Round 13 Review – Futsal Premier League 2 Open Men’s
The top four has been decided in an eventful Round 13 of the Futsal Premier League 2 Open Mens competition.
It was a Saturday filled with action, drama and importantly goals in four crucial contests that were played out.
Let’s get onto the review!
Match of the Round: Raiders Futsal Club 5 defeated South Coast Taipans 1
Raiders Futsal Club confirmed their spot in the top four with a tough 5-1 success against South Coast Taipans Saturday night at Thomas Hassell Anglican College.
Both of Raiders Futsal Club’s sharpshooters in Adolph Koudakpo and Mark Filipovic fired home braces in the victory with Jovan Miladinovic the other scorer. Raiders Futsal Club will represent again in the Futsal Premier League 2 finals series which is a massive honour for the club.
The loss brings a premature end to South Coast Taipans season. Taipans got the perfect start with an early Rick Goodchild goal but were unable to build on their first half performance and will fall agonizingly short of the finals again.
Knowing their season was on the line tonight, Taipans exploded out of the blocks. Cody Waller and Mitchell Ferraro combined for their first chance then came the perfect start for the visitors on their quest.
Rick Goodchild brought the visiting support to their feet when he turned the defender well, the Taipans attacker lashed the ball into the bottom corner for 1-nil Taipans.
Raiders Futsal Club aimed to respond quickly through both Slaven and Goran Ljuboja who had efforts denied by Taipans shotstopper Bradley Peryman. The home side searched for an equaliser with Marko Filipovic cut inside and curled wide.
Taipans looked to give themselves some cushion with a pair of chances late in the first half. Kyle Del hammered a free-kick goalbound followed by Goodchild’s venomous effort was smashed wide of the net.
Raiders Futsal Club found an equaliser in the dying embers of the first half, Jovan Miladinovic spotted an opportunity from a loose pass from Taipans. The attacker took his chance well and nestled the ball into the net for 1-1 going into the break.
Coming out for the second half, Raiders were buoyed by their equaliser and held much of the play for the early stages. Slaven Ljuboja headlined their work with a pair of efforts that were slashed wide followed by Adolph Koudakpo arrowing wide.
From there, Raiders Futsal Club took complete control of the contest. Koudakpo put his defended through the spin cycle but couldn’t nestle into the corner but Filipovic thrashed home two minutes later for 2-1.
Before the fans could find their seat again, Raiders Futsal Club made it 3-1. Koudakpo cut inside his defender again and rolled the ball home smartly to give the home side a two-goal cushion. In response, Goodchild whistled one past the post for Taipans.
Taipans went on the powerplay to find a route back into the contest, their crisp passing tried to work the space for the opportunity but Raiders Futsal Club were resolute in their defending, getting a foot into every challenge to deny the visitors.
The reward for their superb defensive effort with a pair of late strikes to confirm the result for Raiders Futsal Club. Filipovic was on hand to sweep home after a pair of powerful efforts from Koudakpo were swatted away for 4-1.
Koudakpo added a fifth in the final minute to take his tally to 15 goals for the season, and importantly, confirm finals football for Raiders Futsal Club. They seal their progress with a round to spare meaning they could celebrate post-match.
A joyous Slaven Ljuboja from Raiders Futsal Club was delighted to see his side produce such a performance to confirm their finals position and was a big achievement for the proud club:
“It was a do-or-die game for us. The boys had to dig deep to find their way back but it was a solid performance in the second half. I think the boys stepped up tonight which is good. Making the finals is massive for the mens side and we couldn’t have two years without it. Now we’re off to celebrate that achievement.” said Ljuboja.
For South Coast Taipans boss Bobby Mazevski he was disappointed with the result and the end of their finals chances but hopefully will look to go out on a high note next weekend:
“It was always going to be a tight game. I thought we had the edge only on but couldn’t find that cushion when we were. As the game went on, it was always going to be next goal wins and we weren’t able to score that goal. Now we look to finish the season on a high.” said Mazevski.
Match Stats
Saturday 8 December 2019
Thomas Hassell Anglican College, Middleton Grange
Referee: S Boon
2nd Referee: M Liminos
3rd Referee: R Fisher
Raiders Futsal Club 5 (Filipovic 2, Koudakpo 2, Miladinovic)
South Coast Taipans 1 (Goodchild)
Raiders Futsal Club: 1. DANIEL Ibrahim, 2. VOLODER Adam, 3. HAYASHI Kodai, 4. SAVETTA Adam, 5. NICHOLAS Simon, 6. GODOY BASCUR Christopher, 7. MILADINOVIC Jovan, 8. LJUBOJA Goran, 9. FILIPOVIC Marko, 10. LJUBOJA Slaven, 12. CAKOVSKI Justin, 13. KOUDAKPO Adolph
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil
South Coast Taipans: 2. ODAKURA Kota, 4. BLACK Tyson, 7. DEL Kyle, 8. WALLER Cody, 10. GOODCHILD Ricky, 11. BOUTROS John, 14. FERRARO Mitchell, 20. PERYMAN Bradley, 32. MAZEVSKI Zachary, 33. BRADSHAW Terry, 111. NICHOLL Riley
Yellow cards: Ferraro
Red cards: nil
SD Raiders Futsal 0 defeated by Dural Warriors
The march towards the unbeaten season continues for Dural Warriors after a comfortable 7-nil success against SD Raiders Futsal at Fairfield Youth & Leisure Centre.
That result makes it 13 straight for Dural Warriors in their quest. Dural strode out to a confident 3-nil lead before adding a further four goals in the second half. It sets up for a mouth-watering contest against Sydney City Eagles next weekend.
Braces from Greg Giovenali and Samuel De Oliveira were the catalyst for the demolition from Dural Warriors. They were aided by Golden Boot leader Greg Giovenali, Brandon Vella and Brendan Hoyer all finding the back of the net.
There was a fiery end to the contest with five red cards dished out to both sides. SD Raiders Futsal saw Charles Abou Serhal, Nick Carle, Jordan Figon and John Fahmi all given their marching orders. For Dural Warriors it was Alastair Bruce that was banished.
Phoenix Futsal Club 11 defeated West City Crusaders 2
It was a drought breaking result for Phoenix Futsal Club who punished West City Crusaders 11-2 on Saturday night at PCYC Hornsby.
A season of frustration came out in this performance from Phoenix Futsal Club who were clinical in their finishing to pile on their highest score of the season. Angus Chance led the way in the rout with his hat-trick to make it 12 for the season.
Alongside him for Phoenix Futsal Club were braces for Ibrahim Sweedan and Matthew Luttringer. The scoring was rounded out with Ethan Denis, Isaac Wylie and Tom Louw all finding the net. Coach Elliot Jurd was happy with how sharp his side was and their ability to keep showing up despite their lowly position.
For the traveling Crusaders, they are limping to the finish of this season after their eighth loss of the loss has them down in seventh spot. Kwadwo Boamah Addai and Ryan Faulkner gave them some consolation with their strikes in the contest.
Sydney Futsal Club 3 defeated by Sydney City Eagles 10
Sydney City Eagles have moved into second position after a 10-3 thumping of Sydney Futsal Club at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre Saturday night.
The Eagles are soaring on the back of five straight victories which has them in supreme form headed into both the final round showdown against Dural Warriors and the upcoming finals series. Lachlan Rose headlined the effort with his hat-trick to move to 20 goals for the season.
Otherwise it was team effort for the Eagles in scoring. Peter Pelekanos netted a brace as the other player to score multiple goals. Aaron Cimitile, Bruno Antelmi, Robert Perre, Matthew Trotter and a goal from fan-favourite custodian Zlatko Joseski rounded off the impressive display.
Sydney Futsal Club battled hard in the contest before they were overpowered by the Sydney City Eagles scoring prowess. For their part, Alexander Nicolosi fired home a brace to take his season tally to nine goals with Andrew Moussallam the other goal scorer in the defeat.
By Justin Davies (@JustDavies90)
