The four finalists of the 2023 competition face each other in two thrilling encounters this Sunday afternoon as the Women’s National Premier League enters its second round.
Similar to Round 1, the action will start at Wanderers Park with West Canberra Wanderers and ANU WFC facing each other at 12.45pm. The home team gave a good account of themselves against Belconnen United in the curtain raiser last Thursday, with goalkeeper Amy Wiggan a standout. For their second consecutive game at home, the players coached by Steve Rohan-Jones will be keen to get their attack going.
After a first week off, the University club are ready to kick-off their second season at the highest level. The fifth team that has changed coach in the off-season, ANU WFC, are expected to go from “good surprise” to genuine outsider this season. The promise shown in 2023, the results obtained with both individual skills and collective force, are all solid ground for Tom Crossley to build on.
A first trip south of the lake will be the opportunity for the new coach to showcase the talent in his team this season, after some of the best players of the University club 2023 edition moved to other clubs and interstate.
O’Connor Enclosed is where the first Canberra Classico of the season between Canberra Olympic and Canberra Croatia happens at 2.30pm. The two teams have met an extraordinary eleven times in the last two seasons, and Olympic is clearly ahead in that period, with six successes and three draws.
Back then, Nicole Begg was on the bench, and Frank Cachia will want to extend the undefeated streak to six games. His first league game at the helm ended in a professional success against Gungahlin United. Facing Croatia and their wealth of experience will be a serious test for the new-look Olympic.
Zoran Glavinic’s squad did not seem like a team playing their first game of the season. The alchemy between experienced players and young signings took swiftly, and the Deakin side left Tuggeranong little chance to hope for a result. Led by Brittany Palombi, already leading the goal-scoring ladder (with Reilly Yuen), Canberra Croatia know they have the talent to rekindle their love story with trophies after a two-year break. A strong performance against Olympic would boost their ambition.
A remake of last season’s Federation Cup Final is the best way to end this thrilling round. Belconnen United and Gungahlin United meet at Kaleen Enclosed at 3pm. The Blue Devils had won the final but lost two of the three league games to a Gunners’ team that seemed to have the right ingredients to contain Scott Conlon’s firepower.
This was last season, and another story is being written in 2024. The Belconnen youth has gained a lot of experience and is used to big games by now. This Sunday, they will want to confirm their solid start.
Nick Van Aalst and his Gunners are ready to bounce back after their opening defeat to Olympic. Gungahlin United is the team at the top that looks the most like their 2023 self, and their performance in the first game week showed that.
Maddie Perceval and her teammates were ready from the get-go to play their brand of football, building from the back-line and using the technique of their midfielders as well as the pace of their wingers and forwards. It took ninety minutes to pay off against a solid Olympic defence, but Van Aalst will hope the Blue Devils’ net tremble earlier this week. There were fourteen goals between the two sides last season. Expect some more this Sunday.
FIXTURES
ROUND 2
Sunday 14 April
West Canberra Wanderers v ANU WFC (Melrose Synthetic, 12:45)
Canberra Olympic v Canberra Croatia (O’Connor Enclosed, 14:30)
Belconnen United v Gungahlin United (McKellar Park, 15:00)
All matches are streamed live on BarTV Sports.
TABLE
P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
1 | Belconnen United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 3 |
2 | Canberra Croatia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 3 |
3 | Canberra Olympic | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
4 | ANU WFC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
5 | Gungahlin United | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
6 | Tuggeranong United | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
7 | West Canberra Wanderers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
2: Brittany PALOMBI (Canberra Croatia), Reilly YUEN (Belconnen United)
1: Madison CACHIA (Canberra Olympic), Arusha CHEW (Canberra Croatia), Hattie CRAM (Belconnen United), Nicole JALOCHA (Canberra Olympic), Ginger OLIVER (Gungahlin United)
Words: Jeremy Magan