Round 11 Review – Futsal Premier League Open Men’s
It’s hard to think of a time that the Futsal Premier League Open Men’s competition has been closer as we review round eleven.
With first place still not guaranteed finals and teams as long as seventh looking at the possibility of finals with three weeks to go, there’s a lot to cover in this review. So sit back and enjoy the usual round up of spectacular action in our 2022 edition.
Campbelltown City Quake Futsal Club 1-6 Dural Warriors
Dural Warriors secured a vital victory in the context of their season defeating Campbelltown City Quake by five goals in the early kick off.
Sitting five points outside the top four, it really is must win territory for the Warriors with three games left. And they started off in good fashion putting six past their opposition on the night.
The visitors started well and had a four-goal lead by the break. Logan Trethowan opened the scoring seven minutes in before Joshua Montgomery added a second ten minutes later. With the third and fourth coming through an own goal and Ahmed Sweedan in the two minutes before half time.
Victory was further sealed after the break with Joshua Moran and Lachlan Powell both finding the net in the first and last minute of the second half. With Lucas Kotevski finding the net in between for the solitary Quake goal.
After the match, coach Alastair Bruce saved a special mention for Lachlan Powell who scored his first goal in the open men’s category. They face Eastern Suburbs Hakoah next week with a few players due to return.
UTS Northside Futsal Club 4-1 Inner West Futsal Club
Spurred on by their club day event, UTS Northside claimed a valuable scalp of second placed Inner West as they push for a finals spot.
It’s a much-needed win for the club after losing four of their past five. A fast start to the second half ensuring that they took away the points over a strong Inner West side.
For Inner West, it was just one of those games really. They were left frustrated as they had the opportunity to take first spot with a win or a draw.
In what was to become a bit of a pattern across the fixtures over the weekend, there was just the one goal to speak of in the opening half. UTS opening the score through Michael Borg who later went off injured (hopefully not to serious).
The second half saw more action with UTS once again claiming the crucial first goal, Lucas Rainbird the scorer of that one. Two goal lead too dangerous for you? Well they made it three from the penalty spot, Karin Moursi finishing that one.
Inner West then hit back through a great strike from Toby Seeto but a late lapse in concentration saw Nathan Amore score UTS Northside’s fourth of the afternoon.
UTS Northside next face Campbelltown City Quake while Inner West have an enticing matchup with Mascot Vipers.
Mascot Vipers 3-2 Mountain Majik Futsal Club
Four wins in a row, Mascot Vipers are flying as we enter the crunch time of the season. This week they edged out the Mountain Majik in a close game Saturday evening.
It’s a good time to be a Viper as they are impressive all across the board, top of the club championship with no grade letting them down from U14’s up, it is really starting to show in their men’s set up.
That’s not to discount the Majik though who gave them a fight in this one with a late goal ensuring some nervy moments for the Vipers.
The first goal of the game came for the hosts on the brink of halftime, Conor Quilligan the scorer with his 7th of the season.
As is usually the case in this competition, the goals seemed to flow more freely after the break though with the two teams exchanging blows. Chris Barbera finding the net first for the visitors with the first of his brace.
Responding positively, the Vipers struck twice nine minutes later. Ethan De Melo with their second before Timothy Scott completed their tally with their third.
The last few minutes proved far from easy though with the Majik making them earn their victory, Chris Barbera completing his brace with six minutes left. They couldn’t find a third to draw level though, the result leaving them with a bit to do with three rounds left.
While the Vipers sit third ahead of their fixture with Inner West next weekend.
Enfield Allstars 2-3 Eastern Suburbs Hakoah Futsal Club
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah notched up their third straight win coming out on top of Enfield Allstars by a single goal in the late game.
Two early goals set them on their way to victory for the visitors who hung tight against their opposition, the win keeps them in the top four with three games remaining.
It was a case of Déjà vu for Enfield Allstars who once again found themselves chasing a game like last week. They remain top but they’ll want to turn things around sooner rather than later.
As mentioned previously, the “visitors” got off to the better start scoring twice in the opening seven minutes. Firstly through Gilad Swartz who converted after a ball was cut back to him. Before Jonathan Lynch doubled their advantage two minutes later.
That two-goal lead lasted just four minutes before Enfield Allstars hit back, Dominic Cox returning to the scoresheet after missing out last weekend.
However the lead was once again brought out to two via an Emmanuel Tzanakes goal seven minutes into the second.
Chasing the game, the Allstars made things interesting once again when Dean Skiadaresis scored with twelve minutes left. They couldn’t however find the net again meaning they’ve gone three games without victory.
By Justin Smith