Round 13 of PlayStation 4® NPL Capital Football begins with the return of Friday Night lights at Woden Park with Woden Weston FC hosting Gungahlin United.
Friday 3rd July 2015
Woden Weston FC v Gungahlin United
(Woden Park, 7:20pm)
Both teams are coming off Round 12 wins, with Woden-Weston winning against Tuggeranong United for the second time this year. Playing on a bumpy and slippery Kambah pitch, the joint-venture team played some decent football and were able to get their second victory of the year.
Gungahlin United meanwhile were able to recover after conceding in the first minute of their match versus FFA COE. Goals to the experienced Dustin Wells and Stephen Domenici continued Gungahlin’s good run.
After it was announced they will host Sydney Olympic in the Round of 32 of the Westfield FFA Cup, Gungahlin will benefit from playing a night game in near freezing weather. Defending the Gunners’ wealth of attacking threats will be key for the home team to get a result.
Saturday 4th July 2015
FFA COE v Canberra Olympic
(AIS, 3pm)
Canberra Olympic put on a show the last time these two teams met, accounting for FFA COE with a 4-0 win and will be hoping to repeat the feat at the Australian Institute of Sport on Saturday afternoon. That resultwas one of few negatives for FFA COE’s year to date, with the youngsters having a superb season showcasing some brilliant skill with dogged determination. This sees them sitting on equal points with their Round 13 rivals, below them on goal difference only. Both teams are coming off 2-1 losses in Round 12, with Olympic conceding to Belconnen United late in Angelo Konstantinou’s 200th NPL game and FFA not able to grind out a result, after taking the lead versus Gungahlin in the first minute. This game should again showcase some attractive football, with the AIS fields aiding to the style both these teams like to play. Both teams will be keen to win, knowing that Gungahlin are only two points behind and in good form.
Belconnen United v Tigers FC
(McKellar Par, 5:30pm)
The match of the round takes place on Saturday night, with ladder leading Belconnen United hosting Tigers FC at McKellar Park. Both these teams have been in winning form, but it is the Tigers taking momentum into this fixture.
The team from Cooma has had two victories in their last two starts, scoring eight and conceding only one and arrive at Belconnen fresh after having their match versus Canberra FC postponed with FC in Croatia for the Croatian World Cup tournament.
Belconnen on the other hand was made to work against a tireless Olympic outfit in Round 12, following their 120 minute Westfield FFA Cup defeat to Gungahlin the week before. Julian Borgna has been causing trouble for opponents in the last few weeks and Belconnen will need to watch the livewire if they want to emulate the 2-0 win they had last time these two teams played each other.
Sunday 5th July 2015
Monaro Panthers v Tuggeranong United
(Riverside Stadium, 3pm)
The only Sunday match in Round 13 is the bottom of the table clash, with Monaro Panthers hosting Tuggeranong United at Riverside Stadium.
Monaro’s mid-season bye last week seemed to come at a good time for the club, allowing the side to refocus leading into the end of the year. They will re-enter the fray in a more buoyant mood but the week off has been known to harm teams in the past.
This makes it an opportune time for the luckless Tuggeranong United to possibly get the monkey off their back and win their first points in the NPL season after being pointless in eleven matches this season. As always, Tuggers played well last week, but again took nothing out of the game. If they are going to get a win this year, this is the game where it needs to happen.
Another loss here would arguably kill all morale and signal a possible disastrous end to the campaign.
Click here to view the ladder and the leading scorers heading into Round 13.