SELECT Futsal Premier League – Round 13 Open Women’s Preview
The penultimate SELECT Futsal Premier League round-13 is the last roll of the dice for almost every battle across the board.
Saturday matches feature Campbelltown Quake versus Dural Warriors at Minto Indoor Sports Centre (3.50pm), UTS Northside play Mountain Majik at PCYC Dee Why (5.30pm), Enfield Allstars meet Mascot Vipers at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre (7.05pm), and Eastern Suburbs Hakoah welcome Inner West Magic to All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (7.50pm).
Magic (32) need a point from their remaining two matches to squeeze the premiership trophy into their bulging club cabinet. They’re five points ahead of Mountain Majik (27), who must win both games to have any mathematical chance of stealing the silverware.
Behind them Quake (20) are guaranteed a playoff spot and will probably tussle with UTS (18) for who finishes third and fourth, unless Northside drop off a cliff to gift either Hakoah (13) or Vipers (12) and unlikely post-season ticket.
Even the wooden spoon decision could be decided this weekend with Warriors (8) a point from Allstars (7). How ‘bout we throw in some extra stakes – Enfield leads Dural by seven points in a nerve-wracking club-championship relegation battle.
It’s an even bigger week for Inner West and Northside who meet in tonight’s Futsal Cup final at Valentine Sports Park.
Inner West (168 points) will fancy wrapping up the club championship title on Saturday, with Mascot (145), Mountain (138), Easts (118) and Campbelltown (114) too far behind to mount a challenge; UTS (101) may be a little sweaty under the collar but it’s really Enfield (94) and Dural (87) on the chopping block.
Campbelltown Quake vs Dural Warriors
Campbelltown Quake versus Dural Warriors at Minto Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday afternoon should be a cracker!
Third-placed Campbelltown can’t climb any higher up the ladder and can only drop a place to UTS in the run home, so it’s a perfect opportunity to fine-tune the engine.
Dural will be desperate to avoid the wooden spoon nine months after appearing in last summer’s grand final. Bring on the popcorn!
Quake’s scored three times as many goals as Warriors have this season but haven’t been as tight at the back, Dural claiming the competition’s second-best defensive unit behind unbeaten leaders Inner West.
Campbelltown won their round-six bout 1-0 but it was a different story last time they met at Minto, Warriors winning 5-zip last October.
UTS Northside vs Mountain Majik
UTS Northside versus Mountain Majik at PCYC Dee Why on Saturday afternoon would probably be billed as match of the round considering the build-up.
With Inner West seemingly uncatchable, Mountain will relish a great pre-playoff test against fourth-placed Northside, especially as UTS is the only team that can drop out of the top-four and therefore will be desperate for victory.
‘The Students’ certainly have history on their side: they’ve won the last four straight against Majik, including last season’s 2-0 and 3-0 shutouts to complement a 2-1 Futsal Cup win (rd-16), and the recent round-six match 5-3.
However, UTS may also be a little fatigued suiting up for their fourth high-level contest in seven days (including tonight’s Futsal Cup final against Inner West).
Enfield Allstars vs Mascot Vipers
Enfield Allstars tackle Mascot Vipers in a humdinger at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday evening.
Mascot are in no-man’s land six points behind fourth-placed UTS, so have nothing to lose and can only win their last two matches and hope Northside go upside-down.
Cellar-dwellers Enfield will do anything to get out of the basement, and they know they can do it after toppling Vipers 3-2 in round six following last summer’s tight 4-5 loss at Morris Iemma and 2-2 draw.
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah vs Inner West Magic
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah welcome Inner West Magic to All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night, and with little to lose may cause the frontrunners some problems.
Easts have fared moderately well in their debut premier league hit-out but a lack of consistency has derailed any playoff hopes; instead they’re playing for pride and practice against an absolute juggernaut in Inner West.
Magic have an unbeaten run stretching 17 games across all competitions (a dozen this season, three Futsal Cup victories plus last summer’s preliminary and grand final wins).
They comfortably beat Hakoah 3-0 in round six.
– By Dan de Nardi
