The teams were fighting to stay with frontrunners Old Canberrans and St Patrick's, and the game was as close as expected. Top defensive efforts from both sides, including a penalty-stroke save from Hayleigh Bombinski, kept the game goalless, until Amy Arnott broke the deadlock for ANU with four minutes to play.

The defeat left Central coach Andrew Tomadini ruing lost opportunities. ''We had a lot of penetrations, a lot of chances to score, we just couldn't put it in the back of the net,'' he said.

The win catapults ANU over Old Canberrans, with only goal differential leaving St Patrick's at the top of the ladder heading into the long weekend break.

That differential was helped considerably by St Pat's 14-2 drubbing of United. They shared their scoring among four players, with Emma Taylor notching up four goals and Naomi Evans getting a hat-trick.

University of Canberra beat Tuggeranong Vikings 3-0 thanks to Edwina Bone's second hat-trick in as many weeks, all scored from short corners. With Angela Freeman gone the team welcomed back Meredith Bone, who has been playing in England.

Four of the Vikings players had backed up for the first grade game after playing an under-15s game in Goulburn that morning. At the bottom of the ladder, Wests Valleys and North Canberra are both still winless after a 1-1 draw.