Futsal Premier League Round 3 Review
Then there were two at the top of the Futsal NSW Premier League three following Saturday night action that saw Inner West defeat Mascot 4-2, Campbelltown pip UTS Northside 4-3, Enfield down Mountain Majik 5-1 and Dural outplayed South Coast 6-1.
Round three results leave Warriors and Magic undefeated, one win ahead of Rovers, Vipers and Quake, with Majik, Taipans and UTS yet to get off the mark. Visit the Football NSW website (Futsal tab) for full details.
UTS Northside 3 () Campbelltown Quake 4 ()
Mountain Majik 1 (Jordan Guerreiro) Enfield Rovers 5 (Giovanni Leuzzi 2, Lachlan Wright, Michael Kouta, Anthony Tomelic)
Dural Warriors 6 (Greg Giovenali 2, Vic Koutsoufis, Blake Rosier, Brendan Hoyer, Glen Kelshaw) South Coast Taipans 1()
Mascot Vipers 2 (Jun Kato, Andrea Gallina) Inner West Magic 4 (Jonathan Barzel, Brian Griffin-Colls, Daniel Fogarty, James Mawein)
Magic better Vipers
Inner West proved too strong in an exciting 4-2 win over stubborn Mascot Vipers at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre, keeping Magic on the Warriors heels at the top of the table.
Inner West had the first flurry of the game with Michael Cimino pinching the ball from the Mascot defence and whizzing his shot just past the upright within seconds of the kickoff.
Vipers had had enough of the early Magic pressure and after some solid build-up play Leonardo Pinto weighted a great pass to Jun Kato who powered home from outside the D and lift Mascot 1-0 in front.
The visitors were full of pep and controlled most of the possession, Mascot keeper Luis Soto saving well with his legs to deny Chris Zeballos shot from in front, and it wasn’t long before Inner West drew level, Soto scrambling hard to stop Brian Griffin-Colls’ effort on the goal-line only to see the ball bobble loose perfectly for Jonathan Barzel to tap into an empty net at the far post.
Magic hit the lead a moment later when Griffin-Colls unleashed a beast past Soto to become his side’s ninth scorer in three games, but the Vipers custodian was keeping his side in it with some outstanding reactionary saves, and luck almost shone Pinto‘s way on the counter when he caught an advancing Inner West keeper Roberto Maiorana off guard only for his low toe-poke to trickle past the woodwork.
A riveting match was temporarily stopped following a sickening mid-air collision between Cimino and Soto, who went down again seconds later clutching and counting both his Futsals.
An illegal pass-back gave Inner West the chance to nail home their advantage nearing halftime but Daniel Fogarty sent his close-range freekick agonisingly an inch the wrong side of the upright and it was the changeover with Magic 2-1 in front.
Action at both ends started the second term as both sides tried to assert themselves and Mascot went closest 10 minutes into the half when a delicious Tuan Cao lob found Andrea Gallina on the fly at the far post and his volley smashed against the post.
Inner West found their breakthrough with 12 minutes to go when an unmarked Fogarty whistled one past Soto into goal for a 3-1 buffer, a fingertip save from second-half Magic glovesman Angelo Konstantinou not long after the restart keeping the score unchanged.
Mascot was throwing everything at the Inner West defence but a fired-up Leandro Pinto found himself watching the remaining four minutes from the bench when he tangled with Fogarty twice within minutes and received a straight red card for his actions, Vipers unable to cope a man down allowing James Mawein an easy close-range goal for Magic to cruise 4-1 up.
The home side did have the final say with a brilliant counter attack ending with a merry Leonardo Pinto dance past several defenders and excellent tight-angled shot into goal for a final 4-2 scoreline, but Inner West stayed unbeaten at the top of the ladder.
In a remarkable display of competitiveness, Vipers haven’t beaten Magic in their last eight meetings (since 2012) but have kept within three goals of their rivals each time (two draws, two one-goal losses and twice by two goals).
Campbelltown down Northside
Campbelltown endured a 4-3 thriller against UTS Northside at the Sydney Academy of Sport & Recreation, back-to-back victories righting Quake’s course.
It was end-to-end action as both sides traded blows, Campbelltown with their noses in front 2-1 at halftime, and the second term went goal-for-goal and Quake prevailed one-goal victors. It was a successive 4-3 defeat for Northside.
Rovers defeat Mountain Majik
A second-half blitz helped Enfield Rovers to an uncomfortable 5-1 win over Mountain Majik at Valentine Sports Park.
Jordan Guerreiro scored for the Mountaineers to have it 1-1 at oranges but Enfield romped home in the second stanza, a Giovanni Leuzzi double and goals to Lachlan Wright, Michael Kouta and Anthony Tomelic making it 5-1 at fulltime, Majik’s ninth straight league loss and their ninth straight away from home.
Warriors crush Taipans
Dural Warriors showed the newcomers no mercy with a steady 6-1 victory against South Coast Taipans at Dural Sport & Leisure Centre.
The home side built a 3-0 advantage by halftime and went on with it in the second period, Greg Giovenali finishing with two goals complementing Vic Koutsoufis, Blake Rosier, Brendan Hoyer and Glen Kelshaw scores (Dural have found nine scorers in three games) as the champs moved to 11 games unbeaten, one behind the high-dozen set by Inner West (2014/15) and Dural (2013/14).
Next week’s games
Futsal NSW Premier League round four Saturday night features Campbelltown Quake against Mascot Vipers at Minto Indoor Sports Centre (7pm), Dural Warriors face Inner West Magic at Dural Sport & Leisure Centre (7.55pm), Enfield Rovers tackle UTS Northside at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre (8.05pm), and Mountain Majik meet South Coast Taipans at Valentine Sports Park (8.20pm).
-By Dan De Nardi
