Semi Finals Review – Futsal Premier League Open Men’s and Women’s
2019-20 Men’s Futsal Premier League semi-finals report
2019/20 Men’s Futsal Premier League Saturday semi-finals saw Eastern Suburbs Hakoah knock out premiers Mascot Vipers in a penalty shootout and Inner West Magic dispose of UTS Northside 6-2.
Mascot Vipers 3 Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 3 (Robert Ezekiel, Ryuji Kagiya, Yuma Hosoe)
UTS Northside 2 Inner West Magic 6 (Jonathan Barzel 2, Chris Zeballos, Jamal Beldaki, Andrew Luttringer)
Easts edge Vipers
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah toppled premiers Mascot Vipers in an absolute thriller at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls on Saturday afternoon.
The game went to penalties following a 1-1 halftime scoreline, 2-2 fulltime stalemate and 3-3 deadlock after extra-time in what can only be described as one of the most nail-biting affairs ever!
Hakoah came out full of intent and perhaps shell-shocked Vipers, piling on the pressure from the get-go and having more shots at goal than their more-fancied opponents, but it was a Mascot penalty that got the scoreboard ticking over.
Easts stayed on their heels when Robbie Ezekiel finished off a nice move to draw level again but Vipers pushed their noses in front a second time before Hakoah’s Yuma Hosoe nice touch levelled the scores yet again.
Opportunities were missed from both sides as the final whistle was blown with both sets of players almost exhausted from their efforts.
Into extra time and the pace of the game didn’t change, a deflection off Tom McGowan giving Mascot a third lead of the match, but again Easts answered with a freak Ryuji Kagiya goal that would send the game to a penalty shootout.
The first four spot-kicks from both sides went in before a Vipers blemish was forced wide, hitting the upright and bouncing away, and it was left to the he ever-reliable Ezekiel to stand tall, slot the pill into the top-left corner and send Hakoah fans into delirium as Easts marched into Sunday’s grand final at Valentine Sports Park.
It was the sixth men’s premier league penalty-shootout.
Inner West defeat Northside
Inner West Magic proved too good for UTS Northside winning 6-2 at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls on Saturday afternoon to secure a Sunday grand-final berth at Valentine Sports Park.
Inner West started the game with the majority of possession and two early Jonathan Barzel goals gave them a comfortable lead, and some clinical Robbie Maiorana saves assisted the team’s confidence to hold their advantage to the changeover.
Magic coach Steve Knight then dished out some specific halftime tactics and the players responded with experienced Chris Zeballos firing a freekick from outside the D into the top-corner of the goal to extend the break shortly after the restart.
Despite the best efforts of UTS, Inner West motored home to start a sixth grand final (two more as Sydney Magic), while Zeballos’ 13th finals goal moved him to third on the overall playoff-scorer’s list, one behind Dural’s Greg Giovenali.
Grand final
2019/20 Men’s Futsal Premier League Sunday grand final at Valentine Sports Park features Inner West Magic versus Eastern Suburbs Hakoah (5pm kickoff) – it will be the 50th premier league finals match (over 13 seasons) and the first time it will feature teams finishing third and fourth on the points table.
2019-20 Women’s Futsal Premier League semi-finals report
The 2019/20 Women’s Futsal Premier League Saturday semi-finals at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls saw Inner West Magic defeat Mascot Vipers 4-3 and Campbelltown Quake beat Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 4-1.
Inner West Magic 4 Mascot Vipers 3
Campbelltown Quake 4 (Linda Dudek, Darcey Malone 2, Renee Rollason) Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 1
Inner West overcome Mascot
Premiers Inner West Magic had to fight tooth and nail to overcome Mascot Vipers 4-3 at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls on Sunday afternoon.
Mascot were pumped and hit the lead in both halves, Inner West levelling at 1-1 and 2-2 before scoring twice in succession to take a 4-2 advantage, Vipers hitting back late but unable to find an equaliser as Magic prevailed once again.
Magic coach Matteo Maiorana sung the team’s praises after registering a tough victory to play a fifth grand final on the trot.
“I can’t be any prouder of the girls,” he said. “They have literally limped into the final, but some of the performances today were heroic!”
“I’m just hoping they have another game left in them, but I know the girls won’t give in and they will give their all.”
“We had players passing out due to the heat, players injured [from] challenges and then a red card to Amy [Dahdah] added salt into the wounds – I don’t even think we have a team tomorrow.”
“[But] The more hurdles they throw at us, the more the girls respond.”
Quake shake Hakoah
The weather was hot and so was the futsal when Campbelltown Quake downed Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 4-1 at Homebush on Saturday afternoon.
The south-westerners came out firing and in the opening five minutes had three clear chances go begging which allowed Hakoah to build some momentum.
Quake though would continue the trend of the game, Dudek Malone and Kylie Ledbrook combining on numerous occasion looking dangerous for the ‘Purple Hearts’.
Toni Sharp turned defense into a swift counter playing Dudek who cut in and made no mistake with a powerful finish to make it 1-0.
Soon after Dudek would get the ball at the back of the court, skim past two defenders and shoot, the Easts keeper parrying to a tireless Darcey Malone who rocketed the ball home.
As the half went on Hakoah’s movements created several half-chances that were comfortably defused by an ever-reliable Briana Clarke in goals for Campbelltown.
Malone then got her second to double the lead, the 16-year-old making her mark yet again by popping up on the end of a cut-back to make it a comfy 3-0 gap at the break.
With 17 minutes left Hakoah shifted to the powerplay, but Quake were determined to bring home the biscuits, their ‘bodyline’ defense backed up by their custodian when needed.
Campbelltown had chances to extend their lead with Easts keeper missing in the fifth-man, but the oppressive heat and hard defending conditions saw Hakoah pull a goal back.
However, Quake’s Renee Rollason pinched the ball at the top of the D and smashed the ball into an empty net to round out a 4-1 scoreline.
Campbelltown coach Mel Keith was delighted with a solid performance that sees Quake play their first grand final in six years – a decider that Keith featured prominently in as keeper in a penalty shootout victory over Enfield.
“I’m proud. We’ve gone one better already then last year and I see in front of me a hard-working, determined team who would do anything for each other,” she said.
“The quake mentality exists here. They were bantered during the week about being the weakest team in the competition – we love fuel on the fire!”
“Tomorrow is a massive test again against defending champions Inner West and I know the girls won’t leave anything out there.”
Sunday’s grand final
Sunday’s 2019/20 Women’s Futsal Premier League grand final is the 50th finals match and sees premiers Inner West Magic line-up against second-place Campbelltown Quake at Valentine Sports Park (3.30pm kickoff).
Grand Finals Fixtures
Sunday’s NSW Premier League Championship Day at Valentine Sports Park features seven different clubs, only two top-two showdowns, and two third-versus-fourth match-ups.
Inner West and Eastern Suburbs Hakoah appear in four grand finals each (over nine grades), followed by Mascot Vipers (3), Campbelltown Quake (3), Mountain Majik (2), UTS Northside (1) and Enfield Allstars (1).
Kickoff times (brackets show ladder position):
12 Boys Eastern Subs Hakoah (1) v Mascot Vipers (3) 8.30am
13 Girls Mountain Majik (2) v Campbelltown Quake (4) 9.30am
14 Boys Inner West Magic (1) v Enfield Allstars (2) 10.30am
15 Girls Inner West Magic (1) v Mascot Vipers (3) 11.30am
16 Boys Eastern Subs Hakoah (3) v UTS Northside (4) 12.30pm
17 Girls Mountain Majik (1) v Campbelltown Quake (3) 1.30pm
19 Men Mascot Vipers (2) v Eastern Subs Hakoah (4) 2.30pm
Open Women Inner West Magic (1) v Campbelltown Quake (2) 3.30pm
Open Men Inner West Magic (3) v Eastern Subs Hakoah (4) 5pm
