Round 6 Review – SELECT Futsal Premier League
SELECT Futsal Premier League round-6 results saw top sides Dural Warriors and Inner West Magic fall to Enfield Rovers 5-8 and Campbelltown Quake 3-4, while South Coast Taipans beat Mascot Vipers 6-5 and UTS Northside downed Mountain Majik 4-1.
Defeats to the top-two saw the ladder get a whole lot skinnier near the summit as Dural (15 points) and Inner West (13) now have Campbelltown (12), Enfield (10) and UTS (9) nipping at their heels, and back-to-back South Coast (6) wins leaves Mascot (3) and the Mountaineers (3) at the bottom.
South Coast Taipans 6 (David Stojic, Ricky Goodchild 2, Kyle Del, Dion Sterjovski, Matt Mazevski) Mascot Vipers 5 (Alex Euripidou, Kassem Jirjnazi, Jonathan Kontalis, Conor Quiligan, Joel)
Mountain Majik 1 (Chris Barbera) UTS Northside 4 (Alex Apanian 2, Joey Gibbs, Alex Pepper)
Inner West Magic 3 (Jonathan Barzel 2, Brett Forward) Campbelltown Quake 4 (Dean Lockhart 2, Anthony Haddad, Mark Symington)
Enfield Allstars 8 (Shervin Adeli 3, Michael Kouta 2, Dominic Cox, Jacob Di Mento, Charles Abou Serhal) Dural Warriors 5 (Greg Giovenali 3, Samuel De Oliveira, Nathan Niski)
Taipans out-snake Vipers
South Coast Taipans made it two wins on the trot with an electric 6-5 Saturday afternoon win against hapless Mascot Vipers at the University of Wollongong Sports Hub.
David Stojic put Taipans on the board early as the home side held a gluttony of possession and chances, Vipers keeper David Plowright doing his best to keep Vipers in the game and the tough defensive effort paid off when Mascot equalised, but the Coasters scored twice inside the last five minutes through Ricky Goodchild and Kyle Del to go 3-1 up at the break.
The Southerners were on fire and continued their assault on the Vipers goal in the second term and Dion Sterjovski and Matthew Mazevski goals put them 5-1 ahead with the finish line in sight, but Mascot capitalised on some turnovers and nervous defending to score four goals in a devastating 10-minute spell that leveled it at 5-5 and just minutes to go.
Fingernails were at a premium in an exciting finish and the Southern fans leapt to their feet when a wonderful piece of individual skill from Mazevski split the Vipers defence and teed up Goodchild for the match-winner.
Taipans coach Bobby Mazevski felt like a yo-yo in an elevator following the up-and-down encounter. “It was a bit of a crazy game of Futsal with huge momentum swings from both sides,” he said. “Credit to Vipers for their stirring comeback; they made us work hard for the three points tonight.”
“I am sure it was really exciting from a spectator point of view but it was a case of mixed emotions as a coach tonight. I thought we played really well for the majority of the match and looked to be in total control however I’d like to have that last 10 minutes back again.
“Whilst I am delighted at the fact we’ve won two on the trot and are taking a greater percentage of our chances (15 goals over the last two games), I acknowledge we need to close games out better and limit our mistakes at the backend of matches.”
Coast’s second win in seven meetings certainly avenged a 6-0 drubbing they copped from Mascot in January, but more credible is their continual improvement on the back of last season’s terrific effort. Although they’ve lost twice as many as their two victories a Taipans minus-5 goal-difference contrasts a -29 deficit last summer and obliterates -41 the year before and -45 in their first premier league adventure in 2011/12.
The Southerners play bottom-side Mountain Majik next week and will look to become the first Taipans outfit to win three straight league games.
Mascot are proven as a competitive club: no-one’s played more one-goal contests – 29% of 113 games decided by this margin, only UTS has a higher proportion with 44% of their 48 matches finishing a goal apart); Vipers have also registered the most drawn matches, 12 (Dural and Inner West have 11); but a fourth one-goal loss of the season is enough tragedy to inspire Shakespeare.
Surely Mascot will eventually gain some reward for all their hard work, and it could just about be against anyone.
UTS tumble Mountain
An early UTS Northside blitz set up a 4-1 defeat of Mountain Majik at Blacktown Leisure Centre on Saturday afternoon.
Quickfire goals to Alex Apanian, Joey Gibbs and goalkeeper Alex Pepper raced the visitors to a 3-0 romp by the 10th minute and until Chris Barbera pulled one back minutes before the break it looked like being a long night for the Mountaineers.
The second half was a better contest and both sets of youngsters had opportunities to score, but a second Apanian strike – his second successive double against Majik – sealed a 4-1 UTS deal.
Despite it being the biggest margin between the sides they still boast a close rivalry: They’ve won three each of seven meetings (plus a 2-2 draw), just 39 goals have been scored between them (5.6 goals a game compared to an overall league average of 7.4), and Northside maybe push a nose in front with a total 20 goals to Mountain’s 19.
Quake shake Magic
It was Campbelltown versus Inner West at its epic Saturday night best at Valentine Sports Park as Quake rattled and rolled to a dramatic last-minute 4-3 win in their 150th premier league match.
Inner West drew first blood before Campbelltown responded with two of their own to walk an uneasy 2-1 halftime tightrope, and the second term was no different with the scores deadlocked at 3-3 with a minute to go when Dean Lockhart unleashed to hand Quake victory – a third straight road win and they’ll equal a club-record fourth should they conquer Mascot this weekend.
The history between the clubs is riveting. Campbelltown’s success made it 10 wins apiece (and two draws) in 22 contests spanning 11 years – and that includes an unrivaled seven finals meetings.
They’ve both recorded five-goal wins against each other, but 18 of the encounters have been decided by three goals or less (13 by two or less) and perhaps not surprisingly includes three penalty shootouts.
Although Inner West have arguably boast the better of recent competitions, Campbelltown has certainly become their bogey team as Magic have won just two of the last nine meetings; and it’s the heroes who stand tall – Mark Symington scored in the fixture for the 11th time (17 goals overall) and team-mate Lockhart’s double notched up 11 goals against Inner West.
Campbelltown club manager Carlos Martinez was succinct following an amazing affair: “Magic v Quake games are always epic. This was no difference,” he said. “We are happy to take the win but must now focus on next week.”
Inner West club manager Matteo Maiorana stared at his hands as a valuable point slipped away, but acknowledged the team was without coach Stephen Knight and key players Brian Griffin-Colls, Fran Calle and Miles Downie.
“A game was a usual hardfought Magic vs Quake fixture,” he said. “It was really disappointing to lose, and to cop a goal with 20 seconds left was heartbreaking for the boys as they deserved something from the game… especially after the effort they put in missing so many players.”
“We were just too tired; not enough legs. We were missing key players and it hurt us. Bully’s goal was spectacular and worthy of any game-winning goal but the momentum of the game completely changed when [it looked like a player might’ve touched the ball] which resulted in a Quake goal and from then on it was going to be tough,” Maiorana suggested.
“I couldn’t be any prouder of the boys that played. We now turn to the Futsal Cup game midweek before a massive clash with Dural next week.”
Enfield pump Dural
Enfield Allstars stunned competition leaders Dural Warriors with an astonishing topsy-turvy 8-5 victory at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night.
The home side impressed from the get-go and led 2-0 before Dural rallied behind veteran Greg Giovenali whose first-half brace trick helped lift Warriors to a 3-2 halftime lead.
And it just got crazier as Enfield equalised, Dural returned to the lead, Enfield equalised and then powered to an 8-4 advantage courtesy of a Shervin Adeli hat-trick before a Nathan Niski consolation.
Let’s not mince words; this is the first time anyone has ever put eight goals past Warriors (Inner West beat them 7-2 last season and the old Rovers lost 7-11 in 2013/14) and is underpinned by the fact Enfield has scored 5+ goals against Dural on four occasions and not won (7-11, 6-6, 5-5, 6-8) – this time it was the Warriors pain as only once in their entire history have they scored more and not won, a 6-6 draw with Rovers in 2015/16.
Enfield’s first win over Dural since a 3-2 success in January 2015 and just their third overall in 18 Warriors fixtures is substantial, but take a bow audacious Adeli – the 14th time in a glittering premier league career he’s booted 3+ goals (Quake’s Mark Symington next best with nine) and is really Dural’s arch nemesis scoring more than a third of Enfield’s goals in the encounter (23 of a total 65), including multiple goals on seven occasions. Giovenali’s double lifted his tally against Enfield to 14, Niski has 12.
Warriors coach Rob Varela had mixed feelings about a match but paid plenty of tribute to his opponents. “It was a sloppy start but a fantastic recovery in the first half from 0-2 down to lead 3-2,” he said.
“The second half we kept creating chances but squandered many opportunities; Enfield countered very well and punished our sloppy errors. It was a very disappointing result but full marks to Enfield, they thoroughly deserved the win.”
Next week’s games
SELECT Futsal Premier League round-7 Saturday matches feature Mountain Majik against South Coast Taipans at Blacktown Leisure Centre (4.05pm), Dural Warriors play Inner West Magic in a grand final rematch at The Centre, Dural (6.50pm), Enfield Allstars host UTS Northside at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre (8.05pm), and Mascot Vipers meet Campbelltown Quake at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (8.50pm).
-By Dan De Nardi
