The UC Stars and the North Canberra Fire enjoyed their first weekend of Capital Futsal League action in Round 1, both coming away from their respective fixtures with the maximum return to nicely set up what should be a pulsating encounter at Daramalan College on Saturday.
Becky Rizzo led the Stars in their victory over the ANU Apex, the University of Canberra outfit easing away from their opponents with a controlled and measured display of Futsal and scoring goals at critical times.
The 6-2 win for the Stars wasn’t without its blemishes though and goalkeeper Vanessa Burdett needed to be sharp to repel the dangerous Apex attacks, whilst some profligate finishing perhaps led to the Stars leaving a few more goals out on the pitch. That area will no doubt improve as the players find their groove.
There was less issues for the Fire who were in clinical form in their debut match, notching nineteen times against the Queanbeyan-Palerang Power, Stella De Marco helping herself to a double hat-trick. There were half-a-dozen different scorers for the Fire in their opening fixture. Curbing that will be key for the Stars.
Action will commence on Friday night with Power set to right the wrongs of Week One and produce a more rounded display as their hastily assembled group begin to understand each other’s play a lot better. Power would have taken heart from scoring against Fire and will be out to showcase their talent against South Canberra Swift.
The Swift were defeated by West Canberra Lighting in the very first CFL match played on Friday night last week, with their skipper Samantha Price having the honour of scoring the very first goal in the competition’s history. It was a proud moment for the Swift captain who will be key again in this match.
Olivia Bomford was a standout for the Swift in the defeat to the Lightning, her twinkle-toed ability on the ball, strength, and lethal strikes, likely to cause issues for the Power defensive shape. Taking their chances and defending stoutly will be the requirements for the Power to emerge with the win.
The round will be complete on Sunday when the ANU Apex meet the Lightning, the latter aiming to go two from two and continue their bright start to the campaign. The Lightning looked sharp going forward and defensively stingy in their win over the Swift, something that will no doubt have pleased their coaching staff.
Pleasingly for the Lightning, they managed to win convincingly with only six players, several of their cohort unavailable for opening night. With some talented stars to don the dark blue this weekend, the Lightning might just be able to justify their tag as early season favourites.
WOMEN
Friday 4 November
Queanbeyan-Palerang Power v South Canberra Swift
Saturday 5 November
UC Stars v North Canberra Fire
Sunday 6 November
ANU Apex v West Canberra Lightning
TABLE
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |
| 1 | Fire | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | +18 | 3 |
| 2 | Lightning | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 3 |
| 3 | Stars | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 3 |
| 4 | Apex | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 0 |
| 5 | Swift | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 0 |
| 6 | Power | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | -18 | 0 |
