Sparks fly in hummel F-League series opener

It was a historic, hectic and hot, hot, hot as the hummel F-League women’s competition made a dramatic debut and the men’s series sizzled with intrigue!
Dural Warriors and Sydney Scorpions chalked up wins in the debut women’s comp, and they also lead the men’s series following a weekend of gobsmacking action.
In a huge boilover Scorpions downed Dural in the last match on Sunday night to join the title holders on top of the table with three wins from four games, just one victory clear of East Coast Heat, Boomerangs and Vic Vipers. St Albans Strikers and Jaguars have a win each, leaving Melbourne Heart yet to taste victory.
It certainly suggests both of this year’s competitions will be keenly contested with little to separate top from bottom sides.
To underline the narrowing men’s gap, this year’s scoring average of 7.86 goals per game is considerably down on the opening two F-League season quotas of 8.61 (2012) and 8.64 (2011). Individually, five hat-tricks were snared as 51 different players contributed to a 110-goal Sydney haul.
It couldn’t be any tighter in the race for the Golden Boot with Vadim Mazurskiy (St Albans) and Dural trio Ben Lawson, Wade Giovenali and Jarrod Basger leading the way on five goals, one ahead of Ross Fazzalaro (East Coast), Miles Downie (East Coast), Shervin Keshavarzadeli (Jaguars) and Robert Foti (Scorpions).
The F-League next turns its focus to the women’s competition with round two picking up at the AIS Training Halls in Canberra on Saturday-Sunday, June 8-9.
The men’s action continues with round four at YMCA Derrimut, Melbourne, on Friday-Sunday, June 21-23. 

Rd 4
Sydney Scorpions 4 (Lachlan Wright, Andrew Paine, Danny Martinez, Jacob Di Mento) East Coast Heat 2 (Simon Keith, Ross Fazzalaro)
Dural Warriors 4 (Jarrod Basger x2, Wade Giovenali, Ben Lawson) Boomerangs 1 (Pat Ross-Magee)
Rd 1
Sydney Scorpions 8 (Rob Foti x4, Kontalis x2, Dean Lockhart, Marino Musumeci) Melbourne Heart 1 (Tuan Cao)
Vic Vipers 3 (Ricky Castro, Diego Garcia, Adam Cooper) East Coast Heat 2 (Jordan Guerreiro, Ross Fazzalaro)
Dural Warriors 9 (Toby Seeto x2, Nathan Niski x2, Ben Lawson, Jarrod Basger, Takahiro Iwata, Wade Giovenali, David Kanaley) Jaguars 2 (Shervin Keshavarzadeli x2)
St Albans Strikers 4 (Vadim Mazurskiy x3, Jose Portillo) Boomerangs 2 (Pat Ross-Magee, Thomas Zeitlhofer)
Vic Vipers 3 (Jason Barrientos, Ricardo Castro, Adam Cooper) Sydney Scorpions 2 (Patrick Pace, Issac Waddick)
Rd 2
East Coast Heat 6 (Chris Hanly x2, Ross Fazzalaro x2, Chris Zeballos, Miles Downie) St Albans Strikers 2 (Jose Portillo, Vadim Mazurskiy)
Boomerangs 8 (Sean Byrne x3, Jake Wilsener x2, Michael Reeves x2, Thomas Zeitlhofer) Jaguars 2 (M Rinaudo, Hayden Razbocan)
Dural Warriors 9 (Ben Lawson x3, Wade Giovenali x2, Jarrod Basger, Nathan Niski, Greg Giovenali, Glen Kelshaw) Melbourne Heart 2 (Tuan Cao, Jordan Michaelis)
Rd 3
Jaguars 5 (Shervin Keshavarzaadeli x2, Reuben Langerak, Jermaine Deng, Breno Polatti) St Albans Strikers 4 (Jose Portillo, Vadim Mazurskiy, Alija Redzepovic, Gavin Schipp)
Boomerangs 5 (Sean Byrne x2, Michael Reeves, Thomas Zeitlhofer) Vic Vipers 2 (Hiep Tran, Maxim Avram)
East Coast Heat 7 (Miles Downie x3, Jordan Guerreiro, Shane Ardyle, Jordan Mundall, Lev Lewis) Melbourne Heart 1 (Jordan Michaelis)
Sydney Scorpions 6 (Daniel Fogarty x2, Marino Musumeci x2, Johnathan Kontalis, Danny Martinez) Dural Warriors 4 (Goran Ljuboja, Wade Giovenali, Jarrod Basger)
Round 4
Scorpions cool Heat
Sydney Scorpions registered a hard-fought 4-2 win over East Coast Heat Physical to get the Men’s F-League off to an exciting start at Dural Sport and Leisure Centre on Friday night.
Scorpions led 1-0 at the break but it was 2-2 in the blink of an eye and all to play for as both sides went at each other with great intensity.
The stalemate was shattered, however, when a Scorpions player was fouled inside the D and Lachlan Wright stepped up to convert the penalty to push his side in front, an Andrew Paine 10m spot kick late in the game finally dousing a committed Heat effort (East Coast lost keeper Peter Spathis to a red card in the last minute).
Scorpions coach Glen Lockhart applauded his team’s focus in a highly-passionate affair. “It was a physical encounter against a very well-drilled East Coast side and I’m just proud the boys stuck to their game and not get involved in the emotion… it was very business-like,” he said.
Warriors break Boomerangs
F-League title holders Dural Warriors were methodical without being totally dominant in a 4-1 win against Boomerangs at Dural Sport and Leisure Centre on Saturday morning.
A double to last year’s F-League golden boot Jarrod Basger and support strikes from Wade Giovenalli and Ben Lawson helped diminish a Pat Ross-Magee goal for Boomerangs.
The Territorians put the boot in from the start and despite a limited bench held Warriors to a one goal halftime lead. Fatigue wore Boomerangs thin as Dural put their foot down to register a comfortable 4-1 victory.
Round 1
Scorpions rip Heart
Sydney Scorpions broke the shackles with an 8-1 win against Melbourne Heart at Dural Sport and Leisure Centre on Saturday morning, but it was a lot tighter than the scoreline indicated and Scorpions will miss the services of star players Aaron Cimitile and Danny Martinez after both picked up red cards in the first half.
Scorpions pinched an early lead via Johnathan Kontalis but Heart showed plenty of ticker to equalise through Tuan Cao and proved a stubborn unit to encounter, holding onto a 2-1 halftime deficit until the Sydneysiders finally surged free in the closing minutes.
Rob Foti bagged four goals in the last seven minutes, Kontalis added two first-half goals, while Dean Lockhart and Marino Musumeci scored one each to deliver a second Scorpions victory to start the season, although the win was soured by a Cimitile red-card for dissent and Martinez dismissed following a line-change infringement.
Sydney coach Glen Lockhart paid plenty of credit to Melbourne’s purpose. “Heart played pretty good Futsal; they were very busy and well drilled, and it was only the composure of our experienced players that allowed us to get away from them in the end,” he said.
Vipers sting Heat
Vic Vipers got their F-League campaign off to a fantastic start with a heart-stopping 3-2 win over East Coast Heat at Dural Sport and Leisure Centre on Saturday afternoon.
The two sides went at each other in a state of origin battle royale, Vipers scoring early through Ricky Castro and Diego Garcia either side of a Jordan Guirreiro goal for East Coast to lead 2-1 at halftime.
Adam Cooper doubled Vic’s lead midway through the second half, but a Ross Fazzalaro response within a minute made for a nervy final 10 minutes as Vipers held on to win 3-2.
Warriors smash Jaguars
The Dural Warriors march picked up pace with a 9-2 thumping of Jaguars Futbol Sala at Dural Sport and Leisure Centre on Saturday afternoon.
Jaguars stuck with a wasteful Dural to be 1-1 at the interval, but Warriors went on a relentless second-half warpath to run out 9-2 winners, Toby Seeto and Nathan Niski both bagging doubles.

Strikers outplay Boomerangs
St Albans Strikers got the better of an exasperated Boomerangs 4-2 at Dural Sport and Leisure Centre on Saturday evening.
A double Vadim Mazurskiy strike lifted St Albans 2-0 ahead before Pat Ross-Magee and Tom Zeitlhofer scored either side of halftime to bring Boomerangs back to 2-2.
The score stay unchanged until Vadim Mazurskiy sealed his hat-trick with four minutes to go and Jose Portillo made sure of the result two minutes later to give the Strikers F-League quest a flying start.
Round 2
Vipers edge Scorpions
Vic Vipers claimed their second Sydney scalp with a thrilling 3-2 defeat of Sydney Scorpions at Dural Sport and Leisure Centre on Saturday night.
Goals to Jason Barrientos, Ricardo Castro and Adam Cooper put Vipers in a commanding 3-0 position when Scorpions pulled one back before halftime through Issac Waddick.
Try as they did but Sydneysiders crack the Vic goal relegating Patrick Pace’s last-minute strike to a consolation.
The 3-2 scoreline was a repeat of their equally nerve-wracking win over East Coast earlier in the day as Vipers really showed their F-League intent.
Heat burn Strikers
East Coast Heat chalked up their first victory with a 6-2 defeat of St Albans Strikers at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre.
Only roosters were out of bed when East Coast and St Albans saddled up on a crisp Sunday morning but it didn’t take long for things to warm up, Heat blazing to a 3-1 halftime lead and replicating the score in the second term to walk off court 6-2 up.
Boomerangs bounce Jaguars
Boomerangs finally had something to cheer about when they beat Jaguars 4-2 at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Sunday morning and put their weekend disappointments behind them.
Boomerangs led 2-0 at the break and turned on the second-half afterburners with Sean Byrne netting a hat-trick and Jake Wilsener and Michael Reeves bagging doubles.
Warriors slay Heart
Dural Warriors showed no mercy to a gallant Melbourne Heart, turning a tight 2-1 halftime advantage into a 9-2 midday matinee massacre at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Sunday.
Ben Lawson scored a hat-trick as Dural ran riot in the second term to really shake their F-League tail-feathers at their fellow title aspirants.
Round 3
Jaguars overcome Strikers
Jaguars were magnificent in an epic 5-4 defeat of St Albans Strikers at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon.
In a game where both sides deserved to win it was Jaguars who dug deepest, trailing Strikers 2-1 at the interval and somehow finding enough courage to edge past their Victorian counterparts at the final whistle.
Jaguars coach Jack Dugonjic would’ve liked a few extra players at his disposal, including the one that went to Dural instead of All Sorts this morning, but there was enough in his squad’s potential to make a bigger impact in this year’s F-League.
“We were hoping for two wins but, as it turned out, we were short of players and just getting tired toward the end of games,” he said.
“I think the competition’s evened out a lot more than people would’ve thought, especially compared to last year’s standard. We’ve got some bloody hard games in Melbourne [Series-2] but you can’t hide from them, so we’re actually looking forward to seeing what we can do with a full squad on home turf.”
St Albans mentor Rob Lakovski was disappointed his side ran out of steam but was pleased with the overall performance.
“Our intensity was very high in that first game [a 4-2 win over Boomerangs] and East Coast were just more clinical in front of goal than un [6-2 loss], and in the last game [against Jaguars] both teams ran out of legs and it just became a real arm-wrestle, it was last-man standing type stuff.”
“I also think the competition’s more even than last year. Some of the scores don’t reflect the closeness of the games as fatigue is letting in a lot of goals at the end, but every team is capable of taking points off any other side… the difference between everyone is a lot narrower.”
“[On a return to Melbourne for Series-2] It’s a big one for us – two derbies against Melbourne sides, Warriors and Scorpions – so we’ll definitely know where our campaign sits after the weekend.”
Boomerangs cage Vipers
Boomerangs chalked up win number two with a mighty 5-2 roar against Vic Vipers at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon.
The ACT-side led a tense match 1-0 at halftime and then clung to a 3-2 advantage early in the second period as Vipers threw everything at them, including a fifth-man press, but two late counter goals pushed Boomerangs out to a massive win.
Vipers coach Milton Sakkos was disappointed not to finish off the job against Boomerangs but was still chuffed with all the positives from a bright Sydney weekend.
“It’s a really good start for us. We played two highly rated Sydney sides [Heat and Scorpions], got a headstart in both games and defended well, we just didn’t play to our best tonight,” he said. “It’s a reminder that any team on their day can take points away from you.”
“Teams are a lot better prepared for this year’s league. Every team has game-changing players, players understand the game a lot better, Futsal is moving ahead tactically and strategically, and I really think that’s showing with a stronger competition this time around.”
Boomerangs senior player and club president Kristian Collins praised his side for overcoming their early adversities and turn the weekend on its head with two Sunday victories.
“We were hammered by injuries early on [including an ankle injury to key player Daniel Fulton on Saturday] and that just left us short in every game. A lot of the boys also haven’t played with each other in this type of environment and it took a bit for their confidence to build,” he said.
“But it did and on Sunday we were able to maintain possession, move the ball quicker and create more attacking pressure.”
“This morning was a must-win game for us, which it shouldn’t have been this early in the season, but our goal is to push for a top three position… so it was a nice way to finish off the weekend, especially for the young kids who have now given the coach some selection problems for the Melbourne trip.”
Heat sizzle Heart
East Coast Heat burned Melbourne Heart 5-1 at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Sunday evening to breathe new life into their F-League mission.
The loss leaves Heart as the only side without a win as the action shifts to Melbourne for the next six rounds. Thankfully they don’t face another Sydney side for the next five rounds.
East Coast have showed plenty to indicate they’ll push for top honours, with two tight opening losses countered by convincing wins to give them a boost heading into series-2 games.
Scorpions shock Warriors
Sydney Scorpions riled up this year’s F-League with an amazing come-from-behind victory against title-holders Dural Warriors at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Sunday night.
Johnathan Kontalis and Marino Musumeci strikes helped Scorpions to a 2-0 lead inside the opening quarter-hour before Dural stunned them with two goals in a minute to draw level 2-2 at halftime.
Warriors picked up where they left off with another quickfire double straight after the break sending them 4-2 clear, but their fortunes changed when star player Toby Seeto was sent off for a bad challenge on Daniel Fogarty to give Scorpions all the pep they needed.
Sydney pressed hard and high but with the clock ticking inside the final six minutes it seemed the comeback might actually never get going before Danny Martinez fired in to narrow the gap to one goal.
Musumeci grabbed another a minute later and a late Fogarty brace lifted Scorpions to a monumental 6-4 victory.
Coach Glenn Lockhart was ecstatic. “The guys really dug deep,” he said. “They really took it to Dural from the start but their heads dropped a bit when they went up 4-2 in the second half, so they did extremely well to find a way out of it. The pleasing part for me is that we’ll get even better than this.”
“Beating Dural does give us a lot more confidence heading into the rest of the season, but I also think the result will be very inspirational to the other teams. There’s five sides altogether so it really is anybody’s.”
Sydney Scorpions 6 (Daniel Fogarty x2, Marino Musumeci x2, Johnathan Kontalis, Danny Martinez) Dural Warriors 4 (Goran Ljuboja, Wade Giovenali, Jarrod Basger)
Women’s Round 1
Dural beat Sutherland
Dural Warriors had the honour of winning the first ever Women’s F-League match with a 2-0 win over a stubborn Sutherland Shire at Dural Sport and Leisure Centre on Friday night.
A tentative first half opened up a lot more after the break with Damelza Howard booting the first-ever Women’s F-League goal, although it certainly wasn’t a pretty one, the ball deflecting off a defender and then bouncing off a wrong-footed Shire keeper Amanda Seskin and into goal for a 1-0 Dural lead.
Sutherland probed hard for an equaliser, Brooke Conroy smashing the post, but the Warriors sealed victory with a last-second Kathryn Mladineo strike to make it 2-0.
Dural coach Ben Pollack congratulated his side on their historic win. “The girls were a bit nervous, not so much with the occasion but more that it’s the start of a new season, but they’ll be right with this first game under the belt,” he said.
“It’s great the women’s game is getting promoted like this and the competition looks healthy from what I can see – every game will be tough.”
Shire coach Glenn Woodhouse commended his team for a good first-up effort. “It sounds funny but we’re absolutely pleased with how the girls played,” he said. “For them to turn up against an established side like Dural without much training and give it a good go, it was excellent.”
“I gave the girls instructions to play a half-court defence and counter from that and they followed the instructions perfectly. Their second goal came while we were pushing and we had our own chances, so I’m very pleased with the performance.”
“Sutherland has a long-term plan to promote our home-grown stars and give them a chance to play at the highest level, and I’m glad to say that the future looks bright.”
Dural Warriors 2 (Damelza Howard, Kathryn Mladineo) Sutherland Shire 0
Blues bite Scorpions
A buzzer-beater from Parramatta Blues captain Renee Tomkins lifted her side to a thrilling 2-1 win against Sydney Scorpions at Dural Sport and Leisure Centre on Friday night.
Parramatta were up against it from the outset but they bunkered down to keep it scoreless at halftime before both teams lifted their intensity in the second half.
Georgina Stylinou provided the breakthrough for the Blues, dribbling around two defenders and nutmegging the Scorpions keeper to make it 1-0 midway through the term.
With fulltime looming Scorpions put themselves right back in it with a dramatic last-minute Catherine Cannuli equaliser only for Tomkins’ even later-match heroics to give Parramatta a drama-packed 2-1 win.
Blues manager Steve Luburic said both teams had chances but thought his side deserved victory, “You’re always happier to win, but it’s even better when you do it understrength with your three best players to come back into the side,” he said.
“We defended really well and broke on the counter a lot more in the second half. We missed a few one-on-ones before the girls grabbed the goal that mattered most. They seem to be really confident, so I’m looking forward to the next round.”
Scorpions coach Erkin Osman lamented the late loss but was quietly chuffed with his team’s progress. “It was historic for the girls, but not such a good night in losing,” he offered, “But I’m definitely happy with the squad.”
“Four clubs have come together and all the players have won competitions before. I can’t fault the quality; it’s just a matter of bringing them together and picking the right combinations.”
“I think it will be a good competition. It was a tough first game for us, but we will keep playing to a plan as that will work better for us in the long run.”
Parramatta Blues 2 (Georgina Stylinou, Renee Tomkins) Sydney Scorpions 1 (Catherine Cannuli)
F-League continues
The F-League next turns its focus to the women’s competition with round two picking up at the AIS Arena in Canberra on Saturday-Sunday, June 8-9. The men’s action continues with round four at YMCA Derrimut, Melbourne, on Friday-Sunday, June 21-23.
-By Dan De Nardi