The Gunners travel to O’Connor Enclosed with a chance to come back on the front three on Sunday afternoon, in a two-game weekend in which only two matches will take place due to the NTC in Melbourne.
Canberra Croatia is hosting the West Canberra Wanderers at Deakin Stadium on Sunday. The only team at the top not to have dropped points against one of the four at the bottom, the players in the chequered outfits want to keep the good habits at home.
Zoran Glavinic’s team is experienced enough to understand the importance of the last games of the season, and a success against a team in reach on paper is expected for the reigning Premiers. Their recent success over ANU and Tuggeranong shows they are not underestimating their opponents, and Brittany Palombi has found form at the right time.
The Wanderers are warned, and they know what to expect against the Deakin offensive armada. They had conceded three goals in the first half alone the first time they met Canberra Croatia and would need a really solid performance to avoid the same fate. They have shown they can do it against Olympic, do they have another upset in them?
The game of the week takes centre stage at O’Connor Enclosed again on Sunday. Canberra Olympic and Gungahlin United will be battling it out in a game that could have real consequences on the table.
Olympic are in the middle of a tough run, playing top four teams for four straight weeks. The reigning champions know how to level up to when it matters and can put some comfortable room between them and the Gunners this weekend. Olympic is chasing their first Premiership, and results in big games are a necessity at this stage of the season.
The Gunners have had successes this season, albeit too little against the title contenders. With only one success against Belconnen in the league, Gungahlin United wants to show they can grab points against the best. They managed to defeat Olympic once, with a last-minute goal in the Federation Cup Semi-Final, a similar result would bring the Gunners higher up on the table, with a real chance at fighting for silverware.
FIXTURES
ROUND 14
Sunday 16 July
Canberra Croatia v West Canberra Wanderers (Deakin Stadium, 14:30)
Canberra Olympic v Gungahlin United (O’Connor Enclosed, 14:30)
TABLE
P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
1 | Canberra Croatia | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 35 | 12 | +23 | 29 |
2 | Belconnen United | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 40 | 9 | +31 | 28 |
3 | Canberra Olympic | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 33 | 8 | +25 | 26 |
4 | Gungahlin United | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 26 | 16 | +10 | 23 |
5 | Canberra United Academy | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 25 | -12 | 16 |
6 | ANU WFC | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 26 | -15 | 9 |
7 | West Canberra Wanderers | 13 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 43 | -32 | 7 |
8 | Tuggeranong United | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 37 | -30 | 3 |
TOP SCORERS
12 Brittany PALOMBI (Canberra Croatia)
11 Bessie RIETHMULLER (Belconnen United)
7 Hattie CRAM (Belconnen United), Tatum MAZIS (Canberra Croatia), Charli MITCHELL (Canberra Croatia)
6 Talia BACKHOUSE (Belconnen United), Nicole JALOCHA (Canberra Olympic), Darby WHITELEY (Gungahlin United)
5 Isabella BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Keira BOBBIN (Belconnen United), Ginger OLIVER (Gungahlin United), Michaela THORNTON (Canberra Olympic), Madelyn WHITTALL (Canberra Olympic)
4 Maddison CACHIA (Canberra Olympic), Olivia GURNEY (Canberra Olympic), Roxie SWART (ANU WFC)
3 Tia BURRIDGE (Canberra Olympic), Sharon CHAO (Gungahlin United), Alyssa DI-CAMPLI (Canberra United Academy), Rhiannon FENSOM (Canberra Croatia), Erika PENNYFIELD (Gungahlin United), Pearl TEIN (Belconnen United)
2 Elke AITOLU (Canberra Olympic), Ella-Rose BROWN (Gungahlin United), Cara CERUTI (West Canberra Wanderers), Rachael CORBETT (Gungahlin United), Lauren HALL (West Canberra Wanderers), Michelle HEYMAN (Gungahlin United), Alyse JENSEN (West Canberra Wanderers), Sheridan MCELLIGOTT (ANU WFC), Alexandra NEALAND (Canberra United Academy), Rainey NILES (Tuggeranong United), Nikita PERRY (West Canberra Wanderers), Marija RATHOUSKI (Belconnen United), Madeleine STEINACKER (Belconnen United), Kate WALKER (West Canberra Wanderers), Sarah WHITFIELD (West Canberra Wanderers), Reilly YUEN (Belconnen United)
1 Tehya ASPLAND (Canberra Olympic), Latisha BABIC (Canberra United Academy), Amy BONGIORNO (Canberra Croatia), Jaya BOWMAN (Canberra United Academy), Jade BROWN (Gungahlin United), Sofia CHAVERRA (ANU WFC), Sofia CHRISTOPHERSON (Canberra United Academy), Tamara COCHRANE (Canberra United Academy), Alexandra COOK (Canberra Olympic), Natalie DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), Emma DOUGLAS-OLIVEIRA (ANU WFC), Edith FORDYCE-CROKER (ANU WFC), Charli GREGSON (Tuggeranong United), Isabella HINDMARSH (Belconnen United), Isabella HOPKINS (ANU WFC), Abby HURMAN (Tuggeranong United), Sarah MATTHEWS (Tuggeranong United), Riley MCQUEENIE (Canberra United Academy), Maya OSMOND (Canberra United Academy), Madeleine PERCEVAL (Gungahlin United), Katrina PERIC (Canberra Olympic), Alina ROBERTS (Belconnen United), Vanessa RYAN (Canberra Olympic), Elisha WILD (Canberra United Academy), Juliet WILLIAMS (ANU WFC), Zoe WILLIAMS (Tuggeranong United), Samantha WOOD (Tuggeranong United), Jasmine ZABEL (Canberra Olympic), Own GOALS