NSW State League Finals 2014 Preview
A thrilling 2013/14 Football NSW Futsal State League boils down to one sizzling day of action this Saturday at Dural Sport & Leisure Centre.
View the official matchday program for the Futsal State League Grand Finals
Twelve clubs fought it out over a long, hot summer but it was UTS Northside that topped the all-important club championship with 210 points ahead of South Coast Taipans (194), Sutherland (180), Mount Druitt Town Rangers (181), Raiders (158) and Sydney City Eagles (150).
South Coast Taipans won three premierships (16 Boys, 14 Boys, 12 Girls) with two each claimed by UTS Northside (Open Women, 16 Girls), Sydney City Eagles (Youth Men, 12 Boys), Raiders (Open Men, 14 Girls).
That being said, nine clubs will be present at this Saturday’s championship deciders: UTS Northside fielding teams in four grand finals, followed by South Coast Taipans (3), Sydney City Eagles (3), Sutherland (2), Mount Druitt Town Rangers (2), Sydney Futsal (1), Botany Bay Pirates (1), Raiders (1) and Eastern Suburbs Hakoah (1).
While premiers will contest seven of nine grand finals, fourth-place getters Sydney Futsal (14 Boys) and Mount Druitt (14 Girls) will try to win their respective trophies on the back of rowdy late-season rolls. And with the exciting introduction of two AWD divisions, here’s how the day will pan out:
12 Boys – Sydney City Eagles (1) vs UTS Northside (2) – 9am
Ladder: Sydney City (30), UTS (28), Sydney Futsal (22), Sutherland (19)
Major semi-final: Sydney City 4-2 UTS Northside
Minor semi-final: Sydney Futsal 1-3 Sutherland
Preliminary final: UTS Northside 4-3 Sydney Futsal
Round 1 result: UTS Northside 3-4 Sydney City
Sydney City went 12 straight games unbeaten to pip UTS to the premiership post, both sides smashing 87 goals apiece so far. And if a 4-3 Eagles opening round win wasn’t indicative enough of how closely matched these teams are then how about City coming from behind at halftime to win an epic semi-final 4-2. The head-to-head battle between Eagles ace Jacob Vasiliou (30 goals) and UTS weapon Mitchell Mattison (20) should also be eye-catching.
2013 winners: South Coast Taipans 6-3 Raiders
12 Girls – South Coast Taipans (1) vs Sutherland Futsal (2) – 10am
Ladder: South Coast (30), Sutherland (27), UTS (27), Botany Bay (24)
Major semi-final: South Coast 2-0 Sutherland
Minor semi-final: UTS Northside 7-0 Botany Bay
Preliminary final: Sutherland 5-1 UTS Northside
Round 10 result: South Coast 6-5 Sutherland
South Coast won a freescoring competition that saw the top-four separated by just six points, the Taipans 96 goals eclipsed by Sutherland’s whopping 106 strikes. The Coasters held off Sutherland in a thrilling 6-5 round 10 result and booked a grand final berth with a 2-0 major semi-final win. There’s plenty of scorers in this contest as Sutherland trio Isabella Volkanovski (25 goals), Angelique Hristodoulou (22) and Rory McNally (21) try to outgun Taipans’ Ashley Dribbus (21) and Rilee Wagner (21).
2013 winners: Mountain Majik 3-2 Raiders Futsal
14 Boys – Botany Bay Pirates (2) vs Sydney Futsal (4) – 11am
Ladder: South Coast (31), Botany Bay (30), Mount Druitt (24), Sydney Futsal (21)
Major semi-final: South Coast 2-7 Botany Bay
Minor semi-final: Mount Druitt 4-7 Sydney Futsal
Preliminary final: South Coast 3-5 Sydney Futsal
Round 2 result: Sydney Futsal 3-5 Botany Bay
Undefeated premiers South Coast won’t be in the grand final as a fast-finishing Sydney Futsal battle Botany Bay. The Pirates scuttled the Taipans 7-2 in the major semi-final as fourth-placed Sydney eliminated Mount Druitt 7-4 and then the Coasters 5-3 in a shock preliminary final to make it six straight wins. Sydney made a good dash at Botany Bay in a 3-5 loss way back in round two, and the main goalscorers in this game are Sydney’s Marley Peterson (17) and Pirate Gidon Zimerman (15).
2013 winners: Mountain Majik 6-2 Botany Bay Pirates
14 Girls – South Coast Taipans (2) vs Mount Druitt Town Rangers (4) – 12pm
Ladder: Raiders (30), South Coast (27), Sydney Futsal (27), Mount Druitt (27)
Major semi-final: Raiders 3-4 South Coast
Minor semi-final: Sydney Futsal 2-5 Mount Druitt
Preliminary final: Raiders 1-1 Mount Druitt (Mount Druitt win penalties)
Round 8 result: Mount Druitt 0-1 South Coast
What an exhilarating summer as the top-four were split by just three points but premiers Raiders are gone after first falling 4-3 to a tough Taipans comeback and then bowing out on penalties to Mount Druitt in the tense preliminary final. The Coasters went from fifth to second with a 30-0 last-round win over Vikings, Taipans edging Rangers 1-0 in round eight. Crystal Richardson (30) and Summar Richardson (21) are Mount Druitt’s top scorers, countered by Coast’s Clayton Gehrke (14).
2013 winners: Mountain Majik 3-1 Sydney Futsal Club
16 Boys – South Coast Taipans (1) vs Sydney City Eagles (2) – 1pm
Ladder: South Coast (30), Sydney City (24), West City (22), Sutherland (22)
Major semi-final: South Coast 4-3 Sydney City
Minor semi-final: West City 4-3 Sutherland
Preliminary final: Sydney City –
Round 4 result: Sydney City 7-5 South Coast
South Coast may have won the premiership with a healthy six-point buffer but they were pushed all the way, particularly by a gritty Sydney City. The Taipans held Eagles at bay 4-3 to march straight into the grand final where they were eventually joined by the only team to beat them this season, City turning a 3-4 halftime deficit to win 7-5 in round four. South Coast’s Kyle Del and Zachary Mazevski, and Sydney’s Nathan Irusta Tariq Maia have all scored 13 goals each this season.
2013 winners: Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2-1 Mountain Majik
16 Girls – UTS Northside (1) vs Sutherland Futsal (2) – 2pm
Ladder: UTS (27), Sutherland (26), South Coast (24), Mount Druitt (22)
Major semi-final: UTS Northside 3-2 Sutherland
Minor semi-final: South Coast 4-3 Mount Druitt
Preliminary final: Sutherland 1-1 South Coast (Sutherland win penalties)
Round 9 result: Sutherland 2-1 UTS Northside
Very little separated the top-four teams in a gripping Futsal season, Northside finishing a point in front of Sydney’s south-siders on the ladder and also winning a nervy major semi-final 3-2, but Sutherland won their round nine duel 2-1 to show that this trophy will be hotly contested. UTS will look to young guns Daisy Arrowsmith (15 goals) and Genevieve Tucker (13) to lead the way, while Ehlana Hards has scored 10 for Sutherland.
2013 winners: Sutherland 2-1 Mountain Majik
Youth Men – Sydney City Eagles (1) vs Eastern Suburbs Hakoah (2) – 4pm
Ladder: Sydney City (28), Hakoah (24), Sutherland (22), UTS (22)
Major semi-final: Sydney City 5-3 Hakoah
Minor semi-final: Sutherland 5-5 UTS Northside (UTS win penalties)
Preliminary final: Hakoah 2-0 UTS Northside
Round 2 result: Sydney City 4-3 Hakoah
It’s fitting Sydney City and Eastern Suburbs Hakoah face-off in the championship decider being the form teams this summer. The only slip from the Eagles this season was a solitary draw, and they had to hold off Hakoah in a 4-3 round-two thriller and then again in a terrific 5-3 major semi-final win just two weekends ago. Players to keep an eye on include City’s Guiseppe Camera (14 goals) and Hakoah striker Jonathan Barzel (13).
2013 winners: Sutherland 7-2 Mount Druitt Town Rangers
AWD Division 1 – South Coast Taipans (1) vs Mountain Majik (3) – 5pm
Ladder: South Coast (22), Mountain Majik (16), Kingz (9), Sutherland (7)
Semi-final 1: South Coast 4-0 Sutherland
Semi-final 2: Mountain Majik 4-1 Kingz Rangers
Round 4 result: South Coast 7-4 Mountain Majik
Round 9 result: Mountain Majik 2-7 South Coast
An interesting battle looms ahead in the AWD division title clash between two non-Sydney clubs, South Coast and Mountain Majik. The Taipans’ only miss so far this summer was an opening round draw with Kingz Rangers as they earned their way to the grand final with a 4-0 disposal of Sutherland. The Majik beat Rangers 4-1 in the other semi-final to get their shot at exacting revenge for 7-4 and 7-2 defeats to South Coast during the regular season.
AWD Division 2 – Mountain Majik vs Sutherland Shire Futsal/Phoenix FC – 3pm
Mountain Majik will have to wait for their Grand Final opponent as a semi-final clash between Sutherland Shire Futsal and Phoenix Futsal Club takes place at 12pm.
This promises to be a quality affair as both clubs will look towards claiming a coveted spot in the 2014 AWD Division 2 inaugural Grand Final as their reward for what will be a memorable day for all participants involved.
Open Women – UTS Northside (1) vs Mount Druitt Town Rangers (2) – 6pm
Ladder: UTS (33), Mount Druitt (22), Parramatta Pumas (22), Botany Bay (18)
Major semi-final: UTS 1-0 Mount Druitt
Minor semi-final: Parramatta 0-2 Botany Bay
Preliminary final: Mount Druitt 4-0 Botany Bay
Round 5 result: Mount Druitt 2-3 UTS Northside
Unbeaten UTS took out this season’s premiership by a jaw-dropping 11 points (the largest top-two gap in state league) to go into the trophy game brimming with confidence. But they won’t be taking their opponents lightly as Mount Druitt pushed them all they way in a tight 2-3 round five loss and then even tighter in a 0-1 major semi-final defeat. Rangers hotfoot Stefanie Trovato (16 goals) will be out to better UTS dynamic duo Isabella Walker (10) and Tess Olsen (10).
2013 winners: Mountain Majik 1-0 Maccabi Futsal
Open Men – Raiders Futsal Club (1) vs UTS Northside (3) – 7pm
Ladder: Raiders (24), West City (24), UTS (24), Sydney City (24)
Major semi-final: Raiders 1-3 West City
Minor semi-final: UTS Northside 4-2 Sydney City
Preliminary final: West City 5-7 UTS Northside
Round 4 result: Raiders 5-4 UTS Northside
Ladder: Raiders (24), West City (24), UTS (24), Sydney City (24)
There was nothing left in a competition where the top-four finished on equal points, separated only by a 12 goal-difference spread. Raiders claimed the premiership and then cemented a grand final spot with a 3-1 major semi-final defeat of West City. UTS joins them after dumping Sydney City 4-2 then the Crusaders 7-5 in a raging preliminary final. Raiders escaped a round-four Northside to win 5-4, and while Slaven Ljuboja (17 goals) has been sharp, UTS have spread their firepower.
2013 winners: West City Crusaders 4-3 Raiders Futsal
-By Dan De Nardi
