SELECT Futsal Premier League – Round 9 Open Men’s Preview

SELECT Futsal Premier League round 9 Open Men’s competition shows Mountain Majik versus Eastern Suburbs Hakoah at Blacktown Leisure Centre (4.10pm), Inner West Magic against Campbelltown Quake at Valentine Sports Park (6.20pm), Dural Warriors play Enfield Allstars at The Centre (6.50pm), and Mascot Vipers meet UTS Northside at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (8.50pm).

Dural and Mountain lead the way on 16 points, but no top-four place is guaranteed with Inner West (13), Mascot (11), Enfield (10), Easts (10), Northside (8) and Campbelltown (7) all well in the mix.

The club championship is there for Inner West (115) as they bolt clear of Mascot (93), Mountain (93), Easts (86), UTS (78) and Campbelltown (67), with this week’s opponents Enfield (57) and Dural (53) fighting for premier league survival.

The mighty Warriors will certainly need to get a wriggle on as three out of their seven units are currently bottom of their respective competitions, and only their Open Men and 19 Men occupy top-six spots.

Mountain Majik vs Eastern Suburbs Hakoah

What a great game this will be when Mountain Majik meet Eastern Suburbs Hakoah at Blacktown Leisure Centre on Saturday afternoon.

Mountain are flying high after their monumental 5-2 blitz of Dural last week to draw alongside Warriors at the head of the table, but Easts too are feeling the vibe following their thrilling 5-4 win over Mascot, scoring three goals in the last seven minutes to overtake the Vipers at the death.

Hakoah will remember fondly their 4-2 win over Majik early in the season but (exactly like their women counterparts) inconsistency has plagued them over summer and they’re yet to put together consecutive victories.

Inner West Magic vs Campbelltown Quake

Inner West Magic face Campbelltown Quake in interesting circumstances at Valentine Sports Park this Saturday evening.

Magic are on the charge with a three-match win-streak propelling them into third spot and they face an old adversary that’s struggling at the bottom of the ladder with a string of their main players unavailable.

Inner West lead the head-to-head count 12-9 (three draws) over an epic 25 game journey (seven of the meetings, more than a quarter, have been in finals), but they’ve only beaten Campbelltown three times in the last 11 and their recent round-two clash finished an exciting 3-3 draw.

Dural Warriors vs Enfield Allstars

Anything is possible in a mouth-watering Dural Warriors-Enfield Allstars Saturday-night match-up at The Centre.

Last week’s 2-5 defeat to Mountain was Dural’s joint-fourth worse margin in nine premier league seasons, and they come up against an Enfield team revved up by a 4-2 win over Campbelltown that shoved them a point behind fourth-placed Mascot.

It’s salivating, and the time ripe for Allstars to cut into a rivalry that’s seen Warriors win 13 of 21 clashes, with many ridiculous scorelines, like a 6-6 shootout at The Centre a couple of years back, and Enfield’s most recent win an eye-popping 8-5 contest a year ago almost to the day.

And the rivals still hold the league record for most goals in a match when Dural won a smoky 11-7 duel in late-2013, also at The Centre. Needless to say, their fixtures produce almost 10 goals on average – bring your popcorn!

Mascot Vipers vs UTS Northside

Mascot Vipers have it all to play for against UTS Northside at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night.

Fourth place is probably the least comfortable position of all, and when you’ve got the back four teams all within four points of you there’s no breathing room at all for a Mascot side still smarting from their 4-5 loss to Easts last weekend.

UTS have had their own share of dramas this season with a series of frustrating results keeping them a point from the bottom, but a mixed bag of results cascading around them has advantageously kept them in the post-season race.

Certainly Northside hold an historical edge, winning six of the nine fixtures between the clubs including the last five straight, but it’s a ding-dong 5-5 round two draw ringing loudest in their ears.

– By Dan de Nardi