The past week has seen a clear top four breaking out at the top of the ladder of the Women’s NPL, and two of the contenders meet in Gungahlin Enclosed on Sunday afternoon. Elsewhere in the Capital, a battle for the best of the rest and two teams in need of points facing a daunting task.
ANU WFC faces Belconnen United at ANU South Oval to end a complicated seven days for the home team. After a tough trip to Deakin (1-5) and a good fight midweek against Olympic (0-2), the third team at the top is on the University’s path this weekend.
Rob Illingworth’s troops showed their strength and resilience in the first round of the competition, holding their own against the best teams. Against the Blue Devils, their ability to create more upfront, and to finish, could be the key to an upset.
Scott Conlon will lead this team to a third game in a week, with better results to show for: six points, ten goals scored and only one conceded despite missing some key elements of that starting team.
Belconnen United has been showcasing their depth of talent, from outfield players wearing gloves, to U17 making a splash in first grade. A success away this Sunday would ensure the Blue Devils keep their spot at the top of the table and reinforce a feeling that is slowly sinking in the capital: from possible title contender, Talia Backhouse and her teammate have now evolved to almost the favourites for a treble in 2023.
Wanderers Park will see the West Canberra Wanderers hosting reigning champions Canberra Croatia with a slim hope to get their first point this season. The Wanderers’ season is the exact opposite of 2022 so far.
After three close losses, they went on to concede ten goals in the past two encounters and are desperate to convert the obvious talent in their ranks into results to regain confidence. Despite several opportunities week in week out, West Canberra could only find the back of the net twice so far
Sarah Whitfield showed the way last week, hopefully for the Wanderers, she has found an appetite and is ready to strike again this weekend. The Deakin side of course travels South with the status of favourite. Now trailing the top two by two points, Zoran Glavinic knows each misstep would allow Olympic and Belconnen to increase their lead.
After the Charli Mitchell / Tatum Mazis show last week, the reigning Premiers look full of confidence, and ready to keep up the pace. The goal this Sunday could be to keep the clean sheet, something Canberra Croatia could do only once in the first round, against Belconnen United in the third round.
A battle to stay clear at the bottom will be fought at Hawker Football Centre between Canberra United Academy and Tuggeranong United. The Academy has so far been the “best of the rest”, winning whenever they were not playing a top three team.
Against Tuggeranong, Matty Moore and his young players will want to prove their ability to surpass teams below them on the table. To do that, scoring goals needs of course to be on the cards, something the players in Green have failed to do in the last 210 minutes of WNPL football.
Tuggeranong United have shown time and time again their ability to threaten any team with their pacy and skilled offense. They have also unfortunately under-performed defensively, with 19 goals conceded in the past four encounters, and the worst defence in the league this season.
This weekend against CUA will be an opportunity for Paulo Romero and his players to show they have lost the defensive solidity they so often showcased, with the hope of recording a first clean sheet in 2023.
The last game of the weekend will be a duel at the top, between Gungahlin United and Canberra Olympic. Two weeks after the surprise Federation Cup semi-final result that saw Ginger Oliver qualifying her team in the dying embers of the game, the Gunners approach this game with a newfound status, earned on the field.
The football played by Andrew Woodman’s team gets better as the weeks go by, with Belconnen United the only team capable of winning against the Gunners so far. The goal is simple on Sunday for the home team: a result to cement their place at the top of the table.
Canberra Olympic’s form in the league is what you would expect from the reigning champions, with four consecutive successes when facing the bottom four clubs. The game this weekend, against the last team that was able to beat them in that famous cup show-down, starts a tough series of duels for Nicole Begg’s team, about to face the three teams at the top.
The points they will tally in the next few rounds and the subsequent spot they will find themselves on the table will give Victoria Jamieson and her teammates a chance to reaffirm their status of favourites, for the Premiership and the defence of their Championship
FIXTURES
ROUND 7
Sunday 21 May
West Canberra Wanderers v Canberra Croatia (Melrose Synthetic, 15:00)
ANU WFC v Belconnen United (ANU South Oval, 15:00)
Canberra United Academy v Tuggeranong United (Hawker Football Centre, 15:00)
Gungahlin United v Canberra Olympic (Gungahlin Enclosed, 15:00)
TABLE
P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
1 | Belconnen United | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 3 | +17 | 15 |
2 | Canberra Olympic | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 3 | +14 | 15 |
3 | Canberra Croatia | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 13 |
4 | Gungahlin United | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 10 |
5 | Canberra United Academy | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 6 |
6 | ANU WFC | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 3 |
7 | Tuggeranong United | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 21 | -16 | 3 |
8 | West Canberra Wanderers | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 15 | -13 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
7 Bessie RIETHMULLER (Belconnen United)
6 Brittany PALOMBI (Canberra Croatia)
5 Kiera BOBBIN (Belconnen United), Charli MITCHELL (Canberra Croatia), Michaela THORNTON (Canberra Olympic)
3 Tia BURRIDGE (Canberra Olympic), Olivia GURNEY (Canberra Olympic), Darby WHITELY (Gungahlin United)
2 Isabella BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Hattie CRAM (Belconnen United), Nicole JALOCHA (Canberra Olympic), Tatum MAZIS (Canberra Croatia), Rainey NILES (Tuggeranong United), Nikita Ginger OLIVER (Gungahlin United), Erika PENNYFIELD (Gungahlin United), Marija RATHOUSKI (Belconnen United), Roxie SWART (ANU WFC)
1 Tehya ASPLAND (Canberra Olympic), Latisha BABIC (Canberra United Academy), Talia BACKHOUSE (Belconnen United), Ella-Rose BROWN (Gungahlin United), Sharon CHAO (Gungahlin United), Tamara COCHRANE (Canberra United Academy), Alexandra COOK (Canberra Olympic), Rachael CORBETT (Gungahlin United), Natalie DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), Alyssa DI-CAMPLI (Canberra United Academy), Rhiannon FENSOM (Canberra Croatia), Charli GREGSON (Tuggeranong United), Sarah MATTHEWS (Tuggeranong United), Sheridan MCELLIGOTT (ANU WFC), Alexandra NEALAND (Canberra United Academy), PERRY (West Canberra Wanderers), Alina ROBERTS (Belconnen United), Madeleine STEINACKER (Belconnen United), Sarah WHITFIELD (West Canberra Wanderers), Madelyn WHITTALL (Canberra Olympic), Elisha WILD (Canberra United Academy), Juliet WILLIAMS (ANU WFC), Zoe WILLIAMS (Tuggeranong United), Reilly YUEN (Belconnen United), Jasmine ZABEL (Canberra Olympic)