Monaro Panthers v Gungahlin United | Sunday, 2pm @ Googong

Monaro will look to get things back on track when they host Gungahlin United in Googong on Sunday afternoon. They were humbled to the tune of 16 goals by Belconnen United their last time out, and it will not be too hard to improve on that. They did well to push Gungahlin when they faced them earlier in the season, and a disciplined, tough performance will go a long way for them here. They remain six points ahead of Tuggeranong at the bottom and somewhat surprisingly only sit one point behind their opponents in this round. Any points here would be a bonus to a good performance but a win especially can lift them over both Woden-Weston and United dependent on other results.

For United, Diego Iglesias was looking forward to a number of injured players being able to rest over the extended break and he should have a largely fully fit squad to choose from here. After his squad was largely new at the beginning of the year, different players have begun to stand up in important moments and he has a good group he can rely on now. They went down 3-1 to Canberra FC last round but it was not necessarily a scoreline reflective of the game as they pushed their visitors right to the end. A controlled display here is important ahead of another winnable match next week before they get back into the thick of matches with the top sides.

Woden-Weston v Tuggeranong United | Sunday, 2pm @ Woden Park

Tuggeranong United continue the search for their first win of the season as they face Woden-Weston at Woden Park on Sunday. A thumping 9-1 loss to Canberra Olympic was a tough pill to swallow last time out, and they will need a much better all-round performance this time out. The side still struggle for numbers at times with substitutes backing up from Reserves, and this has an impact when those players are then asked to come on. The last time these two met was back in Round one when United fell 2-0 to their visitors, and Michael Aldred will be hoping for an improvement on that outing. But to do that they will need to tighten up the back, conceding over four goals a game in the eight matches they have played.

For Woden-Weston a recent run of poor form means they have not won since round 4 when they picked up the maximum against Monaro, and that was also their most recent clean sheet. They are not the worst scoring side in the competition but they have still struggled in that area, with only nine goals coming in the seven games outside that win over Monaro. The 2-0 win in Round one over Tuggeranong appeared to be a sign of good things to come but that is their only other win so far, and they now sit five points outside the top four with the potential to be further off the pace by the round’s end. A win here is a must to keep top four hopes alive but they should expect Tuggeranong to come out firing.

Canberra Olympic v Canberra FC | Sunday, 3pm @ O’Connor – LIVE on BarTV Sports

Traditional rivals Canberra Olympic and Canberra FC will meet at O’Connor on Sunday in what is set up to be a cracking match. Canberra FC have won eight straight since falling to Belconnen United on the first day of the season and are in sensational form, with their latest victory a 3-1 grind over Gungahlin United in Round 9. With Belconnen United’s meeting with the CUA rescheduled until later in the year, Canberra FC can put the pressure on the ladder leaders by drawing level with them if they pick up a win. While their goal difference is well below that of United’s they have been a force at the back, conceding only seven goals in eight matches, four of them in the aforementioned round one clash.

Olympic have gone on something of a resurgence of late, picking up important wins in their last two matches to put themselves firmly back in top four contention after a tough run of results. Meg McLaughlin’s introduction has clearly had an impact, to the tune of six goals last game, and will look to get on the scoresheet here. There’s plenty of W-League flavour around this clash, with a number of former Canberra United players involved. Chantel Jones, Grace Gill, Sally Rojahn, McLaughlin, Grace Field and Bec Kiting have all featured in the Green, but there will be no love lost between them in this outing. Even with Grace Maher out Olympic are looking strong, and this match will no doubt live up to the billing.