Canberra United will be seeking for a happy end to 2024 when they welcome Newcastle Jets to McKellar Park on Sunday, the final match of the calendar year, and a chance to end the twelve months on a positive note.
Having had to wait a month for a home fixture in the Ninja A-League, two come along in quick succession with the Jets arriving in Canberra positioned one position and one point ahead of their hosts, having won two, drawn two and lost three of their seven matches to date.
The latest of these was a humbling 1-6 home reverse to championship-chasing Brisbane Roar last weekend the Roar having found a run of form since suffering an opening weekend 3-2 loss to Canberra United in Round 1.
United need an upturn in fortunes themselves having not won in five, a span stretching back to the fighting 1-0 success away to Wellington Phoenix in Round 2 which, at the time, had Canberra siting on a 100% record.
With a group of matches forthcoming against those in and around them on the league table, a victory against the Jets would go a long way to reigniting Canberra’s hopes of finishing high up what is a very congested league table and pushing for that place in the top six and finals football.
History sits very much on the side of the home team, Canberra having been on the winning side in seventeen of the twenty-five matches played, drawing four and losing only four, the jets being the team that the side from the Capital enjoys playing the most down the years.
Indeed, even given the lopsided nature of the venue for the fixtures, Canberra has hosted just nine matches whilst the Novocastrians have hosted a whopping sixteen, Canberra still has a formidable records, seven wins and at home and ten away with the Jets only being victorious on their travels to the ACT twice.
Antoni Jagarinec and his team had a couple of days of from their schedules earlier this week, spending the festive period with their loved ones, before returning to training for this big match. They are ready and raring to go, and with there having been 95 goals scored in matches between the clubs, this is one not to miss!
