Canberra United end their home program in the 2023/24 Liberty A-League season when title-chasing Sydney FC provide the visors on Wednesday afternoon, the Sky Blues arriving in Canberra for the rearranged Round 17 clash that was curtailed due to inclement weather.
The original contest was abandoned after 36 minutes with the scores deadlocked at 0-0 and United will be keen to hat the potential charge towards the Premiers Plate from their visitors from up the Hume Highway.
Matches between the teams are often exciting affairs, who can forget Ellie Brush’s dramatic last-minute winner on the last occasion those from Sydney made the journey South to McKellar Park and completed ninety minutes of action.
Michelle Heyman opened the scoring that afternoon in mid-February 2023, Rola Badawiya equalising for Sydney, before Brush struck with what would prove to be her final career goal, fittingly a towering header from a corner against her former employers.
We then, of course, had the administrative battle off the park when United were docked of the points due to the controversy of Canberra bringing on a fourth substitute late in the piece, an oversight missed by the match officials. This resulted in the score being overturned, but on appeal, the points were rightly reinstated to Canberra.
The Sky Blues provided Canberra with their first opponents of the New Year, the pair meeting at Leichhardt Oval in front of a tremendous crowd of 3,378 where the honours ended even, Heyman (who else?) netting for United.
Canberra have earned a superb home record against Sydney FC down the years, winning six, drawing three and losing only three of the dozen fixtures played between the clubs. In that time, United have netted seventeen and conceded twelve.
The afternoon kick-off in midweek is also unusual for Canberra, the team having never plated an official game at this time before, and the club will ne hoping to extend its unbeaten run against Sydney FC to three matches, having not been successful in the five games preceding the 2-1 win last term.
Should this coincide with putting a dent in any potential Sydney FC title tilt, then no true-blood Canberra United supporter will be going home unhappy.
Feature Image credit: Anthony Caffery Photography
MATCH DETAILS
Liberty A-League Round 20
Wednesday 27 March 2024
Canberra United v Sydney FC
(McKellar Park, 16:00)
