SELECT Futsal Premier League 2 – Semi Final Open Men’s Preview
We have arrived at the business end of the season with a monumental weekend to decide the destination of the Championship.
It kicks off with two fantastic semi-finals contests on Saturday afternoon between the top four sides in the SELECT Futsal Premier League 2 competition.
Semi Final 1: Sydney City Eagles vs West City Crusaders, Saturday 5:30pm, The Centre – Dural, Court 1
Premiers Sydney City Eagles aim to book their place in the Grand Final against a West City Crusaders side that scrapped in on the final day, on Saturday afternoon at The Centre in Dural.
These two sides met in Round 13 in mid-December, where the Crusaders thumped the Eagles, 9-4 at the fortress which was Michael Clarke Recreation Centre across the season. Crusaders went on to secure their finals place with a 4-4 draw in the last weekend.
Sydney City Eagles were the standard bearer in the SELECT Futsal Premier League 2 this season. They were undefeated through 11 rounds as they blitzed 75 goals in fourteen games. Aaron Cimitile led the way with 16 goals with able deputies in Matthew Trotter (14) and Judah Cleur (12) so there is a huge offensive threat for the Crusaders to be cautious of in their quest to upset the applecart.
For West City Crusaders, they finished the season with a flurry to clinch the final spot in the top four – holding off the challenge of South Coast Taipans and Raiders FC, the former only by goal difference! Crusaders have a quality core of Greg Kondek, Simon Zahra and Ryan Faulkner – all who scored in their recent encounter – that can trouble the Premiers and possibly repeat the dose from Round 13?
Semi Final 2: SD Raiders FC vs Phoenix Futsal Club, Saturday 5:30pm, The Centre – Dural, Court 2
SD Raiders FC take on Phoenix Futsal Club in the second semi-final on Saturday afternoon in Dural to see who will complete the line-up for the massive Grand Final day the following day!
In a quirk of the scheduling, these two sides met on the final day of the competition, SD Raiders FC ran out 8-4 in a lively contest at Fairfield Youth & Leisure Centre. SD Raiders and Phoenix battled hard for second position across the season with SD Raiders taking the spot.
SD Raiders FC started the season off brightly with five victories in the first half of the season which established them as a top contender in the competition. Their talisman, Patrick Antelmi showed his class with a hat-trick in the final round against Phoenix, also he finished the season with 18 goals all round so we’re set for another thrilling showdown on Saturday evening.
Regarding Phoenix FC, consistent is the word for their season. The northern outfit started and finished the season with a three-game winning streak to finish comfortably in third, even taking possession of second spot for a small period of time. Between Josh Mathie, Angus Chance and Tom Louw give them a core to challenge any of the three teams left for the Grand Final.
-By Justin Davies
