Futsal Premier League Round 10 Review

Football NSW Futsal Premier League round 10 Saturday night had Dural beat South Coast 7-3, Campbelltown pip UTS Northside, Inner West edge Mascot 2-1, Enfield eclipse Mountain Majik 11-6.

The results see Warriors (28) head Quake (19), Magic (18), Vipers (16) and Rovers (14) in a frantic dash for the top four places, with Taipans (7), Majik (4) and UTS (4) fighting out the wooden spoon. Visit the Football NSW website (Futsal tab) for full details.

Individually, a suspended Mark Symington (14 goals for Quake) has allowed 11-goal strikers Anthony Tomelic (Enfield) and Danny Martinez (Campbelltown) to creep up on him, while 10-goal Andrea Gallina (Mascot) and Shervin Adeli (Enfield) kept them within striking distance of the golden boot award.

Enfield Rovers 11 (Anthony Tomelic 3, Zac Ribeiro 2, Shervin Adeli 2, Dominic Cox, Lachlan Wright, Matthew Leroy, James Brodnik) Mountain Majik 6 (Jamie Dib 2, Andrew Luttringer, Pouria Bashadoust, Ryan Tran, Michael Borg)

Campbelltown Quake 4 (Danny Martinez 3, Harley Da Silva) UTS Northside 3 (Nathan Amore, Jack Richardson. Marty Judge)

Inner West Magic 2 (Chris Zeballos 2) Mascot Vipers 1 (Michael Loupis)

South Coast Taipans 3 Dural Warriors 7

Quake edge UTS

Campbelltown Quake scraped their way to a tense 4-3 victory over gallant UTS Northside at Minto Indoor Sports Centre and maintain a pivotal top-two spot.

The home side started well and dual Danny Martinez goals gave Quake a two-goal buffer within minutes before a couple of costly defensive errors either side of a Martinez third kept Northside in the contest behind 2-3 at oranges.

UTS made their presence felt throughout a rugged second term until Harley Da Silva stepped up with a cracking goal to jump Campbelltown out to 4-2 in the closing moments of a tight tussle.

And just as they’ve done all season UTS gave themselves a glimmer of hope with a last-minute goal that ultimately provided the final 4-3 scoreline.

 “We made it bit harder than it was meant to be,” Quake chief Carlos Martinez said. “We felt the absence of [Mark] Symington (suspended) but we made great use of the youth players who really stood up and played big minutes, and played really well.”

“UTS have great strength in their physicality; they make it hard for teams to score, and there were times there that we might’ve cracked. But we defended well… missed quite a few chances to put them away… and got away with the win.

It turned out to be a great day for Campbelltown in their fight for premier league survival, winning six of nine grades to claim a whopping 18 points and move alongside South Coast at the bottom of the club championship ladder.

For the Northsiders it was yet another close-call following a fifth one-goal loss of the season and it’s almost ridiculous to think a team could endure 14 of 24 grueling premier league affairs decided by no more than goal (58%) as UTS have done in two terrific top-flight summers, considerably more than the next highest heart-stoppers Boomerangs 36% (16 of 44), Magic 35% (25 of 71) and Quake 34% (25 of 74).

It’s little better for the northerners when it’s two goals or less (still an incredible 71% of 24 UTS matches), with Phoenix 60% (25 of 42) and Inner West 59% (42 of 71) the next most involved in tight games.

Rovers overcome Majik

A seven-goal second-half scooted Enfield Rovers to an impressive 11-6 defeat of Mountain Majik at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre and close the gap on a tightening top-four.

Bottom-of-the-table Majik stunned the locals by trailing 3-4 at halftime only to see Rovers power-up after the break to rack up a second double-digit score for the summer, the 11-6 final tally premier league’s second highest game score in the last five years (Dural beat Enfield 11-7 in 2013/14), and only Dural has scored more goals in a match (12-1 wins over Majik and Taipans).

Anthony Tomelic scored a Rovers hat-trick supported by Zac Ribeiro and Shervin Adeli doubles, while Majik’s stellar six goals was their second-highest score in two summers.

Enfield’s success halved the deficit to fourth place to just two points behind Mascot who face Inner West, Campbelltown and Dural over the next three weekends.

Warriors wrestle Taipans

Dural Warriors shook off the holiday cobwebs with a methodical 7-3 win against a spirited South Coast Taipans at Illawarra Hockey Centre.

It was 3-nil at the break and despite a solid South Coast second-half the champs held on for a comfortable four-goal victory and stretch Dural’s outstanding unbeaten league run to 18 matches.

The Warriors stay nine points ahead of Campbelltown on this year’s table with four rounds left to play, although Inner West have a couple of challenging catch-ups scheduled either side of a round-11 clash with Dural next Saturday (Warriors facing a torrid run home with matches against their chasing top-five rivals remaining).

An eighth straight Dural road win certainly underlines a mental strength away from the hills of Sydney, losing just one outing in a tick under three hot summers for a phenomenal 74 per cent success rate over the past five league years – substantially more than next best Inner West (58%), Campbelltown (51%), Enfield (47%) and UTS (27%); Mascot (18%) and Sydney City (20%) claim the leanest road win-rate.

Magic hold Vipers

Inner West Magic held their nerve to stave off Mascot Vipers 2-1 in a fantastic Futsal contest at Valentine Sports Park.

Chris Zeballos goals midway through each term built Inner West a tight 2-0 buffer, with Michael Loupis scoring for Mascot in the last minute.

Only one match of the past eight meetings between these great sides has gone past a two-goal margin, and at club level Vipers (156) grip a one-point advantage over Magic (155) with Rovers (146) and Majik (142) not too far behind.

The result also stretched Inner West’s stranglehold of Mascot, winning seven of their last 10 encounters (plus two draws) but even Magic stalwart Matteo Maiorana applauded a Vipers rise this summer.

“It was a really good win against a much-improved Vipers side who are definitely good enough to be in the top four,” he said.

“It was the best we’ve been all season… but this season has been so close. If you’re not switched on every team has a number of players that can beat anyone.”

“We have to play five games in next eight days [including national Futsalroos duties] but we have a squad that’s up to the challenge. It won’t be easy but the next fortnight is very important.”

This week’s games

Football NSW Futsal Premier League round 11 Saturday night features South Coast Taipans against Mountain Majik at the Illawarra Hockey Centre (5.40pm), UTS Northside versus Enfield Rovers at Sydney Boys High School (7.30pm), Mascot Vipers tackle Campbelltown Quake at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (8.20pm), and Inner West Magic face Dural Warriors in a Valentine Sports Park blockbuster (8.30pm). Rovers and Magic play a round-five catch-up at Sydney Olympic Park this Friday night (7pm), with the Inner West versus Mountain Majik rescheduled round-six clash set for Valentine Sports Park on Friday, January 29 (8pm).

-By Dan De Nardi