Round 5 Review – Futsal Premier League Open Men’s
Men’s Futsal Premier League round-five Saturday saw Inner West Magic down Campbelltown Quake 4-2, Mascot Vipers edge Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 4-3, Mountain Majik outplay UTS Northside 4-1, and Enfield Allstars beat Boomerangs FS 4-1.
Home court advantage? Um, no! The hosts have managed just six wins from the 20 games played so far.
Campbelltown Quake 2 (Dean Lockhart, Mark Symington) Inner West Magic 4 (Hassan Jollah, Matt Mazevski 2, Chris Zeballos)
UTS Northside 1 (Emilio Manos) Mountain Majik 4 (Michael Borg, Daniel Muzzarelli 2, Jamie Dib)
Eastern Suburbs 3 (Gilad Swartz 2, Thomas McGowan) Hakoah Mascot Vipers 4 (Joel Flores, Bruno Mendes 3)
Enfield Allstars 4 (Vic Koutsoufis, Bruno Pivato, Zac Ribeiro, Luiz Lobo) Boomerangs FS 1 (Daniel Giovinazzo)
Magic roast Quake
Inner West Magic got more than they bargained for at Minto Sports Stadium on Saturday afternoon, securing a tight 4-2 final scoreline after failing to shake off a stubborn Campbelltown Quake.
The home side were full of fire in the first term and right in the game at oranges down 1-0, but two quick Inner West goals early in the second term got them rolling to a 3-0 advantage.
Campbelltown pressed and narrowed the gap to 3-2 courtesy of Dean Lockhart and Mark Symington strikes; they even had the chance to level it up with Lockhart hitting the woodwork and Magic scrambling hard to clear to further Quake attempts off the line before a late Inner West goal sealed the deal.
Matt Mazevski continued his good form since joining Magic with a two-goal outing, while veteran Chris Zeballos and newcomer Hassan Jollah both scored one each.
Symington was extremely proud of his charges efforts but ultimately frustrated at a fifth straight loss to start the summer.
“Again improvements, but still not good enough for what we expect of ourselves,” he said.
Campbelltown became just the second PL club to break through the 700-goal mark [Ed: based a little on missing data estimates], Dural reaching 742 in nine seasons before last summer’s demise. Using the same projections, they’re followed by Inner West (660), Mascot (64), Enfield (633), Sydney City Eagles (302) and Mountain Majik (293).
However, Quake are also heading towards the club’s heaviest flow of defeats in 12 premier league seasons – the seven straight they set last year.
Conversely, Magic sit in second just three points off leaders Mascot.
Mountain level Northside
Mountain Majik proved too good in their 4-1 Saturday-evening win over UTS Northside at PCYC Dee Why that sets up a fascinating traffic jam on the points tally.
The Majik train certainly came ‘round the mountain and didn’t stop steaming when they hit the ‘Y’ at Dee Why, chugging their way to a solid 2-0 break at the changeover.
The green-machine continued their run in the second half with two more goals to put the game out of reach and consign Emilio Manos’ UTS strike to a consolation (although, it was also Northside’s 200th goal in premier league).
Daniel Muzzarelli scored a brace for Mountain to complement Michael Borg and Jamie Dib goals – and just three points now separates second from sixth!
UTS may need to consider a new home court as only Phoenix (10%) and South Coast (18%) carry a worse record as PL hosts, Northside only successful at home in 30% of matches (11 of 37).
Vipers sting Hakoah
Mascot Vipers staved off a brilliant Eastern Suburbs Hakoah to win 4-3 at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday evening and maintain their grip on first place – but only just.
Ladder-leaders Mascot were stunned into action when Easts took the first lead but Vipers had the answers, a Joel Flores strike and Bruno Mendes triple giving them a handy 4-1 lead with seven minutes to play.
Easts then turned the tables in the blink of an eye with two quick-fire goals drawing them back to one behind Mascot.
Vipers looked vulnerable at times and picked up five yellow cards in the frenzy, but they also held on for a stoic victory – Gilad Swartz grabbing a brace and Thomas McGowan for defeated Hakoah.
Mendes now tops the scorers’ chart with seven, and what a beautiful rivalry this has fixture has rapidly become – a first-up 1-1 draw followed by traded one-goal differences.
Enfield overcome Boomerangs
Double-scores in both halves was enough for Enfield Allstars to fend off a spirited challenge from Boomerangs FS at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night.
The visitors came to the party well-dressed and dished out as good as they got in the early exchanges, a Vic Koutsoufis Enfield goal late in the first half breaking the Boomerangs resolve as Bruno Pivato added another straight after the restart.
The Territorians weren’t done with and a Daniel Giovinazzo half-hour strike cut the deficit in half 2-1, and they threw everything at Allstars, the home side’s position made a little less fragile with a Zac Ribeiro goal with 10 to go, and the result finally sealed with a last-minute Luiz Lobo goal.
After two straight losses to start the summer Enfield have finally got their title defence running and sit just three points off second-placed Inner West.
And you’d think four straight defeats would sink the Territorians, but a tight contest all round means they and Campbelltown lurk like sharks just outside a possible playoff position with 11 rounds still to play.
Next games
2019/20 Men’s Futsal Premier League round-six Saturday action features Mountain Majik against Boomerangs FS at Blacktown Leisure Centre (3.20pm), UTS Northside tackle Inner West Magic at PCYC Dee Why (5.50pm), Eastern Suburbs Hakoah host Enfield Allstars at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (6.30pm), and Mascot Vipers play Campbelltown Quake at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre (7.50pm).
