SELECT Futsal Premier League – Rounds 10 and 11 Open Men’s Preview

It’s a brilliant SELECT Futsal Premier League double-header that promises to throw a cat among the pigeons.

Round-10 Saturday matches features Mountain Majik versus Enfield Allstars at Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium (4.10pm), Campbelltown Quake and Mascot Vipers at Minto Indoor Sports Centre (4.50pm), Dural Warriors play Inner West Magic at The Centre (6.50pm), and Eastern Suburbs Hakoah meet UTS Northside at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (8.50pm).

Round-11 Sunday games set Inner West Magic against Mountain Majik at Valentine Sports Park (6.20pm), UTS Northside face Campbelltown Quake at PCYC Dee Why (7.30pm), Enfield Allstars host Eastern Subs Hakoah at Morris Iemma Sports Centre (8.05pm), Mascot Vipers welcome Dural Warriors to All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (8.50pm).

Mountain (19 points) line up the weekend in premiership pole position but have heavyweights Inner West (16) and Dural (16) right on their tail, followed by Mascot (14), Enfield (13), Easts (10), Northside (8) and Campbelltown (7).

In the club championship, Inner West (125 points) are well clear of Mascot (111), Mountain (111), Easts (89), UTS (81), Campbelltown (77) and Enfield (72), with Dural (59) facing premier league oblivion if they don’t get a move on.

Mountain Majik vs Enfield Allstars

Competition leaders Mountain Majik face rising Enfield Allstars in a cracker at Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

What an incredible journey for Majik’s open men’s side who now sit on top of the premier league table for the first time ever with a leading plus-10 goal difference – the only time the Mountaineers have steered above the zero mark in six PL seasons.

Enfield head into the fixture on a roll of their own after knocking over Dural at The Centre last weekend (a week after Mountain did it themselves), and a good weekend of results would surely see them nestle into a top-four spot.

History’s all on the Allstars side as they’ve won seven (and drew one) of 11 Majik meetings, Michael Kouta the top-scorer overall with 10 goals.

Mountain won the earlier-season encounter 5-2 – and they’ve never won four league games in a row. Giddy-up!

Campbelltown Quake vs Mascot Vipers

Front-row seats will be at a premium when Campbelltown Quake and Mascot Vipers clash at Minto Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday afternoon.

A five-match losing streak has derailed Campbelltown’s summer and they’ll set a new club-low of six-winless if they don’t get up this weekend.

Mascot are having a better than usual summer and claim fourth place (14 points) needing just one more win to collect their second most number of points in a premier league season – astonishing considering they’ve contested all 12 years (Ed: their highest points haul was 25 in 2015/16).

In the last 16 head-to-heads Quake hold a massive 11-3 lead (three draws), but Vipers sprung a 3-1 victory in round-three.

Long-serving Campbelltown have never dipped below zero on the goal-difference scale – they’re currently minus-16 with five big rounds to play.

Dural Warriors vs Inner West Magic

Buckle up folks, it’s Dural Warriors versus Inner West Magic time as The Centre’s set to rock and swing to a Futsal fandango this Saturday evening.

Inner West have stormed back into premiership contention on the back of a stunning four-game win-streak, equal with Dural and three points behind Mountain Majik.

They also catch the Warriors at a pretty unique time: they’ve just lost twice at The Centre for the first time in their 10 PL seasons and another defeat would put them on the verge of collapse (more so considering their lowly club championship position).

To put it in perspective – the only time Dural’s not finished top-two in open men’s was their debut 2009/10 season, when fifth-placed Mascot (trailing by five points with six rounds left) mowed them down and left them on the top-four outer. This summer, fifth-placed Allstars sit three points behind Warriors with five rounds left.

Overall Dural’s beaten Inner West in 17 of the last 25 encounters (two draws), but an insane 17 of the clashes have been decided by a two goal or less margin.

Eastern Suburbs Hakoah vs UTS Northside

One will sink, one will swim as Eastern Suburbs Hakoah tackle UTS Northside at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night.

The combatants fill sixth and seventh on the ladder and another defeat will put a final nail in any playoff hopes.

Easts haven’t won two consecutive games in their debut season while Northside have suffered three horrible one-goal losses to underline the plight of both sides.

A Joey Gibbs hat-trick helped UTS to a 4-2 win over Hakoah earlier in the season.

Round 11 Previews 

Inner West Magic vs Mountain Majik

Inner West Magic challenge frontrunners Mountain Majik in a grand clash at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday afternoon.

The sides have been great value this summer and current four-game unbeaten runs pitches both at the pointy end of the table, and there’s been some terrific match-ups over the years.

Typically the encounters are a low-scoring affair, and Inner West’s won eight of 11 meetings (one draw). However, Mountain won an epic 1-0 round-three match to give them plenty of pep heading into this weekend.

UTS Northside vs Campbelltown Quake

UTS Northside take on Campbelltown Quake in a bottom-four agenda at PCYC Dee Why on Sunday evening.

Both Campbelltown and Northside are down on their luck but won’t bring pity to the table this weekend.

UTS have only beaten Quake once, almost three years ago, but desperation and pride belies any historical story.

Enfield Allstars vs Eastern Suburbs Hakoah

Enfield Allstars welcome Eastern Suburbs Hakoah to the Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre on Sunday night.

Fifth and sixth on the table this match symbolises an important step toward stealing a playoff berth and both sides are capable of winning, epitomised by a thrilling 4-3 finish in Enfield’s favour at All Sorts in their first summer meeting.

Mascot Vipers vs Dural Warriors

Mascot Vipers versus Dural Warriors at The Centre on Sunday night is the final match of a full weekend of Futsal fixtures, and what a way to finish.

Vipers are on the charge and, depending on the other results, could put the Warriors head on the playoff chopping block with a good result in this one.

History is clearly not on Mascot’s side as they’ve won just two of their 19 Dural meetings (Greg Giovenali bagging 13 goals), but they’ve clearly shown they’re a bigger force to be reckoned with this summer despite a 2-6 round-three loss to Warriors.

Goals could literally come from anywhere as a staggering 21 different players on the books for this clash have scored a goal this season (11 from Dural).

– By Dan de Nardi