Round 12 – NPL 3 NSW Men’s Preview
Things are really starting to heat up in the National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition as we approach Round Twelve this weekend.
Unlike last weekend, the seven matches spread over the two days of the weekend, and will be played across five timeslots no less, commencing at 3pm on Saturday afternoon with the last ball kicked close to 7pm on Sunday night.
Dunbar Rovers will be hoping to topple league leaders, Hawkesbury City, when the two sides go head to head at 3pm on Saturday at the Hensley Athletic Field.
Dunbar Rovers have been in inspiring form of late, losing just once in their past six fixtures, and will once again be looking towards both Ryan Shaughnessy and Yoel Silvestre to steer them to victory, both having managed 8 goals each so far this season.
But the Hawks have proven a very stubborn side this season, and with everyone expecting the wheels to have fallen off in recent weeks, Dean Bertenshaw’s troops have defied all odds to be not only top of the league, but to still be undefeated. Young Daniel Morsillo has taken advantage of his team mates’ efforts by banging in 11 goals in just 9 games, so he’ll be up to add to his tally come Saturday and keep the Hawks perched at the top of the ladder.
The Western NSW Mariners will be craving their first victory of the season this weekend when they entertain Sydney University at 5-30pm on Saturday at the Waratah Sports Club. The Mariners have had three draws from their opening 11 matches, and will hope the long trek to Orange may have an adverse effect on the travelling Sydney University so they can snatch a long overdue win.
The ‘students’ themselves returned to the winner’s circle last weekend following a long barren run of results, and will be hopeful of back to back wins to continue their ascent up the ladder. Striker Scott Tonkin has showed all of his predatory scents this campaign by scoring 8 times this season, representing over 50% of his side’s goals, which is a super effort given the below average season thus far for Uni.
Two teams looking to bounce back from defeats last week will meet head on at Arlington Oval on Saturday night, with Dulwich Hill taking on Granville Rage at 7pm.
Dully came unstuck at Camden by 0-3 last Saturday night, their first loss in over two months, and will be hoping that was nothing more than an aberration. New signing Robbie Deasy will join an already strong attack, headed by 8-goal Ben Vidaic, which will look to take advantage of a Granville side low on confidence after conceding 16 goals in their past three consecutive losses.
SD Raiders welcome the Bankstown City Lions to Ernie Smith Reserve on Saturday night for what looms as arguably the match of the round.
Earlier on in the season this would have been billed as one of the matches to watch, with both sides starting the campaign in blistering form.
Losses and draws for both have seen them overtaken at the top, but being in 3rd (Bankstown 24 points) and 4th places (SD Raiders 20 points) respectively sees both teams within striking distance of the top two. SD Raiders can hurt you from anywhere in the front third, with strikers and midfielders alike getting on the scoresheet regularly, whilst Ante Tomic has been the standout so far for Bankstown, netting 15 goals, and the Raiders will go a long way to grabbing something from this match if they can keep him quiet.
An intriguing tussle looks like unravelling at Fraser Park on Saturday night as St George City FA host Camden Tigers at 7pm.
What can we say about St George that hasn’t been said? Seven wins on the bounce, 42 goals across 11 games at almost 4 per game, and only 11 conceded, second only to Hawkesbury City. Winning can become a wonderful habit to get in to, and St George are in the habit, full of confidence and momentum. 25 goals between twin attackers, Geoffry Lino and Sam Messam, is a scary statistic for any defence, so Camden be warned.
But Camden Tigers are no slouches, and have picked up 7 points in their most recent three games against three sides who sit above them in the league – Dulwich Hill, Hawkesbury City and Dunbar Rovers. Camden have a no-nonsense approach that can prove unsettling for any side, and in Jayden Russell, they have a striker who knows where the net is, evident via his 14 goals so far this season.
St George City FA will be backing up from a mammoth effort midweek where they took NSW NPL Men’s side, Bonnyrigg White Eagles, to extra time before succumbing 0-1 to a Ray Miller goal. Time will tell whether they will have enough petrol left in their legs to battle the Camden Tigers come Saturday.
A derby of sorts will take place at Christie Park No.1 on Sunday afternoon, with Gladesville Ryde Magic up against Stanmore Hawks at 4pm.
Magic have been in the wars in recent weeks, with injury across the squad seeing them forfeit their FFA Cup fixture last week, as also played a part in their 1-2 reverse against Sydney University on the weekend. They can always rely on the Gaitatzis brothers to be there or thereabouts when there are goals to be scored, with Chris (7) and Michael (6) proving a lethal combination for any opposition defence.
Stanmore picked up their first point in six weeks last week following a barren run of results, and also following a clear out of sorts in terms of personnel – they will hope to continue their improvement this week when they meet old foes, Magic, on Sunday afternoon.
Inter Lions meet Fraser Park on Sunday afternoon at 5pm, in a game where something will simply have to give for either side.
Inter Lions made it 2 draws and 1 win from their past 4 games when they drew 2-2 with Stanmore last week, but still find themselves in 12th spot on the ladder, desperate to get further away from the bottom two rungs. They welcome back experienced flanker, Domenic Di Mento this week, and nothing but three points will be on the menu for Michael Urukalo’s side.
Despite their energy and application of late, Fraser Park continue to prop up the ladder, and are still waiting for their maiden win of the season. Could this week be the week they sing their victory song? A loss would widen the gap between them and Inter to ten points, so to say Fraser would be desperate for the three points would be an understatement – expect an increased effort by the Portuguese club come Sunday evening.
