League leaders Tigers FC will be out to maintain their excellent start to the season when they visit CU Academy at Hawker Football Centre in Round 5.
The Tigers are the only team left in the PlayStation® 4 National Premier Leagues Canberra competition who have yet to taste defeat and will be heavy favourites to extend that unbeaten run to five games against an Academy side that is struggling for consistency in their maiden season in the top-flight.
Going forward the Tigers have been nothing short of rampant with fifteen goals in four matches pointing towards a team who are very much aware of where the net is. In Stephen Domenici (five goals) and Nicolas Abot (four goals) they have two in-form attackers and the duo must be confident of adding to their tally against the most porous defence in the competition. The Academy though are improving each week and they possess a number of players who are capable of producing the unexpected and causing an upset.
Canberra Olympic will have the chance to go top of the table on Saturday evening when they travel to the Australian Institute of Sport to meet the FFA COE. It continues a tough start to the season for Frank Cachia’s team who have already played Belconnen United, Canberra FC and Tigers FC in the opening four rounds and will expect another tough examination from the Centre of Excellence.
There were contrasting fortunes for the pair on Matchday 4 with Olympic winning 3-2 against Belconnen United, a brace of penalties helping their cause, whilst the FFA COE ran into an on-fire Tigers FC, a team with a swift and incisive attacking play that was too much for the young squad to handle. Going forward they looked dangerous, in particular goalscorers John Roberts and Jaidon Seldon, and utilising their fast, one-touch attack will be their best bet for a positive result.
The Blue Devils will be out to bounce back from their loss to Olympic when they welcome Tuggeranong United to McKellar Park on Saturday evening. Tuggeranong will be buoyed by their draw with Canberra FC, a result that continues their upward momentum in 2016 and, as such, they will not fear a trip to Belconnen. There will no doubt be respect for Tuggeranong from the home team but they will be confident of taking the points and keeping the pressure on the leaders.
Elsewhere on Sunday the Monaro Panthers meet Gungahlin United at the Riverside Stadium with both teams eyeing off a win which would catapult them into top four contention after a yo-yo start to the season. Canberra FC meanwhile welcomes Woden-Weston FC to Deakin Stadium looking for the three points and a few goals to boost their ailing confidence that was on show at times in the draw at Kambah. They fought back well from two-down to gain a point, but getting into those situations in the first place will be of cause for concern for Zoran Glavinic.
CLICK HERE for a vies the leading scorers and the ladder heading into Round 5.
FIXTURES
Saturday 30th April
FFA COE v Canberra Olympic (AIS, 2pm)
Belconnen United v Tuggeranong United (McKellar Park, 5.30pm)
Sunday 1st May
Canberra FC v Woden-Weston FC (Deakin Stadium, 3pm)
Monaro Panthers v Gungahlin United (Riverside Stadium, 3pm)
CU Academy v Tigers FC (Hawker Football Centre, 3pm)