Mens State League 2 Round 9 Preview
Football NSW Mens State League 2 round nine features University of NSW versus Enfield Rovers at David Phillips Field on Saturday afternoon, while Hurstville FC tackle Southern Bulls in a top of the table clash at St George Soccer Stadium on Saturday evening.
On Sunday afternoon Western Condors host Prospect United at Calabria Sports Ground while Southern Branch meet Hurstville City Minotaurs at South Nowra Sports Complex. Rydalmere Lions have the bye.
University of NSW versus Enfield Rovers at David Phillips Field on Saturday afternoon (3pm kickoff) shapes up as a beauty with both teams chasing points to have any chance of making this year’s post-season fun. After five straight losses to start winter Enfield’s grabbed four points from their last two matches and are primed to take advantage of a shaken Uni side’s that’s one once in its last six outings. Both sides have struggled for goals but a combined 39 goals conceded in 14 games suggests this could be an open affair. Uni were supposed to be Rovers’ first ever state league opponent last year but their round one clash was postponed for almost three months, the sides playing out a 0-0 draw at David Phillips before Uni won the return bout 3-0 a month later.
It’s first versus second when Hurstville FC tackle Southern Bulls at St George Soccer Stadium on Saturday evening (5pm). A loss and draw in its past two games threatens to derail Hurstville’s five win streak to start the season, while steady improvements have Bulls climbing up the ladder to sit three points behind the table-toppers. They’ve already met this year, FC winning a third round Waratah Cup clash at Ernie Smith Reserve 3-1 and Hurstville boast a better head-to-head record winning all but two of their past seven encounters (one draw) – a stark cry from their Super League battles which saw Bulls win all four contests in 2004-05. Both sides have kept three clean sheets this winter but it’s their potent attacking fronts that will keep this match-up tense to the end.
Western Condors host Prospect United in an intriguing match-up at Calabria Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon (3pm). Prospect have been solid at home but patchy on the road with one win in four trips and they face a Condors side peeping into the top-four. United have also had full-team support with nine players contributing to their 14-goal return so far, and while they’ll want to forget an 8-0 thrashing by Western [then Colo Colo Wanderers] in their 2009 state league introduction they’ve accounted themselves quite well since then winning three of six matches against Condors [then Fairfield Wanderers], although the home side won their last affair 3-1 at Knight Park in 2002.
Winless Southern Branch meet undefeated Hurstville City Minotaurs at South Nowra Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon (3pm), but things aren’t always what they seem. Branch have endured a horror start to winter with seven straight losses (10 in a row including last year’s results) and 20 goals conceded underlining their under-done state, while no-one’s brought down Minotaurs at all (three draws in six games). It’s a funny game however and Minotaurs are yet to beat their southern bogey side, a 0-0 draw at Punchbowl last May followed up by a 3-0 win to Branch at Ison Park. And here’s a tit-bit: Southern’s last state league victory came against 2013 premiers and champions Stanmore Hawks… in Sydney!
-By Dan De Nardi
