State League Two Round 6 Preview

Both sides are coming off round-five wins and will be playing off the back of midweek Waratah Cup fixtures, so the endurance and depth of both squads will be tested. Unbeaten Chopin Park have unveiled themselves to be genuine final prospects in their State League debut and will hope to keep their momentum going with another solid performance this weekend. Northbridge are steadily improving with each outing and this will be a good hit-out after their breakthrough 5-3 win over Gazy.
Bathurst ?75 meet highflyers Prospect United at Alec Lamberton Field on Saturday night (7pm) in what will probably be another entertaining affair. Undefeated Prospect are on top by goal difference but with their catch-up game against Springwood on Thursday night they can take the outright lead with a good result at Bathurst. United won their only previous away fixture this season (at Hurstville) and they whipped ?75 4-zip in their last encounter, but they are yet to take any points away from Alec Lamberton in a long time. Their last game there was a cracker however, with Bathurst taking the lead three times in a 3-2 thriller last April, so it shows that anything goes across the mountains.
Springwood United meet Belmore Hercules at Summerhayes Park on Saturday night (7pm) in a meeting of two contrasting positions. Springwood are undefeated on six competition points, the same number of points as Belmore who has suffered three straight losses. United will have to back-up from their midweek catch-up game against leaders Prospect but ran amok over Hurstville 5-0 on the weekend, so they just may be in the mood for a trifecta come Saturday. The two sides split last year?s home and away series, the host winning both times.
Fairfield Wanderers play Hawkesbury City in a big game at Knight Park on Sunday afternoon (3pm kickoff). Fairfield have disregarded a round-three disaster against Luddenham to co-lead the competition behind back-to-back victories over big guns Hakoah and Roosters. Hawkesbury also only have a loss to Luddenham to stain their otherwise healthy start to the season, and both sides have fired in 10 goals each in their five outings. If that?s not fuel for fire then there?s also the fact that their last four meetings have produced a cracking 19 goals, Wanderers winning twice and City once, and a 3-3 draw in between.
Luddenham United face a bamboozled Gazy Lansvale at Luddenham Oval on Sunday afternoon (3pm). While in-form United scraped home against Hawkesbury last week to stay a point behind the top teams, Gazy had a week to forget losing three times and conceding a miserable 15 goals. Luddenham will be eager to hammer the point home on Sunday and also keep their tidy run over Lansvale going, United winning four of their last five meetings including all three at home. If there?s ever a time to dig deep, this is it for backs-to-the-wall Gazy.
A patchy Hurstville City Minotaurs host Nepean at Punchbowl Oval on Sunday afternoon (3pm) in what has turned out to be a scrap between two of the competition?s bottom sides. Last year?s grand finalists Hurstville had a resounding win over Gazy last week to seemingly kickstart their sloppy start to the year only for Springwood to show them dust in a 5-0 round-five hammering. Nepean are the only division two side without a win but have strived to play good football all along and this could work well for them against a Minotaurs outfit that must get back to basics.
Hakoah and Roosters meet in a cracker at Hensley Athletic Field on Sunday night (7pm kickoff). Both sides have shown plenty of new faces in steady starts to the year and there doesn?t seem to be a problem for either side finding the back of the net. The winner of this match could well be decided in the defence as neither side has managed to keep a clean sheet so far. Hakoah?s 2-0 win at Wentworth Park last July ended a three-game winning sequence by Roosters that included an embarrassing 7-0 shellacking last May. Could revenge be on the cards?
Round one of the Waratah Cup knockout also starts this week with five Wednesday night match-ups featuring division two teams ? Hawkesbury City tackle Enfield Rovers at Bensons Lane Field (6.30pm kickoff), Fairfield Wanderers host Belmore Hercules at Knight Park (7.15pm), Northbridge visits Bass Hill at Walshaw Park (7.15pm), Gazy Lansvale welcome Bonnet Bay to Cherrybrook Park (7.15pm), and Chopin Park Rams face Lidcombe Waratah at Bensons Lane Field (8.15pm). On Thursday night, Hakoah play Chullora Wolves at Hensley Athletic Field (7.15pm kickoff), while Bathurst ?75 take on Glenmore Park at Parker Street Oval (7.30pm).
-By Daniel De Nardi