Round 12 Preview – League Three Men’s
As the second half of the Football NSW League Three Men’s season begins, the excitement is set to explode up another notch, with all teams in need of three points as they move towards their respective goals.
To begin the week of action, Camden Tigers will take on Newcastle Jets at on Wednesday night, before Hawkesbury City will host UNSW FC on Friday at Valentine Sports Park.
On Saturday evening, Parramatta FC will play the Jets, with the fixtures then moving into the evening as Camden comes up against Hurstville FC at 7pm on Saturday.
Two more Saturday 7pm games will then ensue to complete round 12, with Fraser Park and Western Rage hosting Nepean FC and South Coast Flame respectively at Fraser Park and Blacktown City Sports Centre.
Camden Tigers vs Newcastle Jets – Wednesday 8pm, Ron Dine Stadium
In a midweek matchup, Camden Tigers will host Newcastle Jets at Ron Dine Stadium on Wednesday night.
Camden Tigers are coming off a loss to UNSW FC, with the home side for this match drawing with league leaders Hawkesbury City the week before.
Camden’s last win came against Western Rage five matches ago, as they prevailed 4-2 at their home ground.
They will be looking for their third victory of the season but will be facing a mighty match in Newcastle Jets who are yet to lose in their eight games played across the campaign.
Newcastle currently sits third on the League Three Men’s table, having played two matches less than the duo of Hawkesbury City and Hurstville FC ahead.
If they are to win this match and the game against Parramatta FC on Saturday, Newcastle will go top of the table on goal difference or outright, unless Hawkesbury defeats UNSW FC stunningly by at least ten goals.
Newcastle has won three and drawn two in their last five matches, and remains the only unbeaten side in this season’s League Three Men competition.
Hawkesbury City vs UNSW FC – Friday 8pm, Valentine Sports Park
League leaders Hawkesbury City will come up against UNSW FC in a crucial clash for both sides on Friday night.
Hawkesbury will be looking to retain their spot at the summit of the League Three Men’s table, with the results however all but out of their hands to determine whether they’ll finish the round on top.
Hawkesbury most recently beat Prospect United 3-1 and have won three of their last five matches.
They are the joint second-top goalscorers in League Three Men’s but will be facing the only side to have netted more than them this campaign in UNSW on Friday night.
UNSW has scored 29 goals across their 10 matches this season, with 18 coming in their last five matches – a rate of 3.6 per game.
UNSW are unbeaten in their last five matches with their last loss against Nepean FC six games ago by the solitary goal.
The last time both sides faced off against each other, Hawkesbury prevailed 3-2.
Parramatta FC vs Newcastle Jets – Saturday 5pm, Melita Stadium
In the opening Saturday match for the round, Parramatta FC will take on Newcastle Jets at Melita Stadium.
Parramatta most recently came off a 2-0 defeat to Fraser Park after gaining their second win of the season against Western Rage in the week prior with a 5-2 victory.
Parramatta looked positive in spells against Fraser but was undone by a concession off a set piece in the first half and a counter-attack in the second stanza, despite creating multiple opportunities to find a goal.
The home side for this match has a game in hand on the two sides above them in Camden Tigers and South Coast Flame and will be looking for a statement victory against the flying Jets to propel themselves further up the table.
Newcastle, meanwhile, will be coming off a midweek match against Camden, unless the weather postpones the Wednesday night fixture.
In the earlier game this season between these two sides, Newcastle prevailed 4-0 at home.
Camden Tigers vs Hurstville FC – Saturday 7pm, Ron Dine Stadium
Camden Tigers will host Hurstville FC on Saturday evening, with the two sides facing at Ron Dine stadium at 7pm.
Camden will be looking to turn the tables on Hurstville FC and take home three points this weekend, after being defeated 2-1 in a tense match to open the League Three Men’s campaign.
Weather permitting, Camden will be coming off against a match against Newcastle Jets on Wednesday night, making this their third game in eight days.
Hurstville FC is coming off a bye in the League Three Men’s competition, in which Hawkesbury regained the top spot on the table in an increasingly thrilling title race.
Hurstville have won four out of their last five matches, with their only defeat coming either side of consecutive victories to South Coast Flame.
They will be looking for their third straight victory when travelling to Ron Dine Stadium, while Camden will be in search of their first win in five matches.
Fraser Park vs Nepean FC – Saturday 7pm, Fraser Park
In one of the three Saturday 7pm matches, Fraser Park will host Nepean FC as the homes side looks for its first pair of consecutive victories in the League Three Men’s campaign.
Fraser most recently came off an important result against Parramatta FC, in which they gained their second victory and first clean sheet of the season.
Their performances have been impressive ever since their opening victory in round six against Western Rage – while losing their three games prior to the Parramatta performance, the trio of matches were all lost by the solitary goal.
They’re set to trouble Nepean FC, who haven’t won in their last two games after gaining four victories in a row.
Before losing to Hurstville FC two weeks ago, Nepean was on a seven-game unbeaten streak, which began with a 4-1 victory over Fraser Park.
Nepean currently sits fourth on the table and will be looking to extend their margin in the finals spot with three points against Fraser on Saturday night.
Western Rage vs South Coast Flame – Saturday 7pm, Blacktown City Sports Centre
Western Rage will take on South Coast Flame in another Saturday night match to jointly-conclude round 12 of the League Three Men’s competition.
Western Rage is yet to win this season but has been amassing some promising performances in recent weeks.
While eventually being defeated 3-1 by Newcastle Jets in their last match, they pushed the title challengers and could have equalised the scores after going down 2-0 had it not been for a missed penalty in the second half.
Coach Jarrod Carluccio believes the first victory is nearing ever closer, but they’ll be facing a tricky matchup in South Coast Flame, who have lost just one of their last five matches in League Three Men.
South Coast most recently drew 1-1 with Nepean, and have won three of their four games prior, defeating Camden Tigers and Hurstville FC 5-1 and 3-1 respectively before prevailing 2-1 against Fraser Park two matches later – in between, they lost 4-1 to the Jets.
The away side for this match will be looking for their fourth victory of the campaign, as they look to push closer and put pressure on the top four as the second half of the season begins.
In the last match where Flame faced off against Western Rage, both sides took a point away with the match finishing in a 2-2 draw.
Bye: Prospect United
Postponed: Parramatta FC vs South Coast Flame
By Football NSW League 3 Men’s Reporter, Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
