Futsal Premier League Open Men’s Round 5 Preview
Whisper it quietly, we may actually have a full slate of FNSW Premier League Open Men’s action this Saturday evening.
Not only that, we have some bonus action on Sunday making it an important weekend in the competition.
Mascot Vipers v Eastern Suburbs Hakoah Futsal Club; Saturday 14 October, 5:20pm, Heffron Centre
We kick things off with a local derby of sorts as Mascot Vipers host Eastern Suburbs Hakoah at the Heffron Centre.
It’s a big weekend for the Mascot Vipers with two matches against strong opposition over the weekend.
In round four action, they shared the spoils with Dural Warriors on the road. A last minute goal lifted morale there with Nathan Niski and Jonathan Barzel the standouts.
Eastern Suburbs Hakoah on the other hand claimed a much-needed victory over Boomerangs FS a couple of weeks ago.
Their round four fixture with Enfield Allstars was rescheduled, so they’ll be keen to return to the pitch. Keep an eye on Mitchell Lowe who will be a key player in this one.
Both sides will be chasing their second win of the season in this one as they look to build momentum for the weeks ahead.
Boomerangs FS v Macarthur Quake Futsal; Saturday 14 October, 5:20pm, Mpowerdome
Boomerangs host Macarthur Quake in the first of two games at home this weekend at the Mpowerdome.
Returning home for the first time this season, Boomerangs will see this weekend as a good opportunity to claim their first victory of the season either here or against Dural Warriors on Sunday.
Against UTS Northside last time out, it was one of those games where they were left wondering how they didn’t come away with something. Ash Collins impressed on his return to the side in goal while Callum Smith scored their goal.
Last weekend was quite the reality check for this young Macarthur Quake side. Against Mountain Majik, they had a few moments of joy amongst a tough evening eventually going down 11-4.
So, there’s plenty to learn for this young side in the forthcoming weeks particularly in defensive transition. Lucas Luburic is worth keeping an eye on ahead of this one after scoring a brace last weekend.
Mountain Majik Futsal Club v Dural Warriors; Saturday 14 October, 5:50pm, Valentine Sports Park
Mountain Majik will see a few returning faces take to the pitch when they host Dural Warriors at Valentine Sports Park.
Not that you would know that they were missing players, the Majik have had a dream start to the competition with three victories in their three games to begin the 2023 campaign.
Last weekend was a convincing victory over Macarthur Quake at home. At times, Anthony Haddad was unplayable in transition with a hat-trick in the opening six minutes to set the tone. His side going on to score 11 goals on the night.
Dural Warriors will be hoping to turn one point into three this weekend in either of their two fixtures to fulfill. They’ve started the season with two draws including last week against Mascot Vipers at home.
Missing four first team players, they were brave with their defense holding firm against a strong Vipers outfit. While Hamza Sweedan scored their goal in that one. It’s a big test for them, but one they will be relishing in this one.
Enfield Allstars v UTS Northside Futsal Club; Saturday 14 October, 6:50pm, Morris Iemma Indoor SC
Finally, Enfield Allstars will hopefully make their return to the competition after playing just one of the opening four rounds as they host UTS Northside.
The Allstars are a side we don’t know a lot about approaching round five of the competition. They have featured in just the one game back in round two against Mountain Majik going down to Mountain Majik on that day.
They do have plenty of quality however with Domenic Badolato, Dominic Cox and Shervin Adeli all featuring in the Futsalroos victory over Chinese Taipei on Monday night.
UTS Northside come away from their early season home run with two victories and a draw in their four games. None more remarkable than their victory over Boomerangs FS last weekend.
They were reduced in number on three separate occasions throughout. Lucas Rainbird scoring a winner in the 38th minute of the contest. They will be without the three who received a red card last weekend so this could be a tough ask.
R2 catch up: Boomerangs FS v Dural Warriors will be played Sunday 15 October, 4:30pm @ Mpowerdome.
As well as R3 catchup: Mascot Vipers v Mountain Majik, Sunday 15 October, 7:30pm @ Heffron Centre.
By Justin Smith
