State League 2 round 14 Preview

State League round 14 features a Saturday evening affair (5pm first grade kick-off) between University of NSW and Stanmore Hawks at David Phillips Field. All other games are on Sunday afternoon (3pm), Belmore United versus Fairfield City Lions at Blick Oval, Schofields Scorpions tackle Southern Branch at the CSI Ground, Enfield Rovers play Southern Bulls at Pratten Park, and the Hurstville derby between FC and Minotaurs at Punchbowl Oval. Western Condors has the bye.
University of NSW versus competition leaders Stanmore Hawks at David Phillips Field is a Saturday evening affair (5pm first grade kick-off) that has big implications on the ladder. Uni trail Stanmore by 12 points but with three catch-up games still to play have the potential to draw alongside the Hawks come season end. To add to the intrigue, Stanmore coach George Paradisis labelled Uni title favourites as the start of the year, even though the Hawks have a better head-to-head record between them, winning five of their last eight state league meetings (in division one) and two of their last three encounters at David Phillips. Want more? Uni are unbeaten in three home matches while Stanmore are the competition’s road warriors with five straight wins as visitors.
Batten down the hatches for another ‘Battle for Hurstville’ as FC meet Minotaurs at Punchbowl Oval on Sunday afternoon (3pm). The derby is always a hotly contested affair and the last time they met at 10 paces FC pipped Minotaurs 2-1 in a dramatic Anzac Day clash. To add more fuel to the fire, Minotaurs can kiss their finals chances goodbye should they lose too many matches in a hotbed month of July (they play all top-five sides), while on the flipside, they can also fit more sardines into the finals tin should they knock the top teams off. Two wins in three runs has Minotaurs on the upside ahead of this weekend’s clash with second-placed FC. There’s everything to play for on Sunday.
Belmore United tackle Fairfield City Lions in a huge match at Blick Oval on Sunday afternoon (3pm). It will be the iconic clubs’ first meeting in almost a decade of state league football at a time where both sides are desperate for the three points. Fairfield led the comp in round seven round but could drop out of the top-five altogether after this weekend’s games are played. Seventh-placed Belmore need the win to keep in touch with the finals race but haven’t exactly set Blick alight this year, winning just one of four home fixtures. They’ve also only found four scorers in their ranks (a total of 17 goals) compared to 14 Lions shooters (28 goals).
Developing Schofields Scorpions meet Southern Branch at the CSI Ground on Sunday afternoon (3pm). Sixth-placed Branch are just three points behind second-placed Hurstville FC and can bolster their finals credentials with another solid hit-out against Schofields. The Scorpions have certainly added strength to their line-up before the recruitment deadline expired last month and it’s shown in some much-improved performances in recent weeks. Schofields conceded 30 goals in their opening four hit-outs but have only let seven past in their last four runs to indicate at least their defence is getting better. Unfortunately the ‘nil’ sufferers (Schofields have endured 10 scoreless matches) meet the ‘clean-sheet’ specialists (Branch have held five teams scoreless). The southerners beat Scorpions 1-0 in their round-three catch-up in June.
Enfield Rovers play Southern Bulls at Pratten Park on Sunday afternoon (3pm) and a new old face on the bench has the Rovers faithful stirring. Andrew Montgomery’s first game in charge of Enfield earned the club its first ever state league victory, 1-0 over Schofields, and he’s tipped more of the same on the run home. Montgomery turned perennial easybeats Luddenham into a State League 2 force a couple of years back – including beating the Bulls 4-2 during their premiership-championship 2010 season – but he won’t want to rest on his plaudits with an even greater task with Enfield ahead of him. This weekend he faces a Bulls side that hasn’t lost in six weeks. Southern edged Rovers 1-0 in round three at Moorebank.
-By Dan De Nardi