Mens State League 2 Round 7 Preview

Football NSW State League 2 round seven pits Western Condors against University of NSW at David Phillips Field on Saturday afternoon, and Hurstville FC versus Prospect United at St George Soccer Stadium on Saturday evening.
On Sunday afternoon Rydalmere Lions meet Southern Bulls at Rydalmere Park while Southern Branch welcome Enfield Rovers to South Nowra Football Complex. Hurstville City Minotaurs have the bye but tackle Condors in a round-one catch-up game at St George Stadium on Sunday afternoon (3pm).
Western Condors tackle University of NSW at David Phillips Field on Saturday afternoon (3pm kickoff). Both sides are locked on six points and need the win to stay in touch with the top-four. The clubs first clashed in the 2007-09 division one competitions and here’s where it gets interesting: Condors (then Sydney Wanderers) trounced Uni 6-0 in a 2008 Tiger Turf Cup knockout and ‘the students’ got their revenge in a 3-0 drubbing a year later; they’re last three meetings have been 1-1 and 0-0 draws before a tight 1-0 win to Western in last year’s elimination semi-final, giving Condors a distinct big-game advantage.
They’ll also need to back up the next day for a catch-up against Hurstville City Minotaurs.
League leaders Hurstville FC take on Prospect United in a big match at St George Soccer Stadium on Saturday evening (5pm). The clubs have never met on official Football NSW duty and this year’s state league two scenario has them primed for a massive maiden clash, Hurstville unbeaten and flying high at the top of the table and Prospect – relegated from division one – experiencing a modest start to winter poised on the top-four edge with two wins a draw. United haven’t won on the road yet and will have to be at their best to break down an FC defence that’s conceded just twice in five games.
Wildlife will scatter when Rydalmere Lions meet Southern Bulls at Rydalmere Park on Sunday afternoon (3pm). Pre-competition favourite Rydalmere’s stuttering start to the season had them placed mid-pack, a point behind Bulls who’ve scored four more goals than third-placed Lions and conceded four less. But Southern will have to organise a book-burning event to defy history: Eight years ago both clubs were in Super League but they’re separate fall didn’t reunite them until the 2011 division one winter, and since then Lions have won all six encounters (scoring 19 goals to the Bulls’ seven). Tickets, please!
This year’s winter owes its chill to a cold circumstantial affair between Southern Branch and Enfield Rovers at South Nowra Football Complex on Sunday afternoon (3pm). Fanfare greeted both clubs to their state league debuts last year, Branch leading early on before falling short and Enfield rising from the dead to almost snatch a belated finals spot (and they swapped one-goal victories). This year the wounded fledglings sit shyly at the bottom of the table with zero points, Branch conceding 14 goals and Rovers 17 in five frustrating outings apiece – and they’ve only scored seven goals between them. A ray of sunshine beckons…