State League Two Round 2 Preview

Round 2 of Football NSW State League 2 sees University of NSW host Prospect United at David Phillips Field on Saturday afternoon while on Sunday afternoon Western Condors welcome Southern Bulls to Calabria Sports Ground, Enfield Rovers meet Hurstville City Minotaurs at Garside Park, and Southern Branch tackle Rydalmere Lions at South Nowra Sports Complex.

Hurstville FC have the bye.

University of NSW host Prospect United in an interesting grudge match at David Phillips Field on Saturday afternoon (3pm). Although the two sides haven’t met each other in an official Football NSW fixture there’ll be plenty of zest about the encounter with the fact Prospect took Uni’s first division spot in last year’s redistributed state leagues. A relatively-unknown Uni will need to be ready for a heady contest after United flexed its muscle in a 5-2 defeat of Enfield while a new-look Uni sat out the first round with the bye.

Welcome to history when Western Condors face Southern Bulls at Calabria Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon (3pm). These two iconic clubs have helped form the Sydney football landscape, adding passion and flavour as well as taking their fair share of spoils – six division one and two titles between them! And while Bulls have a slight edge statistically winning four times to three Condors wins, Western have last year’s surprise 4-2 elimination final bullet into Southern as the biggest triumph between the two giants. Condors didn’t play in last week’s opening round but Bulls did, registering a 5-0 blow-out of Southern Branch to take some form into this weekend’s blockbuster.

The Enfield Rovers versus Hurstville City Minotaurs clash at Garside Park on Sunday afternoon (3pm) brings together two of Football NSW’s more colourful characters… as well as an intriguing on-field match-up. Enfield coach Andrew Montgomery and the Peter Sarikakis led Minotaurs have played out some mouth-watering (and ear-bending) contests originating from Montgomery’s foray with Luddenham back in the day. The tactical maneuvering has spilled onto the pitch plenty of times with Rovers getting a 3-1 upper hand of Hurstville at Punchbowl Oval last August after the Minotaurs had beaten them 2-0 in their first ever clash last May. What still rings loud, though, is Enfield’s recent Waratah Cup penalty shoot-out victory after the teams were inseparable at 2-2.

Resolute Southern Branch tackle a wounded Rydalmere Lions at South Nowra Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon (3pm). It doesn’t get any tougher for state league newbies Southern Branch who face pre-competition Rydalmere favourites a week after going down to the league’s other heavyweight Southern Bulls 5-0. The Lions have their own headaches after a shock 1-0 home loss to Hurstville in the opener but must first endure the alluring, perhaps lulling, scenic drive south to face a Branch side that incredibly did them over 1-0 in their debut meeting last year. The Lions turned the tables with a convincing 5-0 final-round win.

Waratah Cup/FFA Cup

Several SL2 teams have a busy week with third-round Waratah Cup action pitting Rydalmere against Spirit FC (SUPA IGA NPL NSW Mens 2) at Christie Park, Prospect meet Central Coast Mariners Academy (SUPA IGA NPL NSW Mens 2) at Pluim Park, Condors play Waverley Old Boys (Eastern Suburbs Association) at Knight Park, while division two rivals Hurstville FC face Southern Bulls at Bringelly Park.

Like trivia?

The Southern Bulls and Western Condors have won six state league titles under four different names – none of them their current one. Bulls were div one premiers in 1990 (as Southern Districts) and 1998 (Fairfield Bulls) and div two champions in 2010 (Fairfield Bulls); Condors claimed the division two crown in 1986 and 1987 (as Granville Chile) and topped div one in 2002 (Wanderers Cedars).

-By Dan De Nardi