are third albeit with a game in hand on the leading pair. They will be eyeing off the fixture with Power as a chance to rediscover the fleetness of foot they showed in the early stages and get their season back on track.
Power have visibly been better in recent weeks and have shown improvement across the board in both defence and attack. They will be under no illusions that this will be a tough task, but they will no doubt make life difficult for the Fire.
WOMEN
Friday 2 December
ANU Apex v UC Stars (20:00)
Saturday 3 December
West Canberra Lightning v South Canberra Swift (19:00)
Sunday 4 December
South Canberra Swift v ANU Apex (15:00)
Queanbeyan-Palerang Power v North Canberra Fire (19:00)
TABLE
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |
| 1 | Lightning | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 5 | +38 | 12 |
| 2 | Stars | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 10 | +19 | 10 |
| 3 | Fire | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 7 | +16 | 4 |
| 4 | Swift | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 15 | +4 | 3 |
| 5 | Apex | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 14 | -11 | 0 |
| 6 | Power | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 73 | -66 | 0 |
LEADING SCORERS
11 Brittany PALOMBI (Lightning)
7 Jennifer BISSET (Lightning), Stella DE MARCO (Fire), Becky RIZZO (Stars)
6 Cara CERUTI (Swift), Reilly YUEN (Stars)
5 Rebecca KITING (Lightning), Amy MCLACHLAN (Lightning), Mikayla VAN DEYK (Stars), Own GOALS
4 Jamie BERKELEY (Lightning), Natalie DE MARCO (Fire), Krista HAGEN (Lightning), Tayla HAMPSON (Stars), Nicole JALOCHA (Fire), Bessie REITHMULLER (Fire), Dianne WILSON (Lightning)
3 Eliza-Jane NORRIS (Stars), Ginger OLIVER (Swift)
2 Justine ARMSTRONG (Power), Maia CAMERON (Power), Isabella HINDMARSH (Swift), Sofia PALYWODA (Swift), Nikita PERRY (Fire), Samantha PRICE (Swift), Sabrina TOUFEXIS (Swift)
1 Elke AITOLU (Fire), Leah CARNEGIE (Swift), Kaitlyn COLWILL (Swift), Emily DANIEL (Stars), Grace DAVEY (Apex), Sally KISS (Power), Renee KITE (Power), Stefi LEJINS (Fire), Holly MCPHERSON (Power), Roxie SWART (Apex), Shayma TAWEEL (Apex), Kate WALKER (Stars)
