Canberra United will look to keep up their excellent home record when they face Sydney FC this Wednesday night in the Westfield W-League. Canberra will go into the re-scheduled round three match, full of confidence on the back of two impressive home wins over Adelaide United and Perth Glory.
Canberra United will look to keep up their excellent home record when they face Sydney FC this Wednesday night in the Westfield W-League. Canberra will go into the re-scheduled round three match, full of confidence on the back of two impressive home wins over Adelaide United and Perth Glory.
Canberra look to have rediscovered their goal scoring form of late, netting 8 strikes in the past two games. Whilst Adelaide and Perth are placed lower on the ladder than Canberra, both proved themselves to be tough opponents, and with United coming off a long stretch away from McKellar Park, an upset was always possible.
After a slow start against the Glory last time out, Canberra took control of the match, eventually running out 5-1 winners. Defender Ellie Brush opened the scoring, nodding in Lori Lindsay-s near-post corner. Caitlin Munoz doubled Canberra-s advantage prior to halftime, smashing her free kick through the Perth defence after Michelle Heyman was fouled. Lindsay made up for an earlier miss by rounding off a fine team move for 3-0. Perth captain Kathyrn Gill pulled a goal back for the visitors, to no avail with substitute Georgia Yeoman-Dale grabbing two late goals.
This week-s game against Sydney is the first of two encounters between these two teams prior to the finals. Sydney FC, currently sitting on top of the Westfield W-League, are yet to taste defeat this W-League season, and are yet to drop any points in 2014. The Sky Blues stayed top of the table thanks to a debut goal from teenager Amy Harrison deep into injury time, snatching a 2-1 win away to Adelaide United.
Canberra are midway through a tough run of fixtures, which sees them play three games in six days.
With this busy period of fixtures, squad depth will be key, with teenagers Meg McLaughlin and Grace Field starting their first W-League matches against Perth, both players putting in fine performances.
Now that a finals berth has been secured, Canberra will be chasing down a spot in the top two and a home semi-final. Canberra are currently on 18 points, but will put serious pressure on Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory (both 23) if they can continue their winning form. Canberra United is yet to defeat Sydney FC at McKellar Park in the six season of the Westfield W-League, Wednesday night-s clash will hopefully break this run of results.
CANBERRA UNITED SQUAD
1. Lydia WILLIAMS, 2. Catherine BROWN, 3. Georgia YEOMAN-DALE, 4. Kendall FLETCHER, 6. Caitlin MUNOZ, 7. Ellie BRUSH, 8. Meg McLAUGHLIN, 9. Grace GILL, 11. Michelle HEYMAN, 12. Sally ROJAHN, 13. Nicole SYKES, 14. Ashleigh SYKES, 16. Lori LINDSEY, 20. Trudy BURKE, 22. Stephanie OCHS
In: Williams, Rojahn
Out: Field, Mara
LAST TIME OUT
Saturday 1st December 2012
Sydney FC 4 (Kyah Simon 5-, 76- (pen), Samantha Kerr 18-, Emma Kete 94-) Canberra United 3 (Georgia Yeoman-Dale 33-, Hayley Raso 58-, Nikki Washington 83-)
COMPLETE RECORD
06/12/08: Canberra United 1 Sydney FC 1
10/10/09: Canberra United 1 Sydney FC 2
10/12/09: Semi-Final: Sydney FC 3 Canberra United 0
22/01/11: Sydney FC 3 Canberra United 0
05/11/11: Sydney FC 0 Canberra United 1
10/12/11: Canberra United 0 Sydney FC 0
01/12/13: Sydney FC 4 Canberra United 3
OVERALL: Played 7, Won 1, Drawn 2, Lost 4
HOME: Played 3, Won 0, Drawn 2, Lost 1
AWAY: Played 4, Won 1, Drawn 0, Lost 3
