Futsal State League Grand Final Preview
The Futsal State League championship round promises an enthralling line-up of matches at Valentine Sports Park this Saturday, Sutherland sitting in five of the nine championship bouts and South Coast four.
Boomerangs feature in the important Open Women’s and Youth Men final, while Hakoah and Raiders fight out the coveted open men’s category. The top-two sides of each grade will playoff in six trophy matches.
Open Men (5pm): Eastern Suburbs Hakoah vs Raiders
Open Women (4pm): Boomerangs vs Sutherland Shire
Youth Men (3pm): Sutherland Shire vs Boomerangs
17 Girls (2pm): South Coast Taipans vs Sutherland Shire
16 Boys (1pm): Sydney City Eagles vs Sutherland Shire
15 Girls (12pm): South Coast Taipans vs Raiders
14 Boys (11am): South Coast Taipans vs Sutherland Shire
13 Girls (10am): South Coast Taipans vs Eastern Suburbs Hakoah
12 Boys (9am): Eastern Suburbs Hakoah vs Sydney Futsal Club
The top two Open Men sides battle out this summer’s Futsal State League title with Eastern Suburbs Hakoah tackling Raiders in a true test of character. This is the third straight grand final appearance for Raiders (who’ve suffered back-to-back heartbreaks falling last time to current premier leaguers UTS Northside and West City the summer before – both times within seconds and millimetres of winning), while Easts are unbeaten this season, including a 5-2 victory over Raiders in the major semi-final a fortnight ago.
Open Women premiers Boomerangs face-off against second-placed Sutherland Shire in an exciting final. The Territorians haven’t lost since a 3-1 opening round defeat to Sutherland and they also boast the competition’s best attack and defence. The Shire ladies will need to lift again following a tight 4-5 semi-final loss to Boomerangs in last week’s major semi-final.
Undefeated Youth Men premiers Sutherland have a dream grand final match-up with second-placed Boomerangs. Nothing separated the two sides as Shire beat Boomerangs 4-3 in the opening round and edged them again in a nervewracking minor semi-final penalty shootout two weeks ago following a dramatic 6-6 draw after extra time.
17 Girls premiers South Coast Taipans tackle fourth-placed Sutherland Shire in a close encounter. Three points separated the top-four in an intriguing competition and although Taipans accounted for Shire during the season both clubs claim solid defences (14 Taipans goals conceded in 13 affairs the best of any state league outfit across all grades) to throw this result up in the air.
16 Boys premiers Sydney City Eagles will fancy their chances against second-placed Sutherland Shire. City held the Shire at bay 2-0 during the season and then 8-1 in a one-sided major semi-final last week, but Sutherland cruised past South Coast in the preliminary final and do claim the competition’s best scoring output to pose a big threat.
15 Girls premiers South Coast Taipans won’t be taking second-placed Raiders lightly in an even grand final match-up. The unbeaten Coasters fought tooth and nail for two one-goal victories over Raiders this summer and the playing stocks in this competition balanced each other out quite well throughout a challenging season.
The 14 Boys championship match will feature second-placed South Coast Taipans versus fourth-placed Sutherland after the Shire lads disposed of premiers Sydney City Eagles 6-2 in the weekend’s preliminary final. South Coast and Sutherland have a similar goal differential and Taipans will remember a 0-3 loss to Shire last November.
Unbeaten 13 Girls premiers South Coast Taipans will take confidence into that trophy decider against second-placed Eastern Suburbs Hakoah. The lady Taipans downed Easts 3-1 in the final round and beat them again 2-1 in the major semi-final a week later, and they’ve scored 93 goals in 12 matches.
Runaway 12 Boys premiers Eastern Suburbs Hakoah are massive favourites to take out the double in their David versus Goliath clash with fourth-placed Sydney Futsal Club. Sydney crept into the finals with a 5-3 win over West City, beat Parramatta 5-2 in the knockout semi and edged South Coast 3-2 in an enthralling preliminary final last weekend. Now they face juggernauts Easts (109 goals in 13 unbeaten games – the most of any state league team across all age groups), who beat Sydney 5-2 in the first round.
-By Dan De Nardi
