Round 22 Preview – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
Well can you believe it – we have actually reached the final round of regulation football for the 2016 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition!
It has been a whirlwind of a campaign, with plenty of goals and excitement throughout an entertaining season, and it’s not quite over with the twelve teams still having plenty to play for.
The Premiership has been decided with one round to go, and congratulations to Hills Brumbies as previously mentioned, comprehensive and deserved winners. The clubs contesting the semi-final series have been confirmed, although positions two, three and four are far from decided, with a solitary point separating the three sides currently occupying those positions.
Let’s take a look at all the matches in Round Twenty-Two, all incidentally scheduled to kick off simultaneously at 3-00pm on Sunday, August 28.
Arguably the match with most at stake will be played at Rydalmere Park, where Rydalmere Lions meet Dunbar Rovers.
Both sides are locked together on 47 points, although Rydalmere sit in third position courtesy of a five goal better differential. Remarkably there are so many possible scenarios that could occur that it would take a few pages to outline them all, including the fact that if the match ends in a draw, they could very well face off the following week in a Qualifying Final, if Stanmore Hawks were to lose their final match.
A loser in this match would face the prospect of an Elimination Semi Final against Sydney University, courtesy of finishing the season in fourth spot and having to meet the fifth placed ‘students’, so no doubt both will be doing everything to avoid that outcome.
The first round encounter between the two sides ended in a 3-0 win for Dunbar Rovers at Hensley Athletic Field, a feisty match that produced 7 yellow card cautions as well as a red card to Rydalmere’s Humin Lee. Robbie Deasy, Malcolm Miller and the in-form David Desmond grabbed the goals that night for Dunbar, with Desmond’s exploits, especially, continuing of late, now up to 18 goals for the season and counting.
Expect a rugged and entertaining affair at Rydalmere Park between two sides who have the capability of going all the way in the final series.
One will meet two at Lily Football Centre when Hills Brumbies entertain the visit of Stanmore Hawks.
Hills have finished first past the post with a game to spare, and will have the ‘luxury’ of the first week off come finals time as a reward. Will they choose to rest any players who may be carrying some niggling injuries? Will their focus a little less than their usual frenetic 100%?
Stanmore Hawks will definitely hope so, because they will be looking to consolidate their spot in the Qualifying Final the week after.
Currently sitting second on 48 points, the Hawks are one point ahead of both Rydalmere Lions and Dunbar Rovers, who square off against each other this week.
Stanmore produced one of the best comebacks of the season when these teams met back in Round 11. Seemingly down and out at 0-3 with an hour or so gone, the Hawks managed to drag themselves level and snatch a point with two goals from big Sam Awad, and another from Heo Wookbum.
Boasting the best defence in the league with just 26 goals conceded, Stanmore will no doubt be hoping to keep that intact by stopping two of the Brumbies biggest strike weapons in Peter Cejkaa (30) and Sean Mitchell (13), scorers of 43 goals between them this season – including one apiece in that 3-3 draw against Stanmore back in June.
Sydney University will be hoping to take some winning momentum in to the finals series when they travel to meet Hawkesbury City at David Bertenshaw Field.
Two victories in the past week, including a closely fought 1-0 triumph over sixth placed Gladesville Ryde Magic last Sunday, confirmed finals football for the ‘students’ who will finish in fifth spot irrespective of the result this week.
Scott Tonkin (17) and Rosario Occhipinti (9) are two of the most experienced strikers in this division, and Sydney University know that if they can hold out defensively, one of their two attackers, if not both, will most likely manage to find a winning goal.
But Hawkesbury City have had a resurgence in the second half of the season, although their improved form has come too late to make a push for finals football. Lead by a resolute defence, with the ever-alert Daniel Schwarzer between the sticks, the Hawks have managed five wins and a draw from their last eight matches, and will be far from pushovers in their final outing of the season in front of their home fans.
Michael Noro netted for Hawkesbury in a 1-0 win the last time these two teams met – expect a similar closely fought encounter this time around.
Two sides that promised much but just couldn’t find the consistency over the entire season will drown their joint sorrows at Magdala Park when Gladesville Ryde Magic meet Inter Lions.
Gladesville currently lie in sixth position, and their finals spot was only extinguished last weekend in a narrow loss to fifth placed Sydney University.
Skipper, Chris Gaitatzis (13), and attacking midfielder, Chris Tomaras (11), have shown a real eye for goal with some spectacular strikes this season, but only nine wins have not been enough to push Magic in to the top five, despite an uplift in form in mid-season.
Inter Lions on their day have put some teams to the sword, but entertaining isn’t always as effective as you would like. Daniel Fogarty has been a standout for Inter with 22 goals so far, served often enough by electrifying wingers, Daniel Fornito and Eric Tomesek. But rather than reflect over what may have been, Inter’s captain-coach will expect nothing but 100% and pride in their performance this week as they look to end the campaign with a win at Magdala.
Last time they met the two teams finished all square in a six goal thriller, and given the attacking options on show, it wouldn’t surprise to see plenty of goal mouth action this time around once again.
There will be plenty of pride at stake at Arlington Oval when the division’s bottom two sides meet in Dulwich Hill and Western NSW Mariners.
Dulwich Hill would be disappointed with the way the season panned out, given their pedigree and history of success. Turnover in the playing and coaching ranks hasn’t helped, but individually they do boast some very capable performers, with Michael Frost between the sticks, Mitchell Lensink at left back, the experienced skipper, George Lagoudakis in midfield, and Tom Bentham up front, scorer of eight goals this season.
On the face of it, the Western NSW Mariners have had a torrid time of it in 2016, winning just the two matches, one of those against the high flying Dunbar Rovers. Skipper Adam Scimone has been a standout this season, working tirelessly throughout, whilst keeper, Adam Brakenridge has been superb in goal, keeping the final score respectable on more than a few occasions.
Expect a tough battle here as both teams will look to finish a disappointing campaign with the singing of their team song.
Two sides with almost identical records in 2016 will meet at Garside Park, with Granville Rage welcoming the visit of Balmain Tigers.
Both sides have managed 5 wins, 2 draws, and 14 losses this campaign, for a total of 17 points, with Granville sitting above Balmain in 9th position courtesy of a better goal difference.
Defensively both sides have been found wanting, conceding over 60 goals at over 3 per game, a statistic that has stopped them both from climbing the ladder.
But in attack they have offered much more during the season, with Granville’s Daniel Bittar (10) and Balmain’s Marcelo Turdera (11) the leading marksmen for each club.
Jess Casey grabbed the only goal of the game the last time these two sides met, giving Granville the points in a 1-0 win, but expect goals and some caution to be thrown to the wind with ninth spot up for grabs for the winner.
