A first game thrashing at the hands of Western Sydney Wanderers was hardly the best way for Canberra United to begin their inaugural Foxtel National Youth League campaign, but they will get a shot at redemption when they take on the Wanderers at home on Saturday afternoon.
United have responded to that 8-0 loss with improved performances in the two matches since, however still suffered 6-3 defeats to both Newcastle and Central Coast in those outings.
In front of a strong crowd last week United went down fighting, conceding three goals in the final ten minutes. Head Coach Ryan Grogan said his side need to be more clinical and more switched on at the back to avoid a repeat this week.
“It came down to a bit of decision making in the backline, and a bit of positioning,” he said.
“We set ourselves up early in the second half to be gassed, we kept turning the ball over.
“And not being clinical in front of goal hurt us, which has plagued us for the last two games.”
Forward Josh Gulevski said that the opportunity to play at home last weekend was enjoyable, and that the side are looking forward to it once more this week.
“It was good playing in front of our home crowd for once, and having a big crowd out to come watch us,” he said.
“In the first half we did ourselves justice but I think we let ourselves down in the second half.”
Daniel Fabrizio has been ruled out for the rest of the season after tearing his ACL in last week’s match, meaning Grogan has some shuffling to do within his side.
“We have some players shuffling around and coming in, but the final lineup has not been decided yet.
“He is a big, big loss for us, brought a lot to the side and was very dangerous down that left edge. It’s a big blow to lose him for the rest of the season but we have the quality in the side to cover for him and push forward.”
Match Details |
Foxtel National Youth League Round 5 | Saturday 16th December
Canberra United v Western Sydney Wanderers
AIS Grass Fields, 4:30pm
How to follow?
Keep up with the match on Twitter by following @CanberraUnited and the Hashtag #CBRvWSW
