Round 7 Review – Futsal Premier League Open Men’s
Men’s Futsal Premier League round-seven Saturday had UTS Northside pip Campbelltown Quake 3-2, Mascot Vipers down Boomerangs FS 3-1, Inner West Magic and Eastern Suburbs Hakoah finished 4-4, and Enfield Allstars beat Mountain Majik 7-2.
The results kept Mascot (19 points) clear of the mayhem below them as Easts (13), Northside (13), Inner West (12), Enfield (10) and Mountain (10) try to fit five teams into three playoff spots.
Campbelltown Quake 2 (Mark Symington 2) UTS Northside 3 (Reggie Hore-Gibson, Bryce Harry 2)
Boomerangs FS 1 (Brad Sawyer) Mascot Vipers 3 (Ethan De Melo 2, Bruno Mendes)
Inner West Magic 4 (Daniel Fogarty 2, Andrew Luttringer, Daniel Fornito) Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 4 (Robert Ezekiel, Dylan Basger, Lucas Vidal, Everton Vendrasco)
Enfield Allstars 7 (Bruno Pivato, Luiz Lobo 3, Dominic Cox, Kristopher Vlismas, Carlos Bardalez) Mountain Majik 2 (Michael Borg 2)
Northside edge Campbelltown
UTS Northside had to stave-off a rampant Campbelltown Quake to win 3-2 at Minto Sports Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
A first-half Bryce Harry brace gave Northside a 2-0 halftime buffer but they had to face an entire half’s worth of powerplay as Campbelltown went fifth-man straight after the break, eventually drawing level on the back of a Mark Symington double.
But the super-human effort proved too much as Reggie Hore-Gibson snuck in a match-winner to lift UTS to a dramatic 3-2 victory, the first time Northside’s travelled for four-straight away wins (two more would equal the competition’s second-best road run set by Dural, twice).
UTS assistant Danny Beauchamp praised his team’s defensive heroics to hold on for a determined win.
The boys were fantastic in the first half and deserved their 2-0 lead at the break,” he said.
“Quake went fifth-man the whole second half and made it very difficult for us defending and put lots of pressure on our goals.
“[Keeper] Sam Benton was immense in goals, along with youth player Bryce Harry who scored both goals.
“I’m very happy with the position we are in at the halfway point this season.”
And there’s plenty of reasons to be happy. Midway through the season Northside are joint-second, six points short of their best-ever points total (19 two summers ago), have so far conceded a comp-low 14 goals (UTS’ season-best concession is 41 goals leaked in 2016/17) and they’ve never finished with a positive goal-difference (they’re currently +3).
Conversely, Quake coach Symington was gutted . “As soon as it got to 2-2, we conceded,” he lamented. “We had plenty of chances to get a couple more, but their keeper was in top form and it just wouldn’t go in for us.”
A seventh-straight defeat puts Campbelltown in dark territory – there’s only been seven worse runs in premier league history (still well short of the 16 win-less outings from Phoenix and Sydney City Eagles), and they’re a long way off their lowest season-points return of 13 set last summer.
Mascot defeat Boomerangs
Futsalroo junior Ethan De Melo stamped his authority with blistering brace that secured Mascot Vipers a 3-1 Saturday-afternoon win against Boomerangs FS at the AIS Training Halls.
A Bruno Mendes strike backed De Melo up as Vipers turned a 1-0 halftime advantage into a solid two-goal victory – Mascot’s first in the ACT – and stay six points clear of Easts and Northside on the points table.
Mascot keep chugging along nicely and a seventh unbeaten match – fueled by four-straight road wins – is joint-ninth best in the competition. They’re also just six points shy of setting a club-best season-points haul, with seven matches to come.
One indication of why Vipers are doing so well, they’ve already found a remarkable 13 different goalscorers in the opening seven weekends – the most ever in a season is 15 (Mascot and Campbelltown in 2011/12).
For Boomerangs it was another gut-wrenching defeat – they’ve never gone six games without a win, and this is the first time they’ve lost three on the trot in the capital.
Magic, Hakoah deadlock
Inner West Magic and Eastern Suburbs Hakoah fought out an epic 4-4 draw at Valentine Sports Park on Saturday evening.
The home side was coming straight off a 2-1 Futsal Cup round-of-16 victory against the same opponents on the same court just last Wednesday, but they were stunned in just the eighth-minute of play when Hakoah’s Robert Ezekiel struck, only for Andrew Luttringer to respond almost immediately for Magic.
Easts had ideas of their own and quickfire Dylan Basger and Lucas Vidal goals handed the visitors a vital 3-1 lead at the changeover.
Inner West exploded after halftime and three goals in three minutes – a Daniel Fogarty double and Daniel Fornito strike – suddenly put them in front on the half-hour mark.
It was toe-to-toe action as both sides ramped it up for a frenetic finish and Hakoah had the next say when Everton Vendrasco scored with 10 minutes still to play and the score poised at 4-4.
But there would be no match-winner this time as the sides maintained their top-four positions following the stalemate.
Enfield level Mountain
Enfield Allstars stepped it up with a 7-2 Saturday-night rout of Mountain Majik at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre.
Luiz Lobo scored twice in the opening 10 minutes to start Enfield off on the front foot and a Bruno Pivato goal on the quarter-hour established a 3-0 cushion at oranges.
Michael Borg clawed one goal back for Mountain after the restart, but Lobo sealed his hat-trick moments later and Dominic Cox also scored to extend the margin to 5-1.
Borg added another with 10 minutes left to play, but Kris Vlismas and Carlos Bardalez strikes finished Majik off.
Enfield moved alongside Mountain in fifth spot, only three points behind second-placed Easts and Northside.
Next games
2019/20 Men’s Futsal Premier League round-eight Saturday action features Campbelltown Quake versus Boomerangs FS at Minto Sports Stadium (4.50pm), UTS Northside tackle Enfield Allstars at PCYC Dee Why (5.50pm), Eastern Suburbs Hakoah play Mountain Majik at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (6.30pm), and Mascot Vipers face Inner West Magic at Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre (7.50pm).
