Futsal Premier League Round 4 Review
A scintillating Futsal NSW Premier League round four Saturday night saw Dural edge Inner West 6-5, Campbelltown were held by Mascot 5-5, UTS Northside grabbed a 3-3 draw with Enfield, and Mountain Majik drew 2-2 with South Coast.
The results sees unbeaten Dural (12 points) romp to the front of the field ahead of Inner West (9), Enfield (7), Campbelltown (7) and Mascot (7), with UTS Northside (1), Mountain Majik (1), South Coast (1) falling a little behind.
Andrea Gallina’s Vipers double spurred him on to seven summer strikes, one more than Quake’s Mark Symington. Visit the Football NSW website (Futsal tab) for full details.
Dural Warriors 6 (Daine Merrin 2, Bruno Pivato 2, Blake Rosier, Brendan Hoyer) Inner West Magic 5 (Brian Griffin-Colls 3)
Campbelltown Quake 5 (Patrick Antelmi, Mark Symington, Dean Lockhart, Harley Da Silva, Nathan Clissold) Mascot Vipers 5 (Andrea Gallina 2, Jun Kato 2, Jakob Radas)
Enfield Rovers 3 (Shervin Adeli 2, Anthony Tomelic) UTS Northside 3 (Nathan Amore, Jun Arima, Grant Lynch)
Mountain Majik 2 (Raymond Miller, Jamie Dib) South Coast Taipans 2 (Franc Pierro, Jack Lombo)
Warriors douse Magic
Dural Warriors beat Inner West Magic 6-5 in a ding-dong battle between two Futsal giants at Dural Sport & Leisure Centre.
Plenty of Futsalroos were in action as premier league’s heavyweights locked horns, Blake Rosier invigorating the packed Dural stadium with the game’s first score, Inner West surging ahead with the next two goals only for Inner West to respond with two of their own to take a slender 3-2 midway advantage.
Magic bolted out of the blocks following halftime and led 4-3, containing the Warriors onslaught until a further goal gave the visitors a belligerent 5-3 cushion… but it wasn’t enough as Daine Merrin scored twice to level the scores and a late Bruno Pivato goal elevated Dural to the victors’ position yet again – a 10th win over Inner West in 13 meetings.
Dural’s 12th straight game without loss drew this latest Warriors squad alongside the league’s best-ever undefeated runs from Inner West (2014/15) and Dural (2013/14), a 10th straight home win also equaling Dural’s high-streak from 2012-14, but even Warriors coach Rob Varela conceded the competition’s getting closer.
“This was the best local game in a long, long time,” he said. “It was end-to-end action between two very good teams in front of a full grandstand full with 11 internationals on display.”
“Inner West feature a lot of players at an Australian level; they’re very well coached, and there’s a great rivalry between the two teams. We respect them highly, and that goes both ways… we only got home with three goals in the last four minutes, and I think it shows this season is a long way out from being played.”
Inner West maestro Matteo Maiorana agreed. “This is the fourth time going back three years ago where we were leading Dural with under two minutes remaining… you can see that we match up pretty well with them.”
“The whole game is about momentum really. To beat Dural you have to dictate the pace of the game. They’re very precise in their movement, but we haven’t just sat back and watched them, we’ve gone at them and that’s given us opportunities to win.”
Campbelltown, Mascot draw
Belated goals helped Mascot Vipers to a thrilling 5-5 draw with frustrated Campbelltown Quake at Minto Indoor Sports Centre.
The home side raced to a 2-0 lead before Mascot got on the board, Campbelltown inching ahead 3-2 at the break; and whatever the Vipers conjured up Quake kept them at bay to make it 5-3 until the dying stages when a never-say-die Mascot created two goals from seemingly little to earn a deserved share of the spoils.
Campbelltown chief Carlos Martinez could only shake his head at more point lost as a stuttering Quake reeled from their slow start to the summer.
“I can’t help but think it’s another two points lost rather than one point won,” he said. “I felt we were in control leading 5-3 with a few minutes to go, it felt comfortable; but Mascot are different these days because they’re a very good side, very quick and very physical. We played well and had the game… but in the end we went close to losing it.
“That’s what it’s been like this season, missing out on points across all grades; and there’s a real feeling in the club that we have to start getting points or it may cost us in the club championship. Every point we don’t win hurts.”
Martinez pointed to Futsal’s social rise and a tightening of top-end competition as the main precursor in their nervy premier league position.
“The sport is getting more popular. In the men’s competition particularly you have guys who are purely Futsal players; players who wouldn’t have been available in the past due to other commitments who now put Futsal first.
“Because of this I really don’t know who’ll miss out on a finals place this season. Dural and Inner West are the benchmark, but the emergence of Rovers, Vipers and UTS… long gone are the days when you went into a game thinking you were going to win.”
However, let me tell you a story about the men from Campbelltown. Sure, Dural have won four straight titles over an increasing Inner West and Enfield presence; and then there’s past championship exploits from great Sydney City Eagles (2010/11) and Sydney Magic (2008/09) sides.
But no club has shown more consistency in the state’s top Futsal competition over the past decade than Quake. The open men’s team from Minto won the very last winter super league in 2008, appeared in three straight grand finals winning the 2009/10 summer premier league trophy, and in eight years Campbelltown has made more post-season dances (7) than any other club.
The only time Quake missed the finals it was pipped in the 2010/11 final round by Sydney City, who journeyed from fourth spot to beat Dural in the grand final. Warriors won the next four deciders, but if any club knows how to stay in a trophy race – it’s Campbelltown.
Majik, Taipans stalemate
A solitary second-half goal lifted Mountain Majik to a dramatic 2-2 draw with South Coast Taipans at Valentine Sports Park.
The first ever premier league meeting between the clubs could not have been more emotionally charged as both win-less sides fought tooth and nail for the points, South Coast edging to a nervy 2-1 halftime lead only to see Majik draw level in the second term to leave the result well and truly up for grabs.
The Mountaineers had their work cut out for them when they had key players and both their goalscorers Raymond Miller and Jamie Dib red-carded, but Majik held on despite having one of their scorers Jack Lombo sent off to ensure both teams earned their first point of the season.
It’s still worrying times up the mountainside as Majik are now 10 league games without a win and without success in 10 road trips one less than Mascot’s unenviable streak from 2013 to 2015.
Enfield, Northside deadlock
Enfield Rovers and UTS Northside fought to a standstill in their 3-3 impasse at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre.
UTS showed they belong on the big stage with yet another determined performance against an established premier league side, going into halftime at one apiece and sticking with Enfield all the way to register Northside’s first point of the summer.
Shervin Adeli bagged a brace for Rovers, while Nathan Amore, Jun Arima and Grant Lynch scored for UTS.
This week’s games
Futsal NSW Premier League round five Saturday night features UTS Northside versus South Coast Taipans at Sydney Academy of Sport & Recreation (6.40pm), Enfield Rovers against Inner West Magic at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre (8.05pm), Mascot Vipers play Dural Warriors ay All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (8.20pm), and Mountain Majik challenge Campbelltown Quake at Valentine Sports Park (8.20pm).
-By Dan De Nardi
