It’s a great Saturday line-up for 2018-19 SELECT Futsal Premier League round-three action that features a grand final rematch between Dural Warriors and Inner West Magic at Valentine Sports Park (6.20pm), UTS Northside versus Eastern Suburbs Hakoah at PCYC Dee Why (6.30pm), Enfield Allstars against Mountain Majik at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre (8.05pm), and old foes Mascot Vipers face Campbelltown Quake at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (8.50pm).
Dural Warriors v Inner West Magic
No clubs have met more times in premier league than Dural and Inner West, and their 29th encounter sees Magic needing to make a bold statement on the very court they lost last summer’s championship trophy to Warriors (4-2) and also where Dural beat Inner West 5-4 to steal the premiership trophy from them too.
Joint-bottom of the table Warriors will want to get going after an opening round loss to Majik and 2-2 draw with Enfield last week has gained them one point from a three-game road trip to start the season. A staggering 17 of their 28 meetings have been decided by two goals or less.
UTS Northside v Eastern Suburbs Hakoah
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah have made an immediate mark on premier league, heading the field after two rounds and demonstrating why they’ll be a real threat this summer.
While every game’s a challenge, it was a helpful hand for Hakoah to start the season against the three sides who didn’t make last summer’s finals and be able to build up to the big guns.
Northside always account well for themselves, and Mason Ireland’s on fire following his four-for vs Mascot last week, but they need to make the most of their opportunities, particularly at home where they’ve gone winless in three fixtures.
Enfield Allstars v Mountain Majik
Enfield Allstars face Mountain Majik at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre hoping for a first win of the summer. They hold a 7-2 edge over Majik in 10 high-scoring encounters (9.3 goals per game average), Michael Kouta with a mesmerising nine strikes for Enfield in the last four meetings, but Allstars have only scored three goals to start the season when they’ve averaged 4.6 a game since entering premier league.
And although they trounced the Mountaineers 10-1 at this venue in January it followed a Majik 1-0 shutout and a fiery 6-6 draw the meeting before that, so who really knows what the outcome will be.
Mascot Vipers v Campbelltown Quake
A classic match-up between Mascot Vipers and Campbelltown Quake has both teams confident of taking advantage of the chaos around them. Mascot are both unbeaten and winless following two draws in two weeks and host a Campbelltown outfit promising a top-two finish.
History is well and truly on Quake’s side with a commanding 11-2 head-to-head advantage, and they’re extremely potent on the road with eight wins from their last 10 away trips.
This contest represents a not-so-sneaky chance for Mascot to set a cat among the open men pigeons.
-By Dan De Nardi
