Canberra United will face Sydney FC on Sunday afternoon with both sides looking to pick up their first points of Westfield W-League Season 10.
The match will be part of the Westfield W-League’s ‘Remembrance Round’ a joint initiative between Football Federation Australia (FFA), the Hyundai A-League Clubs and the Australian Defence Force (ADF), that will be observed at all matches during Round 6 of the Hyundai A-League and Round 3 of the Westfield W-League (10-12th November 2017) with a full ADF military order of service and ticket offers for serving ADF members.
As part of this, Capital Football NPLW Grand Final winners Canberra FC will take on a team from the Australian Defence force before the main game, kicking off at 1:30pm. Because of the earlier match, gates will open at 1pm at McKellar Park.
Main Game |
United suffered a narrow Round 1 loss to Melbourne Victory at Epping Stadium before watching on through the bye last weekend, but will now return to action with almost a full squad thanks to the return of the Young Matildas.
Ellie Carpenter, Georgia Boric, Grace Maher and Amy Sayer will all return to bolster the squad against a Sydney FC side brimming with experience and hunger.
Carpenter will likely see plenty of Matildas teammates Lisa De Vanna during the match, with the star striker yet to score this season but proving a threat regardless.
Sydney fell to Brisbane in Round 1 before going down to the Jets last weekend, and need to pick up their feet with the season only lasting 14 rounds.
The only meeting against Sydney last year saw United go down 6-1 at Lambert Park in a result that was a clear outlier on the season, with Caitlin Foord pulling the strings for the Sky Blues that day.
United’s Head Coach Heather Garriock will carry in a bit of extra motivation against her former club as she looks to jump clear of them on the table in her second match in charge.
During the week, Garriock said the whole squad couldn’t wait for their first home outing of the season.
“We’re all very excited. There’s a lot of new girls, so they might not grasp the home game experience until the weekend.”
“The last couple of years as a commentator I’ve loved coming down to Canberra, and seeing the crowd and how much they embrace the players and it will be fantastic, I am really looking forward to it.”
The match will also feature the occasion of Ashleigh Sykes 100th match in the Westfield W-League and for Canberra United, and Sykes will be presented with a commemorative playing jersey at the conclusion of the match.
How to Follow |
While the match will not be streamed, you can follow along on Twitter @canberraunited, with regular updates on there. Facebook will feature Goal updates as well as HT & FT scores, while Instagram will have HT/FT scores and posts at intervals.
Squads |
Referee: Casey Reibelt
Assistant Referee 1: Delfina Dimoski
Assistant Referee 2: Nia Southwell
Fourth Official: Alex Twomey
Canberra United squad: 1.Haley KOPMEYER (gk), 4.Toni PRESSLEY, 6.Caitlin MUNOZ, 8.Liana DANASKOS, 10.Grace MAHER, 12.Bethany GORDON, 14.Ashleigh SYKES, 15.Sarah MORGAN, 16.Karly ROESTBAKKEN, 17.Madelyn WHITTALL, 18.Taren KING, 21.Ellie CARPENTER, 23.Michelle HEYMAN, 24.Kendall FLETCHER, 34.Laura BASSETT, 36.Georgia BORIC (gk)
**one to be omitted**
Ins: 6.Caitlin MUNOZ (Return from Injury), 10.Grace MAHER (promoted), 12.Bethany GORDON (Return from International duty), 21.Ellie CARPENTER (Return from International duty), 36.Georgia BORIC (Return from International duty)
Outs: 13.Lauren KEIR (Not Selected), 19.Aoife COLVILL (Not Selected), 22.Jasmine MAGUIRE (Not Selected), 35.Isobel DAVY (gk) (Not Selected)
Unavailable: 3.Clare HUNT (Foot 2-4 weeks), 7.Nickoletta FLANNERY (Foot 2-4 weeks)
Sydney FC squad: 1.Sham KHAMIS (gk), 2.Teresa POLIAS (c), 3.Remy SIEMSEN, 4.Elizabeth RALSTON, 6.Chloe LOGARZO, 7.Rachael SOUTAR, 8.Amy HARRISON, 10.Kylie LEDBROOK, 11.Lisa DE VANNA, 12.Teigen ALLEN, 13.Georgia YEOMAN-DALE, 15.Caitlin COOPER, 17.Angelique HRISTODOULOU, 19.Leena KHAMIS, 20.Princess IBINI, 21. Julia VIGNES, 30.Sheridan RAINEY (GK)
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 7.Rachael SOUTAR (promoted), 17.Angelique HRISTODOULOU (promoted), 21. Julia VIGNES (promoted)
Outs: 16.Emily SONNETT (international duty – 1 week)
Unavailable: Nil
Key Times |
Gates: 1pm
Canberra FC v Australian Defence Force: 1:30pm Kickoff
Westfield W-League Canberra United v Sydney FC: 4:30pm Kickoff
