SELECT Futsal Premier League – Round 10 Open Men’s Review
A breathtaking series of round 10 results has set up a delicious ending to this season’s SELECT Futsal Premier League.
Saturday matches saw Mountain Majik overtake Enfield Allstars 6-4, Mascot Vipers beat Campbelltown Quake in a goal-feast 9-6, Dural Warriors and Inner West Magic fought out a thrilling 4-4 draw, and UTS Northside edged Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 2-1.
It meant Mountain (22 points) extended their lead at the top as Inner West (17), Dural (17) and Mascot (17) lined up neatly behind them, followed by Enfield (13), Northside (11) and Easts (10), with Campbelltown (7) at the tail-end.
The golden boot race remained tight as doubles from UTS star Mason Ireland (12) and Majik’s Jordan Guerreiro (12) kept them just ahead of Allstars duo Shervin Adeli (10) and Luiz Lobo (9), Magic’s Daniel Fornito (9) and Vipers ace Jakov Radas (8).
Mountain Majik 6 (Aaron Fraser, Jordan Guerreiro 2, Bradie Smith, Jack Whetney 2) Enfield Allstars 4 (Shervin Adeli 2, Michael Kouta, Luiz Lobo)
Campbelltown Quake 6 (Shannon Fielding 2, Shaun Irwin 2, Danny Martinez 2) Mascot Vipers 9 (Jayme Alves, Leonardo Pinto, Jun Arima, Conor Quilligan, Joel Flores 3, Shu Torihara 2)
Dural Warriors 4 () Inner West Magic 4 ()
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 1 (Gilad Swartz) UTS Northside 2 (Mason Ireland 2)
Majik overcome Allstars
A second-half blitz from Mountain Majik saw them overturn a three-goal deficit to beat Enfield Allstars 6-4 in a meltdown match at Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
A composed Enfield did everything right in building a confident 4-2 advantage midway through a balanced contest, but Mountain showed the determination and desire needed to win premierships in a fiery finish scoring four unanswered goals to claim victory and stay on the top of a tight competition.
‘The Wolf’ Luiz Lobo didn’t muck around when he opened the scoring for Enfield after just two minutes, team-mate Shervin Adeli doubling the lead in the eighth minute and Michael Kouta making it 3-0 a few minutes later.
The tide turned a little following Majik responses from Aaron Fraser and Jordan Guerreiro before a second Adeli strike lifted the visitors 4-2 in front at the interval.
The match was already on a knife’s edge and the blade only got sharper as Mountain started an avalanche of goals, Jack Whetney banging one in either side of the half-hour mark to draw the sides level before Guerreiro pushed them ahead with his second with five minutes to go, Whetney sealing a 6-4 deal following his late strike.
The high match-score isn’t unusual between these two sides, who average 9.2 goals a turnout, but Allstars coach Christian Soares lamented a missed chance to gain ground on a besieged top-four.
“We’re disappointed today. We fell into the idea the game was already won on two occasions, when the game was 3-0 and then 4-2. We lowered the pace and when you do it against a team like Majik is asking for trouble,” he said.
“So it’s the magic of soccer, in particular Futsal – one minute on the clock a lot can happen!
“Well done to Majik who never panicked and took advantage of the opportunities,” he said.“The good thing is that we will have the chance to recover the points lost today.”
Vipers down Quake
They promise fireworks every time they meet and a 9-6 Mascot Vipers over hapless Campbelltown Quake delivered that and more as the home side played out of their skins in a very gutsy Saturday-afternoon loss at Minto Indoor Sports Centre.
Mascot are a stronger side this summer and looked in cruise-control leading comfortably 5-1 at the changeover, but the ‘Towners somehow found something deep inside them as a young band of brothers suddenly stormed back into contention and forced the Vipers veterans into an epic street fight that had spectators on the edge of their seats.
Mascot eventually prevailed and gave them some playoff breathing space following Enfield’s loss to Mountain, but it was also full credit to a Campbelltown side that never gave up and belied their bottom position.
Fifteen goals is premier league’s joint-fourth highest match-score (an 11-7 rumble between Dural and Enfield in 2014 topping the chart).
It was also the equal-biggest scoreline Campbelltown’s ever been involved in (twice last year Quake played out 15-goal games, a 10-5 win over Enfield and 6-9 loss to South Coast), and it was Mascot’s second-highest (beating Western Raiders 10-6 an entire decade ago in 2008).
But to put in perspective the courage in defeat, only twice in 700+ PL matches has a team scored more goals than Campbelltown and not won – Vipers falling 7-8 to Phoenix in 2014/15 and Enfield’s 7-11 loss to Dural).
Nine times a team has scored six goals and not won, and there’s been a remarkable four 6-6 draws over the years (including one between Mascot and Campbelltown in 2008).
Dural, Inner West draw
Another Dural Warriors versus Inner West Magic classic unfolded in an enthralling 4-4 draw at The Centre on Saturday evening.
It was all guns blazing as the old foes traded blows to be 3-3 at the break, and they couldn’t be separated in a frantic second term that finished the match all square.
It’s just the fourth time in their PL history Dural’s scored four goals and not won; the other three times all coming against Enfield (a 6-6 draw in 2015/16, a 5-8 loss last summer and 4-5 loss in 2011/12). Only the 8-5 result happened away from The Centre.
The Warriors have conceded a worrying 13 goals in their last three runs, while Magic have only lost one of their last five outings at Dural.
Northside pip Easts
It was close between Eastern Suburbs Hakoah and UTS Northside at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night, and this time the northerners prevailed 2-1.
The sides cancelled each other out in an even first half, entering the changerooms locked at one-apiece, and it was UTS who wanted it more as a lonely second-half Mason Ireland goal five minutes from fulltime was enough to secure a much-needed victory – their first one-goal win of a tough summer.
The result puts Northside six points behind a top-four seat, while Easts fell to seven behind and coach Robert Ezekiel knew they’d missed an opening.
“We were pretty thin on numbers this weekend so was a tough gig,” he said.
“We had chances but couldn’t capitalise and didn’t take full advantage at times we needed to.
“They scored their second goal with about 5 to go so was a bitter pill to swallow.”
Round 11 games
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).
– Dan de Nardi
