SELECT Futsal Premier League – Round 10 Open Women’s Review
SELECT Futsal Premier League round 10 was a beauty that kept six teams in the finals chase and the premiership trophy just out of Inner West’s grip… for now.
The Saturday matches saw Mountain Majik beat Enfield Allstars 6-2, Mascot Vipers edged Campbelltown Quake 3-2, Inner West Magic crawled to a 1-0 win over Dural Warriors, and Eastern Suburbs Hakoah defeated UTS Northside 3-1.
The results propelled Magic (28) and Majik (23) into a top-two battle for the premiership flag, while UTS (18) and Quake (14) fight off playoff charges from Hakoah (12) and Vipers (11), while Allstars (6) and Warriors (4) will look to build for next year.
Golden girl Ashlie Crofts could be forgiven for doing up her golden laces with her very golden touch after notching up a remarkable fifth hat-trick of the summer (23 goals overall – more than 10% of the competition’s total 201 goals… on her own).
To put this feat in perspective, she’s surpassed even the Herculean efforts of Futsal star Shervin Adeli who claimed four triples in the 2014/15 and 2013/14 summers – the only men’s player to reach four in a season.
Hakoah weapon Tamires Souza (13), Magic duo Rhianna Pollicina (10) and Ceyda Cambaz (9), and Vipers ace Natasha Aitken (7) round out the women’s top-five.
Mountain Majik 6 (Ashlie Crofts 3, Fostina Fiulaua, Tanya Borazio, Nadia Nisbet) Enfield Allstars 2 (Marie Sim-Sing,)
Campbelltown Quake 2 (Bethany Gordon, Antonia Sharp) Mascot Vipers 3 (Georgia Plessas 2, Hannah Bourke)
Dural Warriors 0 Inner West Magic 1 (Bianca Galic)
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 3 (Tamires Souza, Madeleine Kowalenko, Paloma Oliveira) UTS Northside 1 (Daisy Arrowsmith)
Majik dazzle Allstars
Mountain Majik put on a second-half show to defeat Enfield Allstars 6-2 at Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Enfield gave as good as they copped in a thrilling first-half that saw Mountain lead narrowly 2-1 at the break, but it was all Majik after oranges and a four-goal surge secured a solid four-goal result.
Competition leading scorer Ashlie Crofts got the Majik ball rolling when she followed up Fostina Fiulaua’s 10th-minute strike to create a 2-0 cushion early on, but Enfield stayed with them when Marie Sim-Sing pulled one back before the break.
It was to-and-fro for a little while, but the Mountaineers hit the afterburners with a quarter-hour to play as Crofts added two more to her tally and Tanya Borazio and Nadia Nisbet added the icing on a glowing green cake.
Not only is Crofts on fire (23 goals in a sizzling summer), but the Majik juggernaut has accumulated 42 goals – a dozen more than comp leaders Inner West… their Sunday opponents in a wicked double-header!
It’s probably farewell to any playoff possibility for Enfield as they still trail fourth-placed Campbelltown by eight points with two of their remaining four matches against top-three Inner West and UTS.
Vipers strike Quake
Mascot Vipers held their nerve in a classy 3-2 win against Campbelltown Quake at Minto Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday afternoon – a result that kept it interesting for the payoff chasers.
The visitors – all eight of them – came ready to play and craftily built a 1-0 halftime advantage that clearly rattled Campbelltown, and the home side showed increased fervor in the second term as Bethany Gordon and Antonia Sharp both hit the target to force Mascot to their knees.
Sharp’s goal was good, skinning her player down the line and cutting in for a nice left-foot finish, and Gordon’s was a neat back-post tap-in following some nice Quake build-up play.
But the Vipers slithered superbly back into the contest when Georgia Plessas scored her second of the match to peg the teams level at 2-2 before Hannah Bourke found a Mascot matchwinner (their third victory in a row) to her help side sneak within a win of fourth-placed Quake.
Campbelltown coach Mel Keith took the defeat on the chin and gave full credit to her opponents, especially the extraordinary efforts of their 15-year-old keeper April Lewis.
“An under strength and valiant Mascot pipped us at the post today, but it was April Lewis between the sticks that stole the show,” she began.
“The youngster stood tall and absorbed an early onslaught from Quake… who’s possession stats were above and beyond Mascot’s; but the Vipers executed their few opportunities nicely, sitting back in defense and countering at pace.
“Up until halftime we were our own worst enemy in not finishing chances and gifting goals as we have been doing around this Christmas period.
“We controlled the game after the break, but we’re the team that keeps on giving and a back-post tap-in handed Vipers victory.
“We executed a lot better in the second half, but Vipers got too good a head-start. Credit to April Lewis in goals – she was incredible and one to watch for the future.”
Magic edge Warriors
Unbeaten competition leaders Inner West were made to sweat in a nervy 1-0 victory over last-placed Dural Warriors at The Centre on Saturday evening.
On paper and form it looked an easy trip to Dural for Inner West but they had to fight tooth and nail just to grab a slender one-goal halftime advantage behind a Bianca Galic strike, and that’s the way it stayed despite a strew of opportunities at both ends of the court.
You can’t fault Dural’s defence – despite winning just one in 10 games they’ve conceded just 20 goals all summer; but a lean season in front of goals has cost them everything, five scoreless games and four defeats by a goal sums it up.
Inner West, as good as they’ve been, are not unbeatable. They lead Mountain Majik by two points and have ridden their luck several times including four one-goal victories – but champion teams do what they need to stay ahead.
Easts down Northside
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah kept their playoff hopes alive with a spirited 3-1 win over UTS Northside at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night.
Another defeat would’ve kept Easts on the top-four outer, but two second-half goals broke a 1-1 halftime stalemate and – coupled with Campbelltown’s loss to Mascot – steered Hakoah to within two points of fourth-placed Quake (and one ahead of Vipers).
Easts’ scorers were Tamires Souza, Madeleine Kowalenko and Paloma Oliveira.
Round 11 games
Round-11 Sunday fixtures pits Inner West Magic against Mountain Majik at Valentine Sports Park (5.20pm), UTS Northside face Campbelltown Quake at PCYC Dee Why (6.30pm), Enfield Allstars host Eastern Subs Hakoah at Morris Iemma Sports Centre (7.05pm), Mascot Vipers welcome Dural Warriors to All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (7.50pm).
– Dan de Nardi
