Round 2 Review – Futsal Premier League 2 Open Men’s
The Futsal Premier League 2 competition continues to heat up after another fantastic weekend of action where the goals and drama came thick and fast. Dural Warriors sit at the top of the competition but have plenty of sides nipping at their heels.
Match of the Round: Phoenix Futsal Club 3 defeated by Dural Warriors 7
Dural Warriors withstood a Phoenix Futsal Club first half onslaught and triumphed 7-3 in an entertaining contest on Saturday evening at PCYC Hornsby.
A pair of hat-tricks from Greg and Wade Giovenali propelled Dural Warriors to victory in an action-packed second half. Sam De Oliveira added the other goal in a performance that will sound out a warning to the rest of the competition.
Phoenix Futsal Club showed they have some terrific talent in their ranks. Issac Wylie and Yusuf Abdul-Galil put them ahead twice in the first half then Matthew Luttringer brought it back to 3-3 before Dural ran away with the contest. Some strong signs for them to work on for the next few weeks.
The first ten minutes was dominated by Phoenix Futsal Club. Todd Nelson and Angus Chance twice challenged the Dural Warriors goal then followed by Matthew Luttringer curved wide of the goal in an open first half.
Dural Warriors took their time to work into the contest after the fast start by Phoenix but Nathan Niski broke free for them in the 11th minute then the follow up was denied. Next James Brunacci had to be strong to deny Wade Giovenali and Niski in succession.
While it was an open contest, the first goal came five minutes from the break. Chance angled a wonderful ball into the path of Issac Wylie to slam home, 1-nil Phoenix.
An experienced side Dural found a route back into the contest straight away. Greg Giovenali stepped up from the spot and fired home, made it 1-1.
Right on the buzzer, Phoenix Futsal Club regained the lead through a piece of magic from Yusuf Abdul-Galil. He strode confidently down the right side, summed up the options then rifled his shot straight into the top corner of the net, 2-1.
Coming into the second half, Dural were much more patient in their build up and it showed in their equaliser for 2-2. They stroked the ball across the court, waited for the opening then Wade Giovenali slammed home from the point.
Wade Giovenali doubled the dose on the half hour mark, putting Dural Warriors into the lead for the first time. He pounced on the ball to sweep it home for 3-2.
The home side showed they were made of stern stuff though, responding to going behind for the first time with their own equaliser. Luttringer thrashed home from a precise pass from Jordan Smylie to make it 3-3.
From there, Dural Warriors put their stamp on the contest. Sam De Oliveira curved home when the ball broke to him for 4-3 then it became the Giovenali show. Greg completed his hat-trick with a poacher’s effort followed by an incisive move that made it 6-3.
Wade Giovenali finished off the professional performance with an insurance goal in the 48th minute after they absorbed one final comeback from Phoenix Futsal Club, he swept home from a breakaway for 7-3.
Speaking afterwards, Dural Warriors coach Rob Varela paid tribute to Phoenix Futsal Club for their fast start but praised his side for stepping up the second half after their slow start:
“Credit to the other side, they defended well and tight around the d and caught us on the counter attack. We know every game is treated like a Grand Final against us, wanting to prove themselves. The boys held the ball well and got their reward. They have had a heavy workload lately but that isn’t an excuse for us.” said Varela.
Match Stats
Saturday 28 September 2019
PCYC Hornsby, Waitara
Referee: J. Ewin
2nd Referee: T. Cohen
3RD Referee: J. Brett
Phoenix Futsal Club 3 (Abdul-Galil, Luttringer, Wylie)
Dural Warriors 7 (G. Giovenali 3, W. Giovenali 3, De Oliveira)
Phoenix Futsal Club: 1. BRUNACCI James, 2. BRODNIK James, 5. DENIS Ethan, 6. CHANCE Angus, 7. NELSON Todd, 8. ABDUL-GALIL Yusuf, 9. SWEEDAN Ibrahim, 10. LUTTRINGER Matthew, 11. WYLIE Issac, 15. VANDERVELDE Jack, 17. SLATER Connor, 18. SMYLIE Jordan, 24. METCALF Jordan
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil
Dural Warriors: 1. STARR Nicholas, 7. GIOVENALI Wade, 8. NISKI Nathan, 14. HOYER Brendan, 17. BRUCE Alastair, 19. KELSHAW Glen, 21. BRENNAN Brayden, 22. DE OLIVEIRA Carlos, 23. VELLA Brandon, 32. GIOVENALI Gregory, 60. WICKHAM-HALL Brandon, 63. SWEEDAN Ahmad
Yellow cards: G. Giovenali, W. Giovenali, Hoyer
Red cards: nil
South Coast Taipans 6 defeated Sydney City Eagles 3
The Taipans turned the tables with a 6-3 success against Sydney City Eagles at UOW Sports Hub to kickstart their season on Saturday evening.
Last week Taipans coach Bobby Mazevski was gutted after their last second loss but the coach wore a huge smile after their victory. South Coast Taipans strode out to a 4-1 half-time lead to get their first three points of the season.
Klime Sekutkoski continued his fine start to the season with a brace while Tyson Black, Kota Odakura, Kristian Sekutkoski found the back of the net in a performance that Mazevski said showed “they were good value for the points and we controlled the game.”
For the Eagles, Matthew Trotter made it two hat-tricks in two weeks for the visitors. He pulled one back in the first half before two consolation goals in the second half. The result will disappoint the Eagles after their fine performance last weekend against SD Raiders Futsal.
West City Crusaders 5 defeated Sydney Futsal Club 4
West City Crusaders maintained their perfect start to the season with a thrilling 5-4 victory against Sydney Futsal Club Saturday night at Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium.
The home side were in firm control of the contest, led at half-time 2-1 before West City Crusaders fired home another three goals to continue their fine start to the season. Crusaders sit equal second on four points with Raiders Futsal Club.
Sydney Futsal Club showed resilience in their performance despite being without several key players in their 14-man squad. Patrick Pace led the way for them with a marvelous hat-trick while youth player Juan De Silva scored the other.
Raiders Futsal Club 6 defeated SD Raiders Futsal 3
We have lift off for Raiders Futsal Club as they ran away with a 6-3 victory against local rivals SD Raiders Futsal to wrestle control of the Raiders Cup last night.
The Raiders were in firm control of the contest as they moved to a 4-2 lead at the break. It was another week and another hat-trick for Adolph Koudakpo to take his tally to six already for the season. Adam Voloder also scored in back-to-back weeks with Marko Filipovic and Tomas Medimurac chipped in with a pair of goals.
SD Raiders Futsal worked hard for their three goals but fell to an 0-2 start to their season. Joshua Da Silva led the way for them with a brace alongside a goal from Bruno Antelmi that takes his scoring run to two weeks in a row.
Besides the wonderful futsal on display, the entire day raised over $600 for the 90 minutes for Charity initiative which is a great result and a credit to both clubs and their communities in the second year of the concept.
By Justin Davies (@JustDavies90)
