Semi Finals Preview – Futsal Premier League Open Men’s

Men’s Futsal Premier League Saturday semi-finals at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls pits premiers Mascot Vipers against Eastern Suburbs Hakoah and UTS Northside versus Inner West Magic (both matches kickoff at 5pm).

Mascot Vipers                           Eastern Suburbs Hakoah           Olympic Park Sports Halls         5pm Saturday 21 December

UTS Northside                          Inner West Magic                      Olympic Park Sports Halls         5pm Saturday 21 December

Mascot Vipers v Eastern Suburbs Hakoah

Newly-crowned premiers Mascot Vipers face Eastern Suburbs Hakoah in what should be a cracking match at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls on Saturday afternoon.

Mascot’s premiership celebrations probably didn’t last too long as they face a landmark weekend in premier league – the opportunity for a maiden championship trophy.

It was an amazing Vipers summer – they only lost one game (2-4 to Inner West), although three consecutive draws saw them walk a tightrope to first place, the proud league foundation club’s first top-two finish.

Now the hard part begins as Mascot have lost all four elimination finals they’ve taken part in (2018/19, 2015/16, 2009/10, 2007/08) and face an Easts side brimming with confidence after making the post-season dance in just their second top-flight season.

Hakoah featured in the 2006/07 Futsal League grand final as Greater Western Sydney Vikings (predominantly a Maccabi side) [Ed: result unknown], so it’s been a long time between finals drinks for the club, but a solid 2019/20 summer saw them consistently positioned in the top-four.

Easts failed to conquer the premiers, losing narrowly to Mascot 4-3 in round-five before a stubborn 2-0 loss in the return match, but enjoyed better success last season following a 5-4 Hakoah win and  1-1 draw.

Mascot will be spearheaded by golden boot winner Bruno Mendes (15 goals), Conor Quilligan (11), Jakob Radas (6), Thomas Quilligan (6) and young-gun Ethan De Melo (4), while Easts had an even spread across the board led by Gilad Swartz (7 goals).

It will also be a match between competition high-scorers Vipers (54 goals) and best defensive unit Hakoah (26 goals conceded).

UTS Northside v Inner West Magic

UTS Northside versus Inner West Magic should be an interesting Saturday-afternoon affair at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls.

Northside landed in second place following a breakthrough season that saw them register its most points in senior men’s (26), best goal-difference (+13, the first time they’ve finished with a positive ledger), most goals scored (47), least goals conceded (34) and most goals scored in a match (8-5 win over Majik).

Star player Michael Loupis led the way with a dozen goals (the second-highest seasonal tally by a UTS player) but gained excellent support from youngsters Reggie Hore-Gibson (6), Bryce Harry (6) and Mason Ireland (5) as well as wily captain-coach Grant Lynch (4)

It was a consistent string of results where UTS beat every side outside the top-four twice and only lost once outside the northern suburbs to notch up their highest road-points tally and first-ever finals appearance.

Now Northside face juggernauts Inner West who hold a 9-2 overall winning edge on UTS and have featured in a remarkable league-high 24 finals matches (Campbelltown next-most with 21) if you include their Sydney Magic numbers.

As Sydney Magic they were unflappable winning all five finals games in the first two premier league seasons to claim back-to-back championships.

As Inner West their success dropped suddenly winning eight of 19 post-season games for just one championship success in 2016/17 (they’ve lost four grand finals).

But they will be hungry for the title following last season’s debacle that saw them not feature in the PL finals series for the first time ever (13 seasons), and they hold a couple of aces up their sleeve.

Club high-scorer Daniel Fogarty has collected nine finals goals, while team-mate Chris Zeballos has an even better record scoring a dozen times – only Campbelltown’s Mark Symington (21) and Dural’s Greg Giovenali (14) have had a greater post-season impact.

Fogarty was Magic’s top-scorer this summer (11 goals), followed by Hassan Jalloh (7), Anthony Haddad (6), Jonathan Barzel (6) and Matt Mazevski (5).

All 12 meetings between the sides have been decided by three goals or less so, buckle up folks, we’re in for one heck of a ride!