SELECT Futsal Premier League – Round 5 Open Women’s Review
The 2018-19 SELECT Futsal Premier League round 5 Saturday matches saw Mountain Majik edge Mascot Vipers 5-4, Inner West Magic pip Enfield Allstars 1-0, UTS Northside hold Dural Warriors 1-0, and Campbelltown Quake beat Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 2-1.
Just 14 goals across four one-goal victories (nine in one game) underlined how tight it is between the teams. In fact, of 20 games played to date, half of them (10) have been decided by a goal or less (includes three draws).
Magic and Majik stayed top on 13 competition points with UTS (12) still right behind them, then there’s a break to Campbelltown (7), Easts (6), Mascot (2) and Enfield (0) in what’s shaping up as a juicy summer peach.
Mountain Majik 5 (Maddison Gardoni 2, Monique Holder 3) Mascot Vipers 4 (Natasha Aitken, Isabella Di Sipio 2, Jess Frampton)
Inner West Magic 1 (Ceyda Cambaz) Enfield Allstars 0
UTS Northside 1 (Alexia Guerinoni) Dural Warriors 0
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 1 (Madeleine Kowalenko) Campbelltown Quake 2 (Jemma Crane, Darcy Malone)
Majik overrun Vipers
Mountain Majik came from 4-1 down with a quarter-hour on the clock to defeat Mascot Vipers in a real rip-snorter at Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium on Saturday afternoon, an astonishing Monique Holder hat-trick in the final eight minutes capping off a thrilling contest.
Mascot certainly turned up to play and dual strikes from Isabella Di Sipio and Natasha Aitken lifted the visitors to a shock 2-0 lead at the changeover.
The first of Maddison Gardoni’s two Majik goals reduced the margin straight after the break, but only briefly as Di Sipio and Jess Frampton hits further bolstered the Vipers intent as they took a 4-1 lead midway through the second term.
Gardoni’s second soon after cut the deficit to 4-2, and as a see-saw match entered the final 10 minutes Holder bobbed up for a remarkable five-minute triple that stole the points and consigned Mascot to yet another heart-breaking result.
Mountain coach Adam Barbera applauded his side’s comeback.
“It’s a great result and I’m particularly proud of the character and belief the girls showed,” he said. “Mascot are a very tough team to beat and deserve to be higher up on the table.”
“We had a few players out and that impacted our performance but I’m very happy with the efforts of all the girls.
“It’s a credit to the whole team that we can fight our way through a game and get a result even when we don’t play our best, and I’m excited to see how well we will play once we string together 50-minute performances.”
Vipers have shouldered two one-goal losses and two draws, and not even their biggest goal-haul of the season could help them claim a breakthrough first win of the summer.
None-the-less, Mascot maestro Zvi Ben David didn’t fault his team.
“To be honest we are struggling compared to what we could be,” he said. “Our best, best players are still not playing due to injuries [Mariel Hecher out the whole summer with a knee injury, Stephanie Augoustis broke her leg in outdoor but should be back by Christmas], so with them missing we get smashed in the first game despite our 15-year-old goalkeeper being very brave.”
“Then we lose to UTS with 24 seconds to go, draw with Campbelltown and Dural, and lose to first-place Majik after leading 4-2 with nine minutes to go.
“It is very hard on them to work so hard without the rewards they deserve, but they should be very proud of how they have performed.”
Magic blanket Allstars
Ladder-leaders Inner West crawled over the line in a 1-0 defeat of stoic Enfield Allstars at Valentine Sports Park on Saturday evening, Ceyda Cambaz scoring in a fifth straight game for Magic.
Cambaz’s 10th-minute strike and Inner West’s possession rate looked ominous but point-less Enfield defied their lowly position with a stirring effort that really stuck it to the competition heavyweights, some heroic defence and outstanding goalkeeping making sure Allstars had a sniff all game.
But Enfield couldn’t break through the fortress wall that has seen Magic claim three cleansheets in the opening five rounds, Allstars suffering a gutwrenching third one-goal loss of the summer.
Magic coach Matteo Maiorana sounded like he was a contestant on The Block in describing the close encounter.
“Magic dominated the game completely bar the last five minutes where Enfield threw everything bar the kitchen sink – [Allstars keeper Amanda] Horafios was like a brick wall!” he remarked.
“… [But] I don’t think the score did the game justice to be honest, I thought we created so many chances.
“However, credit to Enfield, they defended resolutely but special must be made of Horafios; she was exceptional and made a number of world class saves to keep her team in it,” he said.
“I’m really proud of my team at the moment. We are missing some important pieces yet the club’s young guns in Bosnich; Nash, Henry, Mc Donagh to name a few just continue to stand up and play well.”
Northside hold off Warriors
A second-half Alexia Guerinoni strike lifted UTS Northside to a dramatic 1-0 win over Dural Warriors at PCYC Dee Why on Saturday evening.
It was end-to-end action as both sides probed for an opening and it took until the half-hour for Guerinoni to score what would be the match-winner for UTS, keeping the northerners hot on the heels of frontrunners Majik and Magic.
While Dural have to find their goalscoring boots fast with only one goal to show for their last three runs, Northside coach Danny Beauchamp is licking his lips as his team readies themselves for a Mountaintop showdown.
“I thought the girls were fantastic [against Warriors]!” he said. “I don’t think the scoreline reflected how dominant we were across the whole game as the Dural keeper had a blinder, otherwise I think it’s a 4-0 or 5-0 scoreline.”
“I’m also very proud that we showed maturity to keep a clean sheet and close out the game.
“We have been improving every week and the girls are looking forward to a big showdown against Majik next weekend to stay with the top two.”
Quake shake Hakoah
Campbelltown Quake held off a stern Eastern Suburbs Hakoah challenge to win 2-1 at All Sorts Indoor Sports centre on Saturday night.
With all the firepower on both sides of the court it was actually some solid defence that solved the puzzle of who would win the mid-table bout.
Strong build-up play from Chrystal Duggan and Claire Walsh followed by an excellent Jemma Crane finish saw Campbelltown strike first on the quarter-hour; and a beautiful second-half goal from team-mate Darcey Malone doubled the break as Quake went 2-0 up.
In the five-foul threshold Campbelltown helped Easts sneak back into the contest when a Madeleine Kowalenko goal halved the deficit with eight minutes to go and it was game back on!
Hakoah was full of steam and went to a fifth-man powerplay and it was Quake keeper Erin Brennan who came to their rescue with an excellent tip over the bar on the final whistle that saw the home side hold on for a 2-1 victory.
The result saw Quake leapfrog Hakoah into fourth place on the ladder and coach Mel Keith sees a bright future.
“I am very pleased with the progress in the squad and our win over Hakoah last night,” she said. “We were disciplined in defense, which was necessary against what at times was an ‘all-Brazilian’ line-up.”
“We have a younger squad this year with one or two older heads, so it was good to see the weeks of training and set moves pull off against a quality side.”
Next week’s games
SELECT Futsal Premier League round-6 Saturday matches sees Mountain Majik host UTS Northside at Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium (3.10pm), Inner West Magic play Eastern Suburbs Hakoah at Valentine Sports Park (5.20pm), Dural Warriors face Campbelltown Quake at The Centre Dural (5.50pm), and Mascot Vipers meet Enfield Allstars at All Sorts Indoor Sports centre (7.50pm).
-By Dan De Nardi
