SELECT Futsal Premier League – Round 9 Open Women’s Preview
SELECT Futsal Premier League round-9 Open Womens’ matches pitches Mountain Majik versus Eastern Suburbs Hakoah at Blacktown Leisure Centre (3.10pm), Inner West Magic against Campbelltown Quake at Valentine Sports Park (5.20pm), Dural Warriors play Enfield Allstars at The Centre (5.50pm), and Mascot Vipers meet UTS Northside at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (7.50pm)
Magic (22 points) lead the way, with UTS (18), Majik (17) and Campbelltown (14) in hot pursuit, while Easts (9), Mascot (5), Dural (4) and Enfield (3) currently eat the top-four dust.
Inner West (115 points) also command a deafening club championship lead, with Mascot (93), Mountain (93), Easts (86), UTS (78) and Campbelltown (67) placed behind them. Tail-enders Enfield (57) and Dural (53) face-off this weekend in a defining round for both clubs.
Mountain Majik vs Eastern Suburbs Hakoah
It’s a battle supreme when flyers Mountain Majik face Eastern Suburbs Hakoah at Blacktown Leisure Centre on Saturday afternoon.
Mountain demolished Dural last week to launch at second-placed UTS and get back on track following two win-less weekends.
Standing in their way is an Easts outfit that’s shown more faces than a Guess Who convention – on their game they’re ruthless, but inconsistency has cost them so dearly (they haven’t won back-to-back yet) that they’re five points adrift of fourth-placed Campbelltown (who play leaders Inner West) and can’t afford to drop too many more points and expect a playoff berth.
It was a scorcher last time they met, Majik prevailing in a 7-4 shootout that saw Ashlie Crofts net her second of three straight hat-tricks to start the season in high-gear.
Inner West Magic vs Campbelltown Quake
Two in-form teams Inner West Magic and Campbelltown Quake go toe-to-toe at Valentine Sports Park on Saturday evening, but this ain’t no romantic dance.
Inner West stayed undefeated with an uncomfortable 3-2 win over UTS last weekend, the second one-goal victory this season to show signs they are flappable (they held off bottom-placed Enfield 1-0 a few weeks ago), but there’s no understating a defensive wall that’s leaked just eight goals against them in seven top-flight matches (next best is UTS’ 14).
Campbelltown are hitting their straps on a four-match unbeaten run but they’re yet to defeat a top-three side this summer, bowing down 1-4 to Magic in round two, conceding four goals to Northside before an excellent 3-3 draw with Majik.
Dural Warriors vs Enfield Allstars
Cellar-dwellers Dural Warriors and Enfield Allstars have plenty at stake in this Saturday night’s meeting at The Centre.
Languishing in the bottom-two places is a disappointing standing by both club’s standards, and despite being more than a match for most opponents they now must fight hard to avoid the dreaded wooden-spoon.
Dural’s problem is obvious: just five goals scored has ruined the competition’s third best defensive unit (16 goals conceded) and resulted in a six-game win-less run.
Enfield’s issue is a frustrating run of narrow defeats – five by a goal and only Quake’s beaten them by more than two, and they’d dearly love to reverse a 2-1 loss to Warriors in round two.
Mascot Vipers vs UTS Northside
Mascot Vipers versus UTS Northside should be an interesting Saturday-night affair at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre.
Last week’s breakthrough win must be invigorating for Mascot (beating Easts 5-3) and they’ll be pumped to face a Northside team that just lost their first game in seven runs (2-3 to Inner West).
UTS will want to bounce straight back with a good result and will keenly eye a Vipers defence that’s conceded a whopping 32 goals in seven rounds.
A fantastic round-two bout finished 3-2 to Northside and you can expect Mascot to be better on their home turf. Vipers also knocked out UTS of last year’s Futsal Cup, winning a heated semi-final 3-2.
-By Dan de Nardi
