Round 3 Finals Series Preview – League Two Men’s
It’s the penultimate game of the League Two Men’s season and we are set for a blockbuster clash as Rydalmere Lions host Macarthur Rams, with a spot in the grand final up for grabs.
Preliminary Semi Final
Saturday 27th August, 7:30pm, Rydalmere Park
Rydalmere Lions FC vs Macarthur Rams FC
20’s: Rydalmere Lions FC vs Dunbar Rovers FC, 5pm
Rydalmere Lions will be looking to book their spot in the grand final in both first grade and 20’s competition as they host the preliminary semi-final at Rydalmere Park.
The Lions suffered a tough loss to Inter Lions last week and will have to recapture their lethal goalscoring form in order to get past an imposing Rams’ defence.
Rydalmere will be sweating on the return of Matthew West after he missed the crucial match with Inter last week.
The hosts will not have recent history on their side in this fixture, as they were defeated twice by the Rams, 2-1 in the regular season.
Rydalmere showed flashes of brilliance in last week’s game, dominating Inter for certain periods of the game but were just lacking the finishing touch in front of goal.
The Lions have been in a similar positions in recent years, thus possessing plenty of experience in finals games and will look to lean on some of their veteran leaders, including Ali McKie for a big performance.
These two sides met only three weeks ago and it was Macarthur who walked away with a win that ultimately sent them into fifth place to book a finals berth.
Macarthur enter this match-up full of confidence after a dominant 4-1 victory over Central Coast in the minor semi-final last week.
The Rams are on three-game winning streak and will look to make it a third straight win over Rydalmere in 2022.
Macarthur have turned the corner in attack, after struggling for goals in the regular season they’ve found their way in the finals series.
The Rams’ defensive efforts haven’t slowed down either and they are quickly proving why they held the best defensive record in the league prior to the finals.
With Steven Savicic looking stellar between the sticks and Jacob McDonald finding himself in a purple-patch of form, Macarthur will be a tough team to break down.
In attack, Anthony Vastag has scored in the last two finals games and in combination with Christian Torelli and John Fahmi the Rams have saved the best for last in front of goals.
Macarthur could welcome back Mark Symington and Michael Osei-Adomako for this game in what would be a massive boost for Bret Hewitt’s men.
The Rams will have to be at peak fitness to match the intense nature that Rydalmere play at for 90 minutes, in order to secure the win.
Recent history should give Macarthur the advantage, but Rydalmere could return to their exceptional form they found in the regular season which would give the fans the most entertaining outcome, in what is bound to a tight fixture.
By Football NSW Men’s League Two Writer, Dominic Criniti @DominicCriniti
