SELECT Futsal Premier – Open Men’s Semi Final Preview

It’s SELECT Futsal Premier League finals time and a terrific set of men’s semis feature at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls on Saturday.

Premiers Dural Warriors face Mascot Vipers while Mountain Majik take on Enfield Allstars, both games running together from 5.30pm.

And here’s one for the underdogs: almost half the Premier League’s 11 men’s competitions (5) have not featured a top-two showdown.

Dural Warriors               vs         Mascot Vipers               Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls         5.30pm Saturday 19 January

Mountain Majik              vs         Enfield Allstars              Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls         5.30pm Saturday 19 January

Warriors v Vipers

Dural Warriors tackle Mascot Vipers in a fascinating Saturday-afternoon semi-final at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls (5.30pm).

One of Dural’s leanest seasons was still enough to claim a seventh men’s premiership in nine top-flight years, but the club struggled to find a groove overall and arguably Australia’s most successful men’s team has one final hurrah before sliding into division two next summer.

They face a rising Mascot side that bulldozed their way into the post-season with an epic final-round win over Inner West to create a real buzz around the Vipers nest.

Mascot featured in the very first PL finals back in 2007/08 and again two summers later before a long six-year wait for their third post-season dance in 2015/16 – they lost all three knockout semi-finals.

Two successive wooden-spoons sideswiped the club’s momentum, but something stirred the Vipers late last summer and all slithers point to an historic victory over Warriors.

Mascot was on a typical five-game losing run when they faced a Dural side that had beaten them every time since a 5-2 Vipers win way back in October 2009 – 15 straight losses before a stunning 6-3 Vipers victory led by hat-trick hero Joel Flores.

Mascot still finished bottom last summer but they entered this season with a renewed belief punctuated by that final-round do-or-die effort against old foes Inner West – a first win over Magic since September 2011.

So while Warriors command absolute favouritism, who could discount another Vipers strike?

Mascot know shutting down Dural leader Greg Giovenali is key (he’s scored 16 goals against them across a decade of dominance), but the Vipers will be buoyed by a summer they outscored Warriors for the first time since Dural’s 2009/10 debut.

A total of 53 goals mainly shared by Jakov Radas (9), Flores (7), Paulo Rogerio (6), Shu Torihara (5) and Jun Arima (5), yet an enticing 11 Vipers scored more than once this summer – a joint-third best league record.

Giovenali’s (14) scored the bulk of 52 Warriors goals, with good support from brother Wade (8), Nathan Niski (7), Samuel De Oliveira (7) and Bruno Pivato (5), but it’s actually the reputed Dural defence that underlined this summer’s premiership as 29 goals conceded is the fifth-tightest on record.

In fact, the great Dural hold both league marks as highest scorers (4.7 goals a game) and best defenders (2.3 conceded per game); Mascot’s figures are 3.6 scored and 4.5 conceded.

And then there’s this interesting stat: due to their own outstanding success the Warriors have only ever lined up for one knockout final in nine post-season appearances (excluding grand finals), and that was last year when they lost their first of eight successive major semi-finals (to Inner West).

Majik v Allstars

Mountain Majik meet Enfield Allstars in a superb Saturday-afternoon semi-final match-up at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls.

The Mountaineers enjoyed their best summer to date – flirting with the premiership before losses to Inner West and Campbelltown in the closing weeks handed the title to Dural – to finish a club-high second and feature in the finals for the first time.

Enfield have also seen a resurgence under coach Christian Soares and closed out the season with just one loss in their last seven runs – uncannily, the defeat was to Majik.

In fact, although Enfield’s experience over the years sees them claim a commanding 7-4 head-to-head record over Mountain (one draw), Allstars actually only have one success in the past five encounters (albeit a 10-1 shellacking last January).

Enfield’s shown plenty of class in a challenging summer, winning seven of 10 close games decided by two goals or less (plus one draw) to show great composure under pressure, and plenty of credit must go to veterans Shervin Adeli (16 goals), Luiz Lobo (11), Michael Kouta (5) and Laureano Gomez Castro (4) as only seven Allstars have hit the back of the net all season.

Compare that to eight Majik players who’ve scored more than once – led by Jordan Guerreiro (17), Bradie Smith (8), Michael Borg (7) and Jack Whetney (6) – and the victors in this game will probably be the team that defends best, particularly as this fixture averages 9.1 goals per game.

In a dozen meetings the highest scorers are Allstars duo Kouta (11) and Adeli (9) and Majik pair Guerreiro (9) and Jamie Dib (7).

And while it’s sure to be nervy debut final for Mountain, Enfield can’t draw too much on their 11 post-season matches having won just twice.

Game on!

Sunday’s grand final

The SELECT Futsal Premier League men’s grand final kicks off 6.30pm at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday, January 20.

– By Dan de Nardi