FNSW Futsal Men’s Premier League Round 7 Review
Round 7 action
The teams became a little more spread in a fantastic round of Premier League Men?s matches, Dural defeating Inner West 4-1 and Enfield coming from behind twice to overpower South Coast 6-3, while a last-gasp goal saw Sydney City beat Mascot 5-4 in a Bankstown belter and Boomerangs scored three late goals to steal a 5-5 draw with Campbelltown.
The results keep Dural ahead of City by a point on the ladder with Boomerangs and Enfield in hot pursuit a couple of points further back. Campbelltown and Inner West are still in touch on the outer, while Mascot will need a miracle to give them a chance at finals football with five of their remaining seven games played away from home.
Dural down Inner West
Dural Warriors stayed top of the pile with a hard-fought 4-1 win over Inner West Allstars at the Sports and Leisure Centre on Saturday night.
In a tense first half an unfortunate Allstars own goal gave the Warriors an early 1-0 lead before the visitors restored parity just before halftime through flanker Stephen Kayes.
The action heated up in the second half with Inner West camping out in front of Dural?s goal for long periods but unable to penetrate a stoic defence, while the home side rallied to pinch three goals on the counter in a five-minute burst, Isaac Wadik scoring twice and Greg Giovenali adding another to make it 4-1 at fulltime.
Giovenali has now scored in each of the last six games to move to 11 goals for the season, one behind Boomerangs pivot Daniel Fulton and three behind high-scorer Chris Zeballos of Sydney City.
Dural coach Rob Varela was very pleased with the result considering he had several players missing from action. ?It was a hard win with most of the men?s team missing [through injury],? he said.? We had five main players out so we had to field mostly youth players.?
?We had to work hard for the points but I felt we were in control for most of the way. The second half we defended very well and put pressure on them and scored three on the counter. It?s still a close competition and on any given night you will lose to any team.?
Dural extended their unbeaten run to six games on the back of a commanding goal difference of plus-25 (they have the league?s best offence at 45 goals scored and best defence with 18 goals conceded).
The Warriors head Sydney City by a point on the table but face a stern test over the next three rounds with games against their closest rivals (Quake, Boomerangs, Eagles). However, they?re all on a home court where they remain undefeated this season.
Their next game should be a beauty with Dural?s only loss this season coming at the hands of Campbelltown (a tight 3-2 result in round one), who they face next week in an exciting rematch.
Inner West will be pleased to start the second round of matches where they play five of the remaining seven games at home.
Boomerangs, Quake in epic draw
In one of the games of the season Boomerangs came from three goals down in the final 10 minutes to earn a 5-5 draw with Campbelltown Quake at the AIS Training Halls on Saturday night.
The Canberra crowd had barely settled into their seats when a four goal blitz from Campbelltown gave them a handy lead by the seventh minute, back-stick tap-ins to Dean Lockhart, Mark Symington and James Pearce and a neat roll-in from Danny Martinez rocking Boomerangs early.
Goals to Boomerangs flanker Pat Ross-Magee either side of halftime, his first scores of the year, halved the deficit to keep his side in it before a second goal to Martinez made it 5-2 to Quake with 10 minutes to play.
But the home side wasn?t done with yet and national team star Daniel Fulton clawed one back in the 41st minute before local hero George Cattanach stole the show with goals in the 46th and 49th minute leveling the scores up at 5-5 to earn his side a valuable point.
Campbelltown club secretary Carlos Martinez was thrilled to be involved in such a terrific spectacle. ?It was an absolute smasher,? he said. ?It?s a shame we did not to take all three points, but what do you do in a game like that??
?We played a fast-paced game from the kick-off and put Boomerangs on the back foot [Quake led 4-0 at halftime], and when Danny scored his second [with 10 minutes to go] we thought it was all looking good. But two good free kicks to Boomerangs and a defensive lapse at the back suddenly made it 5-5.?
?I was a bit disappointed not to take all the points, but [Boomerangs] are very experienced and they stayed patient to find their goals.?
Campbelltown was missing regular goalkeeper Gavin O?Brien but the head coach praised the efforts of stand-in custodian Shane Borg. ?He stepped in and put his body on the line and did really well,? he said. ?Even toward the end we had our chances, but our heads went down when they equalized.?
?We had a dinner in Canberra together after the game and although we were happy with the way we played, with a good passing and pressing game, we were disappointed we couldn?t hold on for the win.?
Quake are yet to put together back-to-back wins this season but remain in touch with the top-four (three points behind Boomerangs and Enfield), and they?ve done a remarkable job in spreading the scoring workload ? 12 players now claiming a goal for Campbelltown, the most of any team.
They will certainly need everyone to pitch in when they face competition leaders Dural this week, especially as the Warriors will be out for revenge following their opening round 3-2 loss to Quake.
Boomerangs are third on the ladder chasing Dural and Sydney City, while individually Fulton (with 12 goals) is now just two behind leading Premier League Men scorer Chris Zeballos (Eagles).
City pip Mascot at death
A last-minute goal to Pat Fazzalaro lifted Sydney City Eagles to a 5-4 win over luckless Mascot Vipers at Bankstown Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.
In a cracking game the Vipers belied their lowly position on the table to really take it to the highflying Eagles, star player Yavuz Ekinci and Osmar De Barros scoring one each to take a 2-0 lead before an unlucky own goal finally put City on the board.
The home side added another either side of the break to take slender 3-2 advantage, and from there the teams went goal for goal in an exciting finish to the game.
Each time the Eagles put their beaks in front the Vipers would strike back, both De Barros and Rodrigo Barbosa finding equalisers for the visitors to make it 4-4 heading into a thrilling final five minutes.
Chances went begging at both ends before ex-Viper Fazzalaro?s last-minute strike sent the home crowd into raptures; City claiming an amazing 5-4 win to stay second on the ladder, one point behind Dural.
Eagles coach Jamie Amendolia paid tribute to the efforts of both teams. ?It was a pretty good night and Mascot pushed us all the way ? they always are one of the hardest teams to play against as they?ve got some very good players in their side.?
?I was very happy with the performance, and I don?t think we?ve ever had that many chances in a game? but we just couldn?t finish.?
?The close score made it a very good game for the fans to watch, but it definitely put some more grey hairs on the head.?
Mascot club president Zvi Ben David agreed the game was good fun for supporters but lamented the fact the club had to field so many youth players in a match that was there for the taking.
?It was a beautiful game,? he said. ?The problem was our entire bench was youth players, so to challenge them the way we did was quite pleasing.?
?I spoke to the players after the game and while the newcomers were quite pleased with a good performance, the experienced players were quite disappointed.?
?Both teams played open Futsal and it was very entertaining to watch, and very disappointing not to get something from the game as we could?ve even won it. The Vipers never die, my friend; we play to the very end.?
Ben David said he had mixed emotions at the competition?s halfway mark with many of the club?s players still unavailable yet, overall, Mascot well in contention in all grades.
?We?re still second in the club championship even though we?ve been absolutely decimated with injuries and have a lot of players missing,? he said. ?We?re hanging in there, which is a good sign of the club?s spirit.?
Sydney City can put more pressure on leaders Dural with positive results in their upcoming home games against Enfield and Inner West. The win against Mascot was the first time this season that leading scorer Chris Zeballos failed to get his name on the scoresheet.
Enfield overpower Coast
Enfield Rovers maintained their top-four position with a spirited 6-3 victory over South Coast Taipans at the Illawarra Sports Stadium on Saturday night.
Much to the delight of the home crowd the Taipans led twice in a tight first half of action, Pete Gaffney opening the scoring and Ricky Zucco making it 2-1 after the Rovers had equalised.
Enfield drew level again just before halftime and opened up the floodgates in the second half with a full court press, both Jacob Di Mento and Tim Simpson securing a brace each and the Foti brothers adding further goals to make it 6-2 in the blink of an eye.
South Coast did manage to claw one goal back when goalkeeper Dinis Guerreiro struck on the counter with Enfield pushing every man forward, but the visitors held on for the win.
Taipans coach April Van Woerkom said she would be happy just to get one win for the season. ?I?d be happy that we put a full game together regardless of the result,? she said.
?It is becoming a little frustrating as the team is full of players who can play. Individually they are good but they haven?t put it together as a team yet.?
?Absolutely we were in it [in the first half], but they scored a few quick goals after the break and that was it.?
Enfield move to equal-third with Boomerangs on the points ladder ahead of this weekend?s crucial match-up with second-placed Sydney City.
Next week?s games
Round 8 of Futsal NSW (on Saturday, November 19) kickstarts the second half of the season with Boomerangs hosting South Coast at the AIS Training Halls, Sydney City meeting Enfield Rovers at Bankstown Basketball Stadium, Dural Warriors welcoming Campbelltown Quake to the Sports & Leisure Centre, and Inner West Allstars tackling Mascot Vipers at the Morris Iemma Sports Centre.
