Round 2 Review – SELECT Futsal Premier League
The ghouls were out for a shocking second round of the 2016/17 Football NSW Select Futsal NSW Premier League as South Coast stunned champions Dural 2-0, Enfield defeated Mountain Majik 6-2, Inner West overcame Mascot 4-1 and Boomerangs beat UTS Northside 3-2.
The premier league screws have certainly tightened with a 5.6 goal average per match the lowest of any competition over the last 10 years (way down on the 6.8 average from 2009/10), and the 20 round-two goals posted is the second lowest on record (19 were scored in the opening round of 2013/14, while 15 were scored in the final round of last season although that included a no result).
South Coast Taipans 2 (Riku Iwauchi 2) Dural Warriors 0
Boomerangs FS 3 (Brad Sawyer 2, Jake Wilsener) UTS Northside 2 (Joey Gibbs, Grant Lynch)
Inner West Magic 4 (Brian Griffin-Colls, Matthew Lecce, Adam Cooper 2) Mascot Vipers 1 (Santiago Rodriguez)
Mountain Majik 2 (Kaan Kilinc, Andrew Luttringer) Enfield Rovers 6 (Clayton Musumeci 2, Michael Kouta 2, Laureano Gomez Castro, Giovanni Leuzzi)
Rovers bite Majik
Enfield Rovers downed Mountain Majik 6-2 at Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium to shoot to the top of the league on goal-difference over Inner West.
Clayton Musumeci scored the only goal of an evenly-matched first half as Rovers clung to 1-0 halftime lead before being faced by an early second-half barrage as Majik went to a fifth-man press straight after the break.
A Michael Kouta double early in the term helped establish a three-goal Enfield cushion but the Mountaineers hit back with Kaan Kilinc and Andrew Luttringer goals either side of a Musumeci strike making it a tight 4-2 scoreline 10 minutes from fulltime, Laureano Gomez Castro and Giovanni Leuzzi sealing the 6-2 result with late Rovers goals.
Enfield have a secure record against Majik having beaten them six from seven meetings and coach Ernie Bivona was almost satisfied.
“It was a good win, especially with a few big guns out [Anthony Tomelic also went down with a groin injury five minutes into the match], and the word I used at the end was ‘discipline’ because you can get sucked out against a fifth-man,” he said, “but my boys stayed patient and picked the right times to attack.”
“To [Majik’s] credit they were very well drilled in their fifth-man and used their speed effectively, but I always felt in control; it was good to see my players use their experience in these situations… and I have to give Andres Gomez his dues – he’s been a very good add to my team and brings another element to our style of play. He’s very professional in the way he drives the boys.”
Bivona wouldn’t give full praise to his team however with plenty of work still to be done, particularly with competition coming from all quarters this season.
“I know we can score a lot, it’s just about defending for us. I’m thrilled with the depth that I’ve got – the young guys that have come through from the youth team have been really good – but we have to work on the number goals we concede,” he said.
“You can’t mark wins on the calendar; it’s Futsal and things change very quickly, so we have to show up every week and give the opposition respect.”
Bivona already had a wary eye on this weekend’s match-up with Dural: “Robbie V won’t be happy with his results and they need three points desperately… I’m hoping to inflict a bit more pain on them.”
Majik coach Babak Mentai took the result on the chin. “I’m not very happy overall,” he said. “The start was very good but I went to a fifth-man in the second half because we train for this a lot; we keep trying and could’ve scored goals, but I took the risk so I have to take responsibility for this result.”
“We had a lot of chances to get more out of the game, but with young players I still have to work on them mentally with Futsal. I see a good future for them if they want it as well.”
Taipans sting Warriors
South Coast Taipans stunned perennial champions Warriors 2-0 in a massive boi lover at University of Wollongong Sports Hub – the first time Dural’s not won in successive weeks since early 2012.
A great interchange between Shohei Okuno and Riku Iwauchi to get in behind the Dural defence saw the latter slot home and give South Coast a dream start with a goal on the quarter-hour, and Taipans doubled their advantage midway through the second period with a well-worked counter-attack from an interception resulting in Iwauchi netting a second time.
Warriors hit the post several times but couldn’t find a way through, the two-goal deficit ending Dural’s astonishing 25 game unbeaten run (and 11 straight road wins), which is more than double the next best streak (a dozen straight by Inner West in 2014/15 and Dural in 2013/14).
To underline the result’s proportion it was Dural’s first scoreless return in 98 recorded premier league games (they’ve had 16 clean sheets themselves in this time) as South Coast – who finished bottom of the ladder last season – registered their first ever ‘nil’ score line in 30 top-flight tries.
Taipans coach Bobby Mazevski wasn’t getting carried away with the victory. “Dural is always a tough game as they’re a good side irrespective if they’ve got players missing or not,” he said.
“We had a game plan and stuck to it and executed it well. Last week we conceded nine goals so our first priority was to work hard on defence and I wanted to tighten that up this week and not switch off for any minute of the game; we also had enough chances to score a couple, and maybe a few more.”
“Look, it was a super impressive performance, but we’ve got to take it one game at a time,” said Mazevski. “The effort was there last week and we were right in it beside 10 minutes of the match, but I’m not dwelling on that as we have to keep focusing on the game ahead of us.”
“Mascot [this week] will be tough as well, and there are no easy games in this competition. It’s a hard start to the season but we’ve got a nice, deep squad, the players are rotating well and understanding the philosophy I’m trying to impose, and it starts at 0-0 again next week.”
Magic overcome Vipers
Inner West Magic came from a goal down at the break to beat a persistent Mascot Vipers 4-1 at Valentine Sports Park and join Enfield at the top of the table as the only two sides with a perfect two-from-two record.
Vipers started the strongest and Magic keeper Roberto Maiorana was at his brilliant best to deny them on several occasions in the opening first minutes, but he couldn’t hold out a Santiago Rodriguez strike that elevated Mascot to a 1-0 halftime advantage.
Inner West lifted their intensity in the second as Brian Griffin-Colls scored a couple minutes in and Matthew Lecce added another moments later to push the home side in front, two late Adam Cooper penalties rounding out the three-goal result – Magic’s eighth win in their last 10 encounters with Vipers, but to underline the fixture’s competitiveness no result has been decided by more than three goals since Mascot last beat Inner West 9-5 in late 2011 (two 3-3 draws in between).
Vipers stalwart Ben Zvi David believed the final score line was no reflection on the match. “We played very well and more than matched them with some very nice Futsal,” he said. “I’m proud of my boys; I think it was a turning point and next week they will be much better again as we get more of our players back.”
Boomerangs edge Northside
Boomerangs FS pipped UTS Northside 3-2 at the AIS Training Halls to remain unbeaten in their premier league return.
Brad Sawyer opened the scoring for the home side in the first-ever meeting between the clubs before Joey Gibbs hit back for UTS midway through the half, Boomerangs adding goals either side of halftime to lead 3-1 before Grant Lynch cut the deficit back to 3-2 with plenty of time left on the clock – FS holding on for a slender victory with Brad Sawyer bagging a brace.
The win in Canberra moves Boomerangs to eight straight premier league wins at home – a run that only sits behind Dural’s 11 home victories over 2014/15-2015/16 and 10 Warriors successes across 2012/13-2013/14, while the narrow UTS defeat etched Northside’s penchant for close-calls – a mind-blowing 53% of their top-flight games have been decided by a goal (a league high over Sydney Magic 40% of 10 matches and Boomerangs 39% of 46 runs).
Boomerangs coach Kristian Collins was delighted with the open men’s win, but it was also their only success in a tough round against UTS.
“How happy can I be? I guess the men’s result was good, but we’re still not as clinical going into that final third so there’s some work to do on the training paddock,” he said.
“Defensively we’re solid, we’re completing lots of passes and having lots of shots, we’re just not putting them into the back of the net, and if we’re not putting away teams when we have the chances then we’re just keeping the opposition in it – we should’ve been 3 or 4 up at halftime.
“But we’re on the up and getting better each week and building toward a top-four finish, which is always the goal.”
UTS coach Lynch knew it was always going to be an arduous road trip. “It’s a tough game away for us, down at Canberra is always difficult; but I thought we were good value for a draw at least, we were certainly knocking on the door the last five minutes,” he said.
“Full credit to Boomerangs, they got us on the counter a few times and deserved their win. We’re still trying to put all the pieces together and it’s coming together okay; I’m not disappointed in performance just the result.”
Next week’s games
The Football NSW Select Futsal Premier League third round features Saturday night action between Mountain Majik and UTS Northside at Blacktown Leisure Centre (4.40pm), Inner West Magic host unbeaten Boomerangs FS at Valentine Sports Park (7.40pm), competition leaders Enfield Rovers meet Dural Warriors at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre (7.50pm), while Mascot Vipers face South Coast Taipans at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (8.50pm). Visit the Football NSW website (Futsal tab) for full details.
-By Dan De Nardi
