The top two go toe-to-toe in the Women’s Capital Futsal League on Friday evening as another weekend of high-speed, entertaining stop-clock Futsal begins with the West Canberra Lightning and the North Canberra Fire at Daramalan College.
Lightning currently lead the way with six points, having won two from two in the opening rounds, an advantage of two over the Fire who have second place on goal difference ahead of the UC Stars after the teams fought out an absorbing 3-3 draw in their Round 2 encounter.
Both these outfits are filled with quality players and are likely to provide a must-see match and one which might go some way to determine who ends top after ten rounds. Whilst there is a long way to go, do not underestimate the psychological power of getting one over a rival early on.
Fire have been in free-scoring mood in the opening exchanges, and showed their character in that draw against the Stars. Lightning have shown their defensive quality, only conceding twice in their first two matches as ‘keeper Nat Lacey underlines her Futsal skill-set, finding a way past the shot-stopper will be key for Fire.
South Canberra Swift will be aiming to move up the league table as those above them meet when they face the winless ANU Apex on Sunday. Swift enjoyed a big win in Round 2 and will be keen to continue the form they found against an Apex side that hasn’t quite hit their stride yet.
There is plenty of time for both of these teams to gain a foothold in the nascent competition, however, based on current form, as limited as that may be at the present time, the Swift will be favourites to emerge with the win.
UC Stars, who currently sit third with four points, will be keeping a close eye on proceedings on Friday before they meet the Queanbeyan-Palerang Power a day later. Depending on what happens when the Lightning meet the Fire, the Stars could potentially move top of the table with a win.
An improving Power will have other ideas though and will be certain to make life difficult for the Stars who will need to be at their best to get the points.
WOMEN
Friday 11 November
West Canberra Lightning v North Canberra Fire (6pm)
Saturday 12 November
Queanbeyan-Palerang Power v UC Stars (5pm)
Sunday 13 November
South Canberra Swift v ANU Apex (5pm
TABLE
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |
| 1 | Lightning | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 | +12 | 6 |
| 2 | Fire | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 4 | +18 | 4 |
| 3 | Stars | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 4 |
| 4 | Swift | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 7 | +10 | 3 |
| 5 | Apex | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 14 | -11 | 0 |
| 6 | Power | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 35 | -33 | 0 |
LEADING SCORERS
7 Stella DE MARCO (Fire)
6 Cara CERUTI (Swift)
5 Brittany PALOMBI (Lightning)
4 Nicole JALOCHA (Fire), Bessie REITHMULLER (Fire)
3 Natalie DE MARCO (Fire), Becky RIZZO (Stars), Own GOALS
2 Krista HAGEN (Lightning), Tayla HAMPSON (Stars), Amy MCLACHLAN (Lightning), Ginger OLIVER (Swift), Sofia PALYWODA (Swift), Nikita PERRY (Fire), Samantha PRICE (Swift), Sabrina TOUFEXIS (Swift), Dianne WILSON (Lightning), Reilly YUEN (Stars)
1 Elke AITOLU (Fire), Jamie BERKELEY (Lightning), Maia CAMERON (Power), Leah CARNEGIE (Swift), Kaitlyn COLWILL (Swift), Grace DAVEY (Apex), Isabella HINDMARSH (Swift), Rebecca KITING (Lightning), Stefi LEJINS (Fire), Roxie SWART (Apex), Shayma TAWEEL (Apex)
