Futsal Premier League Round 1 Review

It was four wins to home sides to start this summer’s Futsal Premier League season, and an engrossing competition looks likely.

Dural Warriors, Inner West Magic, Enfield Rovers and Mascot Vipers romped to solid respective victories over UTS, Campbelltown, Mountain Majik and South Coast, but all games were competitive and featured some outstanding Futsal action.

Dural Warriors 6 UTS Northside 0

Enfield Rovers 6 (Patrick Pace 3, Anthony Tomelic 2, Dominic Cox) Campbelltown Quake 2 (Shannon Fielding, Daniel Martinez)

Mascot Vipers 6 (Andrea Gallina 3, Shu Torihara 2, Takuya Mohama) Mountain Majik 2 (Jamie Dib, Joshua Margetts)

Inner West Magic 5 (Daniel Fornito 2, Chris Zeballos, Michael Cimino, Marino Musumeci) South Coast Taipans 1 ()

Dural down Northside

Dural Warriors began their chase for a fifth successive open men title with an emphatic 6-0 drubbing of UTS Northside at Dural Sport & Leisure Centre fortress on Saturday night.

The home side built a steady 2-0 lead by halftime and cruised home with a four-goal second-term to make it nine league victories in a row and level their record 2011/12-2012/13 run.

Coach Rob Varela has a larger squad at his disposal this summer and believed the competition for team places helps drive Dural’s success.

“We have more senior players than usual and I have to leave one off the scoresheet every week, and with you players also pushing for spots there’s no room for complacency,” he said. “It’s not just how they perform on the day, it’s also their application toward training.”

Varela couldn’t pinpoint their major threats this season, adding that every club seemed to have recruited well during winter.

“I can’t really say who’ll be challenging for the title as I don’t know who’s recruited who, but I’m sure most teams will be competitive as the league is getting better every year.”

“UTS were a solid team; well organised with a couple of really good players, and they compete for every ball… so I think they’ll be a hard team to beat during the season.”

Rovers shake Quake

Enfield Rovers proved decisive against Campbelltown Quake, storming home to win 6-2 at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night.

Barely anyone had taken their seat when a Campbelltown error in defense allowed Enfield to take a 1-0 lead after just 30 seconds. And moments later it was 2-0, Vipers again capitalising on a Quake defensive slip to bolt out of the gates, a third goal lifting Rovers to a three-goal halftime lead.

The visitors finally settled and tried to claw their way back into it, Shannon Fielding and Daniel Martinez goals pegging the deficit back to 4-2 early in the second half, and Campbelltown decided to go for it playing a 5th-man press with 17 minutes still to play, but two late goals to Enfield sealed a 6-2 win and consign Quake to a fifth straight league loss after failing in their final four games last summer.

Campbelltown manager Carlos Martinez was optimistic heading into the match, but had to demote the loss to a blip on their campaign radar.

“I thought we’d do well as we were only really missing Dean Lockhart, but down 2-0 after only a few minutes left us chasing the game,” he said.

“We had a lot of possession but, over the whole match, we weren’t able to convert our opportunities. Enfield were down some players and were very direct and made their chances count, so congratulations to them. We were just not good enough on the night.”

“We can certainly redeem ourselves next week. We’ve recruited well and I think we’ve got the squad to give it a really good shake this year.”

Mascot dismantle Majik

Mascot Vipers outplayed Mountain Majik in a 6-2 win at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night and build on their end-of-season success at the beginning of this year.

The home side were full of running and created plenty of chances in front of goal, managing three before a late brain-snap gifted Majik a 6m penalty that narrowed the gap to 3-1 at the break.

The Mountaineers then made it really interesting with another goal straight after the restart before three Vipers strikes finished the game off, Andrea Gallina scoring a hat-trick and Shu Torihara a double, Takuya Mohama adding Mascot’s other goal.

Majik slumped to a seventh straight league defeat on the road and only Vipers have had a worse run with nine successive away losses suffered over the 2013/14 and 2014/15 summers.

Mascot club president Zvi Ben David was delighted with the result and excited for the season ahead for a steadily-improving men’s squad.

“Last year was a rebuilding season for us; we recruited a few players off the street, as we usually do, and have a decent squad with some extremely talented players,” he said.

“It was a good performance [against Majik]. We had so many chances to finish them off in the first half and [when it got back to 3-2] I thought ‘here we go again, we’ll lose the un-losable game’… but we will improve.

“Andrea [Gallina] was our star player, not just his goals but he was good at everything he did, and coach Nick Hanna did a fantastic job in the rotation of players… and they are starting to gel all due to his hard pre-season work.”

Inner West defeat Coast

A second-half blitz helped Inner West Magic overcome a stubborn South Coast Taipans 5-1 at Valentine Sports Park on Saturday night.

League returnees South Coast were audacious in trailing Inner West by a solitary goal at the changeover before Magic turned on their second-half afterburners to scorch four goals and win 5-1.

Chris Zeballos edged Inner West ahead after five minutes but the home side couldn’t convert on a glutton of chances to take a 1-0 halftime advantage, a Daniel Fornito second-half double and Michael Cimino and Marino Musumeci strikes bringing home the points.

Magic stalwart Matteo Maiorana dipped his hat to a courageous South Coast and knew Inner West would have a battle on its hands for this summer’s club championship.

“It was a tight game as we were feeling each other out early on, but we settled after the first goal and went on with it in the second half,” he said.

“South Coast are definitely a better side than last time they were in premier league, and they showed that throughout all grades on Saturday. They won’t be easybeats and will go long way to staying up.

“I think a number of clubs are in a good position this time around and it should be close in the club championship.”

Next week’s games

Gather your pumpkins this Saturday night as the Premier League heads into Halloween with round two action featuring Dural Warriors versus Mountain Majik at Dural Sport & Leisure Centre (7.55pm), Enfield Rovers tackle Mascot Vipers at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre (8.05pm), Inner West Magic play UTS Northside at Valentine Sports Park (8.30pm), and South Coast Taipans welcome Campbelltown Quake to the University Of Wollongong Sports Hub (5.40pm). Visit the Football NSW website (Futsal tab) for full details. 

-By Dan De Nardi