Futsal Premier League Round 1 Review
There were goals aplenty across the four matches, the stand out matches being Enfield Rovers? thumping of Inner West Magic and Dural Warriors demolition of Sydney City Eagles.
Enfield Rovers punish Inner West Magic
Inner West Magic and Enfield Rovers played out an entertaining first match of the season at the Morris Iemma Sports Centre, with Rovers prevailing 6-2 in a high scoring encounter.
Robert Foti opened the scoring for Rovers before Patrick Pace scored the first of his brace of goals to put his side 2-0 up.
Stephen Kayes pulled one back for Inner West Magic, giving them hope at 2-1 down that they could pull back the deficit, but Pace?s second, plus goals from Taun Cao, Isaac Wadick and Tim Mascarello saw Enfield Rovers kick clear.
A consolation goal from Anthony Foti for Inner West Magic added a degree of respectability to the scoreline but on the night it was all about Enfield Rovers.
Their coach Ernie Bivona was circumspect about the victory, acknowledging the mitigating circumstances that surrounded the win.
?Inner West Magic were very depleted,? he said.
?But overall, it was a good performance.
?I think we dominated most of the game and despite a disruptive pre-season I thought we held the ball well.
?It?s a good start to the season,? he continued.
?Our captain Jacob Di Mento was very strong and Patrick Pace was the best player on the night, but I could mention all of them.
?We?re usually slow starters, so to come away with this win is very good,? Bivano said.
Magic coach Carmine Bortone said that the performance of his side was good.
?Considering our lack of players, I thought we played well,? he said.
?We only had four men?s players available, which means we had about seven players out.
?It was a competitive game,? he added. Dural Warriors destroy Sydney City Eagles
Boomerangs FS too good for Phoenix
Boomerangs FS kept a clean sheet against Premier League newcomers Phoenix Futsal Club, running out 2-0 winners at the AIS in Canberra.
Boomerangs FS started the match well and took a 1-0 win into the half time break.
They scored again close to the end of the match to add further shine to what was a solid opening round performance.
Phoenix coach Chris Cowley was pleased with the performance of his side on the Premier League debut.
?For our first time in the Premier League, it was a good performance,? he said.
?The Dingwall brothers played well as they always do and Ched Cowley had a very good game as well.
?The guys are excited to be playing in the Premier League and are looking forward to next week,? he added.
Mascot Vipers edge Campbelltown Quake
Mascot Vipers came from 2-0 down to Campbelltown Quake to prevail 4-3 in a thrilling encounter at All Sorts Fitness, Alexandria.
Campbelltown Quake had their two goal advantage at the half time break thanks to goals from Daniel Martinez and Bruno Antelmi.
Mascot Vipers regrouped at the interval though and put in a stirring second half performance to take all three points, despite the sending off of Brad Di Salvo.
Di Salvo had scored prior to his dismissal, but with Vipers sitting on five fouls for the final twelve minutes, it was always going to be a nerve wracking conclusion.
In the end, goals from Di Salvo, a double from Pat Di Salvo and a goal from the Vipers captain Osmar De Barros was enough to get them over the line. Shayne Ardle scored the consolation goal for Campbelltown Quake.
Zvi Ben David was extremely pleased with the performance of the Mascot Vipers.
?We created ample opportunities to win the game,? he said.
?We dominated, even though our two star players Mitchell Stamatellis and Yavuz Ekinci didn?t play.
?I thought that we moved the ball well even though we went 2-0 down.
?Their goalkeeper Shane Borg had the game of his life, he really kept them in the game.
?We couldn?t be aggressive once we were on five fouls and in the end we held on, but we deserved to win, I?m very, very pleased,? Ben David said.
Campbelltown Quake manager Carlos Martinez was understandably disappointed.
?We wanted to the start the season well,? he said.
?We just weren?t sharp.
?We had a defensive system that we?d worked on but we just didn?t implement it in the match.
?Our passing was good enough and we didn?t keep the ball well enough.
?Decent opportunities were still created in the second half but when Mascot Vipers were on five fouls we should have been more aggressive.
?We didn?t take advantage of that, it?s not the end of the world but we didn?t deserve to win,? Martinez lamented.
Sydney City Eagles were taken apart by competition favourites Dural Warriors, with the home side running out 5-0 winners in their Round 1 encounter.
Dural went ahead just 11 seconds into the match and from then on it was an uphill struggle for Sydney City, who were unable to match their opponents for the remainder of the match.
A Rhys Giovenali hattrick was the highlight of a comprehensive Dural victory.
Despite the scoreline, Sydney City?s coach Jamie Amendolia wasn?t too disheartened.
?I thought we went really well actually,? he said.
?We didn?t have many of our players due to injuries and other reasons, which is disappointing.
?It was good to see the young boys get in there and have a go, though,? he said.
?We knew that against Dural we?d have to limit our mistakes but we conceded really early and it was always going to be difficult from there.
?We created a few chances in the second half and if we?d taken them perhaps it could have been different, but Dural fully deserved the win.
?It was a harsh scoreline though,? Amendolia said.
Dural Warriors? coach Rob Varela was pleased with the win.
?We were undermanned due to Futsalroo commitments, but I?m happy with the result,? he said.
?The young guys stepped up and the more experienced guys helped them out.
?We?re pleased with the three points.
?Going 1-0 up so early gave us the confidence to play.
?The second half was much of the same and it was great to keep a clean sheet,? Varela added.
Round 2:
Mascot Vipers v Inner West Magic, at All Sorts Fitness, Alexandria
Campbelltown Quake v Dural Warriors, at Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium
Enfield Rovers v Phoenix Futsal Club, at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre
Sydney City Eagles v Boomerangs FS, at Dural Sport and Leisure Centre
– by Matthew Connellan
