Futsal Premier League Round 13 Review
Football NSW Futsal Premier League round 13 Saturday night had a youthful Enfield hold off South Coast 8-6 and Mascot beat UTS Northside 5-1 to secure their top-four spot.
The results meant Warriors, Magic, Quake and Vipers will contest this summer’s open men’s finals, Rovers missing out, while Taipans, Majik and Northside fight out the wooden spoon. Visit the Football NSW website (Futsal tab) for full details.
On the goalscoring charts Mark Symington (16 goals for Quake), Enfield guns Anthony Tomelic (15) and Shervin Adeli (13), Mascot’s Andrea Gallina (13), Campbelltown combination Danny Martinez (12) and Dean Lockhart (10), Dural trio Wade Giovenali (10), Bruno Pivato (9) and Blake Rosier (9), South Coast’s Matt Mazevski (9) and Northside’s Grant Lynch (9) round out the summer’s best.
Mascot Vipers 5 (Andrea Gallina 4, Tuan Cao) UTS Northside 1 (Daniel Beauchamp)
Enfield Rovers 8 (Alex Vlismas 3, Michael Kouta 2, James Brodnik, Giovanni Leuzzi) South Coast Taipans 6 (Sam Davies 2, Kyle Del 2, Matt Mazevski, Rob Delbanco)
Mascot take Northside
Mascot Vipers blasted into this year’s finals with a 5-1 defeat of UTS Northside at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre.
Vipers import Andrea Gallina was in scintillating form as the home side muscled their way to a 3-1 halftime break, Gallina nailing four superb strikes in a solid four-goal victory.
The result moved Mascot alongside Campbelltown on 22 competition points (also equal on goal-difference) with the final round (Quake play Allstars while Vipers meet Taipans) to determine who takes third spot on the ladder behind Dural (40) and Inner West (27).
Zvi Ben David was thrilled, more-so by the spectacular performance. “The team played so well; it was so nice to watch,” he said. “There was fluency, beautiful ball skills, teamwork; it wasn’t players playing like robots, it was great, natural play… and the best four-goal effort from a player in this league, ever. Every goal [Gallina] scored could’ve been goal of the year.”
“The boys feel confident they can go all the way. I’m proud of them for what they’ve already achieved and anything extra from now on is a bonus.”
Even more enticing for the Futsal veteran is the club championship state of play where Mascot and Inner West are tied for first on 208 points (Vipers Open Women’s to play a catch-up against Dural, probably at All Sorts next week), and they both travel in the final round to take on clubs fighting for league survival, South Coast (130) and Campbelltown (121) – Quake with a pivotal Youth Men catch-up against Mountain Majik.
“Football NSW couldn’t have written a better script!” Ben David remarked. “This will be tough for all the clubs involved as everyone will be desperate.”
“I’m excited. I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved already, but I’m happy for the sport that it’s so tense people are talking about it. Whoever wins the championship wins it; what’s more important is that we gave it a good shake.”
UTS were again good value against Mascot and for them it all comes down to next weekend’s final-round bout against Mountain Majik to determine this year’s wooden spoon.
A draw or Northside loss leaves them bottom no matter what; a UTS win (7 points, -20 goal-difference) pushes them over both the Mountaineers (9, -29) and Coasters (9, -38) to leave Taipans (who play Vipers next weekend) in the lurch, while an outlandish double-figure victory exposes Majik to a possible last-place finish on goal-difference.
Enfield edge South Coast
A young Enfield Rovers rose to the occasion with an 8-6 defeat of South Coast Taipans at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre.
With only one senior men’s player available Enfield filled the ranks with youth that dug deep to reverse a 3-4 halftime deficit and win 8-6 – the third successive 14-goal game between the clubs (Rovers winning 10-4 then 11-3).
Alex Vlismas scored a hat-trick in a result that was dampened by Mascot’s 5-1 win over UTS hauling Vipers into an unassailable top-four position and leaving Enfield on the outer.
It was a frustrating summer for Rovers that offered plenty of promise, but they only achieved back-to-back victories once (they did it four times last year) and three defeats in their last four games derailed their finals prospects.
Only Dural scored more goals than Enfield (80 to 70), and it was the best Rovers season defensively since coming to premier league conceding four less goals than last summer, but three tight two-goal losses, a pivotal 2-1 loss to Mascot and heart-breaking 6-6 draw with Warriors (who scored in the dying seconds) ultimately sealed their fate.
Club official Dominic Castro took the ups with the downs. “We didn’t finish where we wanted to and were definitely depleted by player availability throughout the year, so we had to rely on youth and 16s to fill the men’s places,” he said.
“But to take the positives out of the negative, we’ve got some really good players coming through the junior grades and, apart from men’s, had every boys grade challenging for the premiership.”
Castro dipped his lid to Dural’s outstanding summer and said it would be tough for any team to conquer them in the finals.
“Dural have definitely taken it to the next level this season; I can’t think of a side that’s been as dominant as this Dural team,” he said.
“But the fact we’ve had the closest club championship in a long time shows the level is becoming more competitive. There’s more players wanting to play the game, and then their mates are getting involved forcing more competition and growing the sport, so I think in years to come the league won’t be dominated by any one club like it has over the last five years.”
This week’s games
Football NSW Futsal Premier League round 14 Saturday night features South Coast Taipans versus Mascot Vipers at the University of Wollongong Sports Hub (4.50pm), while Mountain Majik meet UTS Northside at Valentine Sports Park (8.20pm). Campbelltown Quake play Inner West Magic at Minto Indoor Sports Centre on Thursday, February 25 (8pm). Visit the Football NSW website (Futsal tab) for full details.
-By Dan De Nardi
