The final third of the season starts this weekend in the Women’s NPL, and the game at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval could decide the end of the season for some of the competitors.
Gungahlin United indeed host the West Canberra Wanderers on Sunday for the most decisive and crucial game of the weekend. It is potentially the Gunners’ last chance to hope for a top four finish.
The team coached by Andrew Woodman has had a complicated season so far. Their only victories have come against the bottom two teams, and a chance to compete until the end will start with a result at home against fourth place West Canberra.
The Wanderers will not go down without a fight. Struggling to emerge from their negative series of six winless games, Rey Castro knows the game on Sunday is a chance to stir his team almost to safety.
The Wanderers have been impressive in the first third of the season, they need to find their mojo back to finish strong and prevent the Gunners and the Academy from taking their spot to the finals.
Belconnen United and Tuggeranong United will meet at McKellar on Saturday afternoon, with the visitors hoping they can cause an upset. After earning they second win of the season against Wagga City last weekend, Paulo Romero’s players are full of confidence.
They have scored five times in the last three games, and combined with their usual defensive intensity, it could be enough to insert doubt in their opponents’ mind on Saturday.
The Blue Devils are also in fine form. They have only lost to Canberra Croatia in the second round of games and are trying to keep up with the rhythm imposed by the top two teams. Anything else than a win against Tuggeranong would be seen as a bad result, especially given they already scored eleven goals against their opponents this season (5-1, 6-1). Scott Conlon wants his troops to keep that series going.
Canberra Olympic meanwhile is travelling to the Riverina to play the Wagga City Wanderers. Still four points behind Croatia, Nicole Begg and her players likely need 21 points from the next seven games if they want a chance at the Premiership.
The long trip down South might feel like a formality, but it is the first win they need in that series. Twice they punished the Wanderers this season (13-0, 7-1), Sunday they will want to make that a triple whammy.
The Wanderers fought well against Tuggeranong last weekend but could not get a second win. This season, the young team from the Riverina is learning the hard way the path ahead to challenge the top teams in the competition in the future.
Positives come out of hard seasons, and this is what Robert Tuksar, and his troops need to focus on. They are not expected to get a result against Olympic this weekend but conceded less than during their last encounter would be progress.
The weekend will end at Hawker Football Centre, where two times reigning champions Canberra Croatia visit Canberra United Academy. The Academy were victims of their youth last week against Canberra Olympic, punished every time they made the smallest mistake.
Their series of bad result still ongoing, notwithstanding the midweek success over Tuggeranong, they are not facing Canberra Croatia at the best time, but they are also the only team with the secret recipe to beat them in WNPL in the last two years.
Zoran Glavinic is still at the head of a winning machine at the start of the last third of games. Once again, the players from Deakin proved last week that the danger can come from everywhere, with six different scorers to see off Gungahlin.
By far the best offence, and the second-best defence in the league by only one goal, Canberra Croatia is promised a third title of premier. They just need to keep on keeping on, and it starts on Sunday evening.
FIXTURES
ROUND 15
Saturday 30 July
Belconnen United v Tuggeranong United (McKellar Park, 15:00)
Sunday 31 July
Wagga City Wanderers v Canberra Olympic (Gissing Oval, 14:30)
Gungahlin United v West Canberra Wanderers (Gungahlin Enclosed, 15:00)
Canberra United Academy v Canberra Croatia (Hawker Football Centre, 17:10)
TABLE
P | W | D | L | GD | PTS | ||
1 | Canberra Croatia | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | +66 | 38 |
2 | Canberra Olympic | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | +50 | 34 |
3 | Belconnen United | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | +31 | 28 |
4 | West Canberra Wanderers | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | -11 | 21 |
5 | Canberra United Academy | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | -11 | 14 |
6 | Gungahlin United | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | -15 | 12 |
7 | Tuggeranong United | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | -36 | 8 |
8 | Wagga City Wanderers | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | -74 | 4 |
Words: Jeremy Magan