SELECT Futsal Premier League 2 – Round 10 Open Men’s Review
Some huge results took shape in Round 10 of the SELECT Futsal Premier League competition with a double header that took centre stage, here’s what happened.
Round 10: Match of the Round – Sydney City Eagles 4 drew with SD Raiders 4
The undefeated streak lives on.. just. Sydney City Eagles mounted a superb second half comeback to snatch a point against a slick SD Raiders FC side, in a 4-4 result Saturday evening at Michael Clarke Recreation Centre.
SD Raiders showed their status as one of the top sides in the competition with their first half display, they were ruthless in front of goal – Josh Da Silva picked up a brace with Patrick Antelmi and John Fahmi but they fell short on the defensive side which means they remain eight points adrift from the top position.
For the Eagles, they weren’t at the races in the first half. They showed in the second half, led by some terrific saves from John Dimitrakas which underlined the nickname “brick wall” and their attack kicked into gear through Judah Cleur’s brace whilst Domenic Vaccari and Sam Perre’s bullet free-kick rounded off the scoring in a fantastic and high paced game of futsal.
From the opening whistle, there was a sharp edge from SD Raiders, it showed as Joshua Da Silva volleyed wide the first chance, quickly followed by a pair of chances for Patrick Antelmi that were denied by enied by Dimitrakas.
Their fast start paid off in the sixth minute, Josh Da Silva burst free again, this time he opted for a low finish and slotted the ball underneath Dimitrakas, handed SD Raiders the 1-nil advantage.
They doubled their delight two minutes later, Patrick Antelmi combined well with a fellow attacker to mount an attack down the field, before the former added another strike to his impressive 2018 tally, made it 2-nil for the visitors.
Next the home crowd were left in stunned silence as SD Raiders added a third goal in the 10th minute, striding out a 3-nil lead. The Eagles afforded Joshua Da Silva too much space, the attacker strode into the space on the right then rocketed an effort into the net.
In a passionate first half, Eagles were handed the ideal chance to claw back a goal. They had a spot kick from ten metres, lethal marksman Matthew Trotter stepped up, it looked inevitable but the striker saw his effort saved.
SD Raiders had a pair of chances from the spot themselves – the first was skied by Antelmi but John Fahmi stepped up for the second, calmly slotted it home for a 4-nil score line, a remarkable chance to end the streak at nine.
Like a wounded animal, Sydney City weren’t going down without a fight. From an innocuous kick in, it dropped perfectly for Domenic Vaccari to fire home, making it 4-1 and gave the home side some hope late in the first half.
Sydney City showed their attacking arsenal as they added a second just two minutes before the break. Judah Cleur found himself on the end of a bright attacking move, the attacker poked the ball home for the 4-2 half-time score, and some hope for the home side.
The second half simmered to start, as the two sides looked to find their rhythm again. The first goal of the stanza started from an unlikely source, Dimitrakas. The goalkeeper set off downfield before he swept it to Cluer, the striker was clinical in front of goal, made it 4-3 and the game was back on a knife’s edge.
Looking to wrest back control, Antelmi was picked out expertly at the near post but smashed his effort against the post then the SD Raider’s man controlled the ball well before he scooped it over the bar in a frustrated second half.
The SD Raiders frustration grew as Dimitrakas pulled off a pair of jaw-dropping saves firstly, as firstly he denied Blair Brown with the goal gaping then a wonderful tic-tac-toe move sprung Antelmi free but the sprawling goalkeeper was on-hand again.
Next Josh Da Silva found himself facing a gaping goal but the man on a hat-trick wasn’t able to the turn the ball home, as the chances might come back to bite the visitors.
Sydney City Eagles completed their comeback in the 49th minute, Sam Perre stood over a free-kick narrowly on the right touchline. He aimed for the top corner and drove the ball right into that spot, sparked wild celebrations as the Eagles somehow took a point from the contest.
An emotion Roy Perre spoke with pride after the draw, where his side showed tremendous heart and fortitude to fight their way back into the contest after being 4-nil down.
“To be honest, I thought today was the end of the streak. I am emotional, they showed me today they are a genuine team, both on and off the park,” said Perre.
On his goalkeeper John Dimitrakas. “He definitely has been a brick wall this season. You really have to beat him, even from two yards out. He even popped up with an assist tonight which is fantastic,” finished Perre.
Match Stats
Saturday 1 December 2018
Michael Clarke Recreation Centre
Referee: Kyle Hockings
2nd Referee: Darre Allett
3rd Referee: Blake Sanchez-Cruz
Sydney City Eagles 4 (Cleur 2, Perre, Vaccari)
SD Raiders FC 4 (Da Silva 2, Antelmi, Fahmi)
Sydney City Eagles: 1. DIMITRAKAS John, 2. LYNCH Jonathon, 6. ROSE Lachlan, 7. PERRE Sam, 9. CLEUR Judah, 10. CIMITILE Aaron, 12. ALSFORD Jordan, 13. MORABITO John, 14. PELEKANOS Peter, 17. VACCARI Domenic, 18. CIMINO Michael, 19. TROTTER Matthew, 21. BRECKENRIDGE Vincent
Yellow cards: Perre ‘48, Dimitrakas ‘50
Red cards: nil
SD Raiders FC: 1. IOFINO Adrian, 6. ANTELMI Patrick, 7. FERREIRA Luis, 10. FAHMI John, 11. DA SILVA Joshua, 14. BROWN Blair, 15. MALFARA Sebastian, 17. MOLINA Diego, 18. DA SILVA SANTOS Matias, 19. COTTER Declan, 23. BARKHO Matthew, 25. CARLE Nick,
Yellow cards: Malfara ‘9, Molina ‘14, Carle ‘34, M. Da Silva ‘38
Red cards: nil
Rest of Round 10 Results
We mentioned in the preview that Sydney Futsal Club could play the role of spoiler well, and they did so, defeating Boomerangs FS, 3-1 down at AIS Training Halls in the nation’s capital. Captain Tuan Cao got them off to the perfect start with a goal and backed up with Daniel Espejel netted in the first half as well. Giovanni Leuzzi confirmed the shock result with his maiden goal in the second half to hand Sydney only their second victory of the season. For Boomerangs FS, Cuneyt Cagler also got his maiden goal in this contest with his first half strike.
Last week, Raiders Futsal Club coach Goran Ljuboja admitted his side needed to treat these next few weeks as “cup finals” and they got through their first one unscathed, as they downed West City Crusaders, 3-1 in the first of two home games this weekend. James Letta helped them on course for the victory with his brace, taking the attacker’s tally to four for the season. Hassan Jalloh added the other in his first appearance since the end of October to put them in the top four with the only blight being Lawrence Hanna’s red card. The Crusaders fell to sixth, following the loss, as Tobias Elliot-Oar scored their only goal and received a red card for an eventful evening.
South Coast Taipans also recorded their second victory of the season in a see-sawing affair at PCYC Hornsby which saw them run out 5-3 victors against a shorthanded Phoenix Futsal Club. It was a contest that saw the lead change three times. Phoenix opened the scoring through Angus Chance but were pegged back by the Taipans for a 1-1 half-time score. Taipans opened the second half with a pair of well worked goals to make it 3-1 before goals from Isaac Wylie and Kosta Pavlovic on the powerplay for 3-3. Not keen to settle for a point, they remained on the powerplay, which allowed Taipans to find two more goals as the visitors were good value for the three points. They shared the scoring around with Mitchell Ferraro the only player with multiple goals as Matthew Mazevski, Robert Delbanco and Kyle Del completed the scoring.
-By Justin Davies
