The duel between Belconnen United and Canberra Olympic will be fought by proxy, with only two games this weekend. The two teams at the top visits the two teams at the bottom of the table, respectively Friday and Sunday. Both will hope their rival slips before they meet the following week.
Tuggeranong United hosts Belconnen United on Friday night at Kambah 2, days after suffering a heavy defeat to Olympic. The team coached by Sarah West has not enjoyed facing the Blue Devils this season, conceding a total of seventeen goals in this year’s three encounters.
The duel looks and feels unbalanced, with the best attack of 2024 facing the worst defence. The Tuggies will need a near-perfect performance to improve on their result against Belconnen this season. They have not scored the three times they played them so far, a good streak to put an end to on Friday.
Belconnen United can probably smell the trap. On paper, the game could feel like a formality, a promised win before one of the games of the season next week. Scott Conlon will ensure his team does not underestimate Tuggeranong and delivers a good account of themselves, to put pressure on Olympic before Sunday.
Canberra Olympic will travel to Hawker Football Centre to face ANU WFC at 3pm on Sunday to keep their forward march. Frank Cachia’s team won their first two duels with ANU in the WNPL with four unanswered goals in each game. They are hoping to reiterate the performance again, especially given how efficient they were last week.
For a team was commended at first mainly for their defensive prowess, Olympic is ending the season with fireworks, with five players having now scored four goals or more.
The University Club is warned, they have their work cut out for them against the league leaders. A week after losing to Gungahlin – a defeat that could have been more severe without a great performance from Sofia Chaverra in goals, ANU will first and foremost want to find the back the net, given they have not scored against a team not named Tuggeranong in more than two months.
If they can do that and defend as well as they have in the second half last week, they could even help Belconnen by pushing Olympic until the very end.
FIXTURES
ROUND 19
Friday 16 August
Tuggeranong United v Belconnen United (Kambah 2, 19:30)
Sunday 18 August
ANU WFC v Canberra Olympic (Hawker Football Centre, 15:00)
All matches are streamed live on BarTV Sports.
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Canberra Olympic | 15 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 44 | 11 | +33 | 40 |
| 2 | Belconnen United | 15 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 57 | 15 | +42 | 37 |
| 3 | Gungahlin United | 17 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 40 | 21 | +19 | 35 |
| 4 | Canberra Croatia | 17 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 38 | 31 | +7 | 23 |
| 5 | West Canberra Wanderers | 16 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 19 | 33 | -14 | 14 |
| 6 | ANU WFC | 15 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 50 | -41 | 6 |
| 7 | Tuggeranong United | 15 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 50 | -46 | 3 |
TOP SCORERS
14: Alyssa DI-CAMPLI (Belconnen United)
11: Brittany PALOMBI (Canberra Croatia)
10: Ginger OLIVER (Gungahlin United), Madelyn WHITTALL (Canberra Olympic), Reilly YUEN (Belconnen United)
7: Hattie CRAM (Belconnen United), Katrina PERIC (Canberra Olympic)
6: Madison CACHIA (Canberra Olympic), Megan CASTLE (Canberra Croatia), Alex MARTENS (Gungahlin United), Darby WHITELEY (Gungahlin United),
5: Keira BOBBIN (Belconnen United), Arusha CHEW (Canberra Croatia), Tatum MAZIS (Canberra Croatia), Sarah WHITFIELD (West Canberra Wanderers)
4: Tehya ASPLAND (Canberra Olympic), Alyse JENSEN (Belconnen United), Tianah MIRO (Canberra Olympic), Alex NEALAND (Gungahlin United), Alina ROBERTS (Belconnen United)
3: Ella BROWN (Canberra Olympic), Natalie DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), Alexandra GIDIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Isabella HINDMARSH (Belconnen United), Sheridan MCELLIGOTT (ANU WFC), Madeliene PERCEVAL (Gungahlin United), Own GOALS
2: Isabella BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Jamie BERKELEY (Canberra Croatia), Jaya BOWMAN (Canberra Olympic), Olivia BUYTEWEG (Gungahlin United), Sharon CHAO (Gungahlin United), Lauren HALL (West Canberra Wanderers), Zoe HALPIN (West Canberra Wanderers), Olivia HICKS (West Canberra Wanderers), Nicole JALOCHA (Canberra Olympic), Pascale LA HEI (Belconnen United), Saskia NEWMAN (ANU WFC), Ella PALFRAMAN (Canberra Croatia), Sofia PALYWODA (Belconnen United), Allegra SENTI (West Canberra Wanderers)
1: Angelina BABIC (ANU WFC), Eliza BAKER (ANU WFC), Leila BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Amy BONGIORNO (Canberra Croatia), Leah CARNEGIE (Canberra Olympic), Cara CERUTI (Canberra Olympic), Sofia CHAVERRA (ANU WFC), Stella DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), Corinne DENTON (Gungahlin United), Jade EMMS (Belconnen United), Rhiannon FENSOM (Canberra Croatia), Edith FORDYCE-CROKER (ANU WFC), Elvein IBRHAIM (Tuggeranong United), Sarah MATTHEWS (Tuggeranong United), Amy MOORE (Gungahlin United), Demi NIKIAS (West Canberra Wanderers), Tiana PHILLIPS-MAYNARD (Tuggeranong United), Sienna NESS (Canberra Olympic), Lauren PRESTON (Belconnen United), Bronte PYKE (Belconnen United), Bessie RIETHMULLER (Canberra Olympic), Pearl TEIN (Belconnen United), Michaela THORNTON (Canberra Olympic), Jane VANZINO (Canberra Olympic), Audrey WARD (West Canberra Wanderers), Matylda WELLS-SHEATHER (Tuggeranong United), Kayla WRIGHT (Gungahlin United), Nadia ZAKMAN (Canberra Croatia)
Words: Jeremy Magan
