Round 11 Preview – Futsal Premier League Open Men’s
With four weeks of the regular season to come, Round 11 of the Futsal Premier League Open Men’s season hits the pitch this weekend.
And you can’t go wrong wherever you look with a close race at the summit and for finals places. And fight for survival going on in the club championship, bring on Saturday!
Campbelltown City Quake Futsal Club v Dural Warriors; Saturday 19 November, 4:40pm, Valentine Sports Park
The League’s bottom two sides meet to kick off round eleven of the competition when Campbelltown City Quake host Dural Warriors.
For Dural Warriors, their semi-finals hopes took a blow with their loss last weekend against Mascot Vipers. Now focus will turn to scoring some points to keep them clear of the relegation fight in the club championship in which they sit 12 points above Inner West and Eastern Suburbs Hakoah. There’s no dead games in this competition and they’ll want to bounce back from defeat here to keep their outside chance at finals alive.
Campbelltown City Quake are still searching for their first win in nearly two seasons of competition. Last weekend, they were on the end of an Eastern Suburbs Hakoah victory with the score finishing 6-1. With four more chances of victory from here, can the Quake do it this weekend against a team they took a point from earlier this season.
Last Meeting: Dural Warriors 1-1 Campbelltown City Quake
UTS Northside Futsal Club v Inner West Futsal Club; Saturday 19 November, 5:30pm, PCYC Dee Why
Needing a response to their slide down the table, UTS Northside host Inner West on their club day at PCYC Dee Why.
Inner West will be hard to stop though as they find themselves in second position on goal difference after ten rounds. And it comes on the back of two wins this season against rivals Enfield Allstars, a boost to any side’s confidence. They started the better of the top two sides in their match rewarded with three goals before showing defensive commitment to win out. With the club in a club championship fight to survive, each win is vital for Inner West, and they’ll be favourites for this one.
Their hosts will be hoping the occasion lifts their performance after a poor run of form has seen them lose four of their last five games. Last weekend in facing a then struggling Mountain Majik, they couldn’t get the job done despite a Nathan Amore goal in the second half. Another loss to a potential semi-final opponent here and it begins to get tougher to see the side from the Northern Beaches in the finals come round next month.
Last Meeting: Inner West 1-3 UTS Northside
Mascot Vipers v Mountain Majik Futsal Club; Saturday 19 November, 5:30pm, Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls
Two sides only separated by goal difference will hit the pitch as Mascot Vipers host Mountain Majik, Saturday evening.
The host Mascot Vipers are in a rich vein of scoring form scoring 16 goals in their last three matches. Last weekend they proved too strong for an inconsistent Dural outfit in Sydney’s North West. Konstantinos Tsournakakis once again featured prominently in their match while Ethan De Melo, Timothy Scott and Conor Quilligan also earned a mention from their coach. One of two teams on a three-game winning run, they’ll be confident leading into this one.
Mountain Majik on the other hand reorientated themselves after consecutive losses in round ten. Against a UTS Northside side who struggling for form in recent weeks, they edged them out by a goal. Jamie Dib and Marko Filipovic scored the goals either side of half time. However they will be missing Aaron Cimitile whose red card ensured a few nervy moments towards the game’s conclusion. Scoring 30 goals and conceding 29, it’s hard to know what to expect here, catch you on Sunday to find out.
Last Meeting: Mountain Majik 4-4 Mascot Vipers
Enfield Allstars v Eastern Suburbs Hakoah Futsal Club; Saturday 19 November, 6:50pm, Morris Iemma Indoor SC
A lot can change in three weeks! Enfield Allstars host a resurgent Eastern Suburbs Hakoah side in a venue face off in Sydney’s inner west.
Since that last meeting, Enfield Allstars have lost their past two and are now only clinging on to first place on goal difference. Last week, they simply left themselves with a little too much to do against Inner West. Trailing 3-0 at half time, Bruno Pivato and Shervin Adeli both found the net, the latter also seeing red late on so he will be having a week off here. Facing another tough opposition after back-to-back losses, it will be interesting to see how they respond here.
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah have done the complete opposite. Since that game a few weeks ago, they have secured wins over both Mountain Majik and Campbelltown City Quake. Against the quake last weekend, you always sensed they had another gear to use, and they stepped it up five minutes into the second half. Lucas Vidal starred with a hat-trick joined by Emmanuel Tzanakes, Wellington Oliveira and Jonathan Lynch on the scoresheet.
Last Meeting: Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 4-5 Enfield Allstars
By Justin Smith
