Futsal Men’s Premier League Round 8 Review
Sydney City head Dural by a point ahead of their anticipated top-of-the-table clash in early December with the congestion behind them resembling the M5 motorway during peak hour. Four teams are separated by a measly two points ? Boomerangs and Enfield holding onto third and fourth position as Inner West and Campbelltown go bumper to bumper in the race for finals Futsal.
The 25 goals scored in round eight was the lowest scoring output this season, eclipsing the 31 scored back in round two (round two was the highest with 40), but still provided plenty of exciting action and introduced six new players to the scoresheets (taking the total number of goal providers for this season to a lofty 80, although only 48 players have gone on to score more than once). A whopping 267 goals have now been scored this season at a healthy clip of 8.3 goals per game.
South Coast nudge Boomerangs
South Coast Taipans put a tumultuous start to the 2011/12 season behind them with a stirring 5-4 win over Boomerangs at the AIS Training Halls on Saturday night.
While the home side was made to work very hard for their scores the Taipans were on fire in front of goal and managed to find the back of the net each time Boomerangs equalised to finish the game with their forked tongues just in front.
Ever-reliable Pete Gaffney opened the scoring with a left-foot back-stick put-in for Coast after just two minutes (one of only 11 Men?s players to crack seven goals for the season) before Robbie Catanach?s first goal for Boomerangs drew the scores level again.
Sahand Mehrkhavari then broke his scoring duck to restore the Taipans lead only for Aussie superstar Daniel Fulton to level proceedings up once again for Boomerangs. But the visitors had the last laugh of an exciting first half when a Daniel Ferraro score took South Coast to the break leading 3-2.
It wasn?t the first time Taipans had led a match, in fact they?ve been in front in every game this season (except one) and the nerves might have set in when Ryan Keir equalised for Boomerangs straight after the break, but Coast immediately grabbed a fourth lead via big Jon Hatton?s first goal of the summer.
A desperate Boomerangs threw everything bar a Parliament House kitchen sink at their opponents and found yet another equaliser when Fulton added his 14th goal of a mesmerising campaign and the game headed for an exciting conclusion with the scores locked at 4-4 with less than 10 minutes to play.
Enter unlikely hero Mehrkhavari, who had only scored his first goal of the season 40 minutes before, and a wonderful Coast build-up starting with goalkeeper Dinis Guerreiro and ending with Mehrkhavari stole a joyous 5-4 Taipans victory in the final minute of play.
Coast coach April Van Woerkom was over the moon with her delight for a team that had seven straight losses hanging over their heads. ?A couple of the players weren?t even sure we had won,? she said with a huge smile beaming through her words, ?But the celebrations certainly started after a well-deserved win.?
?We had a bit of a chat during the week and agreed that the biggest goal after so many losses was just to play a half-decent game ? and they did that [on Saturday night]. They defended really well and I expect the confidence to continue; a little bit goes a long way.?
Boomerangs co-coach Kristian Collins didn?t know what to make of a frustrating game. ?We really made it hard for ourselves ? they executed well, we didn?t, end of story,? he said.
?Every time we scored we dropped our concentration and it seemed like we were working really hard for our goals and theirs would come pretty easy.
?Any points dropped at this stage, especially at home, makes it tough as our next five games are on the road. It will be tough but the players are definitely keen to get back out there as the mood wasn?t real good after the game.
?We?ve now dropped five points in the past two weeks and it?s the teams who put in the most consistent performances who?ll be rewarded with a top four finish.?
Boomerangs have a tough road trip ahead of them taking on Dural this week but they will be buoyed by the fact they?ve won both of their away fixtures this season. South Coast next face their nearest rivals Mascot in a spicy encounter as the Taipans would draw level on points with a second successive victory.
Sydney City roll Enfield
A dominant first half performance from Sydney City Eagles paved the way for a 4-1 defeat of Enfield Rovers at Bankstown Basketball Stadium on Saturday night, taking City into the competition lead.
The Eagles flew high from the start and the Rovers were nowhere in sight as the home side scored twice in each half to lead 4-0 lead late in the second term before Enfield finally got on the board through Jacob Di Mento?s eighth goal of the season (no team has finished a game on nil goals).
For City, Chris Zeballos stayed top of the scorers chart with his strike taking him to 15 goals (one ahead of Boomerangs Danny Fulton and three ahead of Dural?s Greg Giovenali), Michael Candy added another to move to a total of seven, Andres Gomez netted his first, while yet another own goal (the third for the Eagles this season, the most of any team) completed the rout.
Sydney City coach Jamie Amendolia said their third won back-to-back win this season was very good. ?A few things went our way last night, but our first half was probably the best half we?ve played this season,? he said, ?Although we didn?t play very good at all in the second half.?
?I thought we were in control the whole match and had a lot of possession. The only concerning thing is we?re not converting all our chances.
?To be honest we?re just looking forward to the next two weeks as we want to get maximum points and open up a gap on everyone else. I think the Dural game [in two weeks] will be a six-point match.
?? But there?s no guarantee in this competition. South Coast beat Boomerangs in Canberra [on the weekend] and we lost to Boomerangs, so you can?t take any team lightly.?
Dural, Campbelltown stalemate
A fifth-man press lifted Dural Warriors to a late 2-2 draw with Campbelltown Quake in a fiery clash at the Sports & Leisure Centre on Saturday night.
The Warriors? only loss this season came in round one at the Quake ?Epicentre? and they wasted no time in showing their intent early when Greg Giovenali blasted in the opener from 15m out for a 1-0 lead after eight minutes. His 14th strike kept him three behind City rival Chris Zeballos.
The seasoned veteran was then matched by a rising star on the other side of the court when Campbelltown playmaker Danny Martinez beat a player down the line, drew Dural keeper Alaistair Bruce and laid across for youngster Bruno Antelmi (who usually plays in the under-16 competition) to level the scores up at 1-1 five minutes before halftime.
Quake hit the front early in the second period when James Pearce played Martinez into the centre of the court, and a neat one-two saw Pearce crack a superb left-foot volley that was well saved by Bruce only straight back to Pearce who made no mistake a second time, albeit with an awkward slice of his right boot.
The tight, tense game then erupted when Campbelltown blew a three-on-two opportunity and Dural countered with a two-on-one that was stopped with a physical challenge. Both teams got heated and pivotal Warriors player Isaac Wadik was marched from the match after he picked up a second yellow card for coming in off the sideline.
Dural were staring down the barrel of defeat with five minutes to go and decided to go for a fifth-man press with Giovenali playing last-man. While it opened them up at the back the move paid dividends when Giovenali played a crisp pass to Nathan Niski who rammed home the equaliser with just seconds left on the clock.
With both head coaches missing Martinez said it was definitely a game for the spectators. ?It was close all the way, action everywhere, good goals, very physical, a couple of yellow cards, and a hunger to win from both sides,? he said.
?Everyone kept saying what a great game it was but we were [cranky] because it was all up and down stuff and it took a lot out of the body. It was definitely a crowd pleaser.
?You could tell they were trying to get us back for the first round loss and there were opportunities both ways as the game really opened up. We hit the post three times and they missed a couple of one-on-one situations in the second half, so it could?ve gone either way.
?Antelmi was called up because he?s had an outstanding season with the 16 boys and he did really well [his goal making it 13 different players who?ve scored for Campbelltown this season, three more than any other team], and our youth keeper Andrew Haim also did a great job in the second half [after Shane Borg?s first half efforts kept Dural to Giovenali?s cracker].?
Warriors youth coach Toby Seeto filled in for an absent Rob Varela. Seeto would usually be playing at pivot but strained ankle ligaments kept him just as busy on sidelines as coach in a high-octane match. ?It was a good game from both teams and chances were at a premium,? he said
?We went fifth man [at the end] as they were defending quite well and we needed to throw caution into the wind, and luckily it paid off for us with Nathan [Niski] scoring to tie it up.
?We want to finish first; that?s been our objective all season, and it?s been a see-saw battle with Sydney City all season. Our game against them [in two weeks] was always going to be a good one but there?ll be extra spice being a top of the table clash? but the closeness of the comp is making every round a real battle.?
After five weeks on the road Campbelltown return home to face Enfield this week, while Dural square-off with third-placed Boomerangs in a mouth-watering second-versus-third match-up.
Inner West down Mascot
Inner West Allstars moved to within a point of a coveted top-four place following their 5-2 win over Mascot Vipers at the Morris Iemma Sports Centre on Saturday night.
In a hotly contested encounter it took three late Allstars goals to secure the result after the two sides had traded blows for most of the match.
In the end, braces to Ediz Alpkaya and Andrew Paine and a goal from Marino Musumeci overcame sole Vipers Yavuz Ekinci (his seventh of the season) and Gui Carniel (his first) strikes in a gripping affair.
While Alpkaya has also scored seven goals so far, Inner West coach Matteo Maiorana paid special tribute to a polished performance from proficient pivot Paine. ?It was a great team effort but Andrew was a standout,? he said.
?This was one we had to win to keep in the race for the top four and it?s only the second time we?ve had our full squad available, and it?s two wins from two.
?Sydney City and Dural are still the teams to beat but we feel we can beat any one in the competition with a full squad available; we?re comfortable we can match it with the big teams.
?I think this is the most evenly matched competition we?ve ever had in the league, and whoever?s switched on on the day will win; you can?t take any three points for granted.?
While Mascot club president Zvi Ben David conceded the men?s team is in a slump he urged them to keep their heads up and contribute to the Vipers? club championship tilt. ?It was 2-2 in the second half and they were smarter than us at the end of the day,? he said.
?They have players who are playing very well and we just lost our composure when it counted most. But we haven?t had the same team all year, so it has been very unsettling. We?ve always been in the game [besides a big loss to Dural] but toward the end we lose it.
?The challenge now is for the men to play for the club as we are only a few points away from the club championship [lead]. In this competition you are not just playing for yourself or the team, you are playing for the club. Don?t you worry, the Vipers will unleash the venom.?
Next week?s games
Round 9 (Saturday, November 26) sees Dural Warriors host Boomerangs at the Sports & Leisure Centre, Sydney City Eagles play Inner West Allstars at Bankstown Basketball Stadium, Campbelltown Quake meet Enfield Rovers at Minto Indoor Sports Stadium, and South Coast Taipans welcome Mascot Vipers to the Illawarra Hockey Centre.
-By Dan De Nardi
