Semi Final Preview – Futsal Premier League Open Women’s
Can anyone stop the Mascot Vipers? That’s the challenge for three teams heading into the Futsal Premier League Open Women’s finals weekend.
With two semi-finals set to take place on the Saturday and the big dance just 24 hours later, we take an in depth look at all four sides who feature in post season action. So join us at the Centre and VSP as we send 2022 off with some fireworks on the pitch!
Mascot Vipers v Dural Warriors; Saturday 17 December, 3pm, The Centre Dural Futsal Pitch 1
Dural Warriors face the tough task of handing Mascot Vipers their first defeat since round eight when they meet in this week’s first semifinal.
Slowly the momentum around Mascot Vipers has been building this season and it looks to be peaking at just the right time heading into the finals. And it’s not only the Open Women’s where this is happening with the club dominating all women’s and girls set ups this season. However focusing on the Open Women’s, they come into the finals on a four-game winning streak and seven game unbeaten run. Tess Quilligan leads their goalscoring ranks but goals have been shared around the team while they also possess the best defense in the league. Finals are unpredictable yes, but it will take something special to overcome the Vipers this weekend.
Hoping to do that something special are the Dural Warriors. Unlike their opposition this week though, they have on the large part struggled for consistency on the pitch. In recent weeks they have beaten both Mountain Majik and Inner West but they have only secured six points from their meetings with top four opposition this season. Sarah Easthope in goal will need to be on alert this weekend, while Rachel Perrins and Samantha Nagy will lead their attack having both found the back of the net on 12 occasions this season.HoHoHH
It’s been a little while since these two last faced off, will that and home advantage help the Dural Warriors secure an upset here.
Previous Meetings: Mascot Vipers 3-3 Dural Warriors R10; Dural Warriors 0-1 Mascot Vipers R3.
UTS Northside Futsal Club v Eastern Suburbs Hakoah Futsal Club; Saturday 17 December, 3pm, The Centre Dural Futsal Pitch 2
After sharing victories in the regular season, UTS Northside and Eastern Suburbs Hakoah meet again with a grand final spot on the line.
Form wise, UTS Northside will be the favourites for this once after stringing four victories on the spin in the later half of the season including one over this week’s opponents last weekend. This season they have taken ten points from a possible eighteen against finals opposition so they will be confident heading into this one. Daisy Arrowsmith stands out as a key player with a season goal tally of 18 goals, but the support cast has been impressive throughout the campaign so keep an eye out for keeper Samantha Fulwood, Halle Smit and Grace Arnold amongst others.
Up until last weekend, Eastern Suburbs Hakoah were breathing down the necks of eventual premiers Mascot Vipers. However some inconsistency in their past five matches saw them drop to third. The leagues top scorers throughout the season with 55 goals, there’s plenty of reason to believe they can reverse last weekends result. To do so however, they’ll have to do it without Marcella Santos who picked up a red in that one. In terms of players to keep an eye out for this weekend, Tamires Souza and Gisella Pipino stand out as their attacking threats.
It’s anyone’s game this one with both teams sharing the spoils in their two meetings this season in what promises to be an entertaining clash.
Previous Meetings: UTS Northside 3-1 Eastern Suburbs Hakoah R14; Eastern Suburbs Hakoah 2-1 UTS Northside R7.
The Futsal Premier League Open Women’s Grand Final will take place this Sunday at Valentine Sports Park with a 3pm kick off. We’ll have a review Saturday night to catch you up on the action ahead of the big game!
By Justin Smith
