Canberra United faces Adelaide United in Round 7 of the Westfield W-League this weekend.
Canberra United faces Adelaide United in Round 7 of the Westfield W-League this weekend knowing that the fixture will be far from the foregone conclusion that it used to be. Whilst matches against the Lady Reds over the course of the history of the Westfield W-League used to be a sure-fire three points for the girls in green, this season-s installment of a long-running saga would appear to be quite different.
And that is down to Lady Reds- Head Coach Ross Aloisi and the way he has transformed Adelaide from perennial cellar-dwellers and, with all due respect, the competition-s easy-beats, into a force to be reckoned with and one that United for one certainly will not be taking lightly. It-s been quite some achievement for Aloisi to be able to turn around Adelaide into a team that can travel to Queensland and claim an historic and momentous 1-0 away win over Brisbane Roar.
Now they have Canberra in their sights and Elisabeth Migchelsen will only be too aware that her team, flying high at the right end of the ladder, will need to be totally switched on and focused if they are to come away from the visit to South Australia with the three points to maintain their push towards a finals place.
Matches between the teams in the ‘City of Churches- are as rare as hen-s teeth with this being only Canberra-s second visit to the City. The first was back in Season 4, United-s Championship year, when the game opened the 2011/12 campaign. Canberra got off to an amazing start in that match, Michelle Heyman-s opening goal after 88 seconds the quickest on record for United. Further goals from Caitlin Munoz (2) and Heyman again kick-started a magnificent season for Jitka Klimkova and her team.
Other than that fixture, all other matches have taken place in Canberra where the hosts enjoy an unbeaten record. Games between the teams are rarely dull however and some significant milestones have seen the first Canberra send-off (Thea Slatyer, Season 1 – 22/11/08), the first home game at Deakin Stadium (Season 2 – 05/12/09) and the first ever abandoned match in the competition (Season 3 – 04/12/10). So expect something special again in the first game of 2014.
CANBERRA UNITED SQUAD (to play Adelaide United at Burton Park)
1. Lydia WILLIAMS, 2. Catherine BROWN, 3. Georgia YEOMAN-DALE, 4. Kendall FLETCHER, 5. Grace FIELD, 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, 17. Holly HOUSTON, 19. Jennifer BISSET, 20. Trudy BURKE, 22. Stephanie OCHS
In: None
Out: None
Unavailable: None
LAST TIME OUT
Saturday 3rd November 2012
Canberra United 3 (Caitlin Cooper 72-, Ellie Brush 78-, Samantha Wood 84-) Adelaide United 1 (Rachael Quigley 38-)
COMPLETE RECORD
22/11/08: Canberra United 0 Adelaide United 0
05/12/09: Canberra United 3 Adelaide United 0
04/12/10: Canberra United 4 Adelaide United 0
22/10/11: Adelaide United 1 Canberra United 4
07/01/12: Canberra United 5 Adelaide United 0
03/11/12: Canberra United 3 Adelaide United 1
OVERALL: Played 6, Won 5, Drawn 1, Lost 0
HOME: Played 5, Won 4, Drawn 1, Lost 0
AWAY: Played 1, Won 1, Drawn 0, Lost 0
