January 21 saw Round 11 of the NSW Premier League futsal competition play out; for the Boomerangs, this meant taking on the Enfield Rovers Club at the AIS.
The development/academy matches started the day from 10.30am with the competitive matches kicking off at 12.30pm with the 12 boys and concluding with the Men’s match at 7.20pm.
Don’t forget to check out the photos of Match Day 11 at the Boomerangs photo site.
A short summary of the day’s results:
12 boys – Boomerangs 0 – 8 Rovers (HT 0– 2)
13 girls – Boomerangs 2 – 3 Rovers (HT 1 – 2)
14 boys – Boomerangs 2 – 4 Rovers (HT 1 – 1)
15 girls – Boomerangs 2 – 1 Rovers (HT 0 – 1)
16 boys – Boomerangs 0 – 7 Rovers (HT 0 – 3)
17 girls – Boomerangs 4 – 1 Rovers (HT 2 – 1)
Youth men – Boomerangs 5 – 3 Rovers (HT 3 – 2)
Open Women – Boomerangs 4 – 1 Rovers (HT 1 – 0)
Open Men – Boomerangs 4 – 3 Rovers (HT 3 – 1)
A tremendous round of futsal for the Boomerangs club – the best of the 16/17 season by far – with five solid wins from the nine competitive matches and another two close losses which could have easily gone the other way. This was a massive turnaround from the previous round – but noting that the Rovers sit towards the bottom of the club championship and the Magic (last week’s opponents) sit on top. Regardless, it was a terrific effort with strong performances across all age groups. And the two boys age groups that were solidly defeated, were lacking the majority of their regular players and were relying mostly on players from the age group below.
The 13 Girls were involved in a really tight tussle and with a bit of good fortune could have turned the match around. Two terrific goals (Stefi Lejins and Maddy Steinacker) saw the girls remain competitive, but they failed to hold out at the defensive end.
The 14 boys continued their great form of recent weeks but failed to shut down the Rovers Rhys Osmond, who scored their three goals. These boys have been improving every week and victory is not far away! Goals to Leon Michl and Keiren Allen.
The 15 girls kicked off the winning ways for the day with their 2-1 victory over the Rovers. A solid defensive effort across the court was well supported by 12-year-old Lillian Geale playing in goals after already having played in the 13 girls match. Goals to Lucy D’Arcy and Ella Brown.
The 17 girls have been building in confidence over the past few rounds and have been on the improve. A determined Ineke Voigt bagged two goals, with Alicia ‘Lefty’ Meuronen also smashing one home. The return of Grace Basser-Silk in the back court has helped with stability and organisation and in this match helped add another goal to the score sheet. Eleni Haridemos was also rock solid in goals (on her birthday!).
The Youth Men will need to be renamed the ‘entertainers’ with their high octane fast paced entertaining style of play. With only two on the bench, the team’s fitness was tested, but each and every time a player hit the court, they contributed to the fast-paced tempo of this match. The five goals scored were spread around with O’Gorman, Jurak, James-Ward, Darwich and Basser-Silk all registering on the score sheet. A tremendous effort by these lads and a very positive sign of some more great talent coming through the ranks of the club putting pressure on the men’s squad.
The Boomers Women’s team were in fine form and had control for most of the match. A solitary strike by Alex Martens in the first half gave them the single goal lead at the break. Their fitness, control and bench depth helped them run over the top of the visitors in the second half, who, after going down by a second goal, pushed forward with a fifth man powerplay. A play which worked for them in grabbing a goal back in the 35th minute. Late second half goals to Kate Deakin, Olivia Gurney and a second to Alex Martens sealed the match.
The Men’s match was another cracker with the speed, energy, and lightning passing combinations of the Boomers leaving the visiting Rovers in their wake. The goal scoring was again spread across the group (O’Dwyer, Rinaudo, Chris Smith and Basser-Silk) and the ability to not have to rely on any one player was one of the reasons for victory. The Rovers, on the other hand, were reliant on a single avenue to goal with Anthony Tomelic bagging their three goals. The Boomers men still retain a chance to make finals with three regular season matches remaining.
Following is the write up of the men’s match by Dan De Nardi of Football NSW.
Round 11 Review – SELECT Futsal Premier League
Round 11 of the 2016/17 Football NSW Select NSW Premier League saw Inner West defeat South Coast 5-2, Dural punch UTS Northside 5-1, Boomerangs shock Enfield 4-3, while Mountain Majik came from behind to down Mascot 7-4.
Inner West (28 points) lead Dural (22) ahead of this weekend’s pivotal fixture, with both teams assured of semi-final berths. Enfield (19) is next followed by a besieged UTS (14) that has Boomerangs (13), Majik (13) and Mascot (10) breathing down their playoff necks, South Coast (6) now too far behind to make the post-season.
The Golden Boot race tightened with Dural’s Vic Koutsoufis (13), Majik’s Jordan Guerreiro (13) and Enfield’s Michael Kouta (12) the most likely, and Rovers star Shervin Adeli (9), Mountain man Manual Duarte (9) and Magic’s Daniel Fogarty (9) still in the picture – 19 others have managed 5-7 goals for the summer.
South Coast Taipans 2 (Matt Mazevski 2) Inner West Magic 5 (Jonathan Barzel 2, Daniel Fogarty, Chris Zeballos, Miles Downie)
UTS Northside 1 (Nathan Amore) Dural Warriors 5 (Blake Rosier 2, Nathan Niski 2, Vic Koutsoufis)
Boomerangs FS 4 (Ben Basser-Silk, Jason O’Dwyer, Chris Smith, Michael Rinaudo) Enfield Rovers 3 (Anthony Tomelic 3)
Mascot Vipers 4 (Julian Rinaldi, Conor Quiligan, Shu Torihara, Luke Okuda) Mountain Majik 7 (Manuel Duarte 2, Jordan Guerreiro 3, Andrew Luttringer 2)
Boomerangs upset Enfield
Boomerangs FS sprung a 4-3 surprise on top-three Enfield Rovers at the AIS Training Halls to remain in the playoff picture now one point behind fourth-placed UTS Northside.
The Territorians showed plenty of courage early on to match it with their more fancied opponents and even take a 2-1 lead at oranges, standing toe-to-toe with Enfield in the second half to round out an edgy 4-3 victory – their first success against Rovers since late 2012 (Enfield still boast five wins in eight meetings).
Ben Basser-Silk, Jason O’Dwyer, Chris Smith and Michael Rinaudo scored for Boomerangs, while Enfield whirlwind Anthony Tomelic finished with a hat-trick for the losing side to take his season tally to seven goals following an opening round four-for against South Coast.
Only four others have scored more hat-tricks than Tomelic in a premier league season – team-mate Shervin Adeli claimed four in both the 2013/14 and 2014/15 campaigns, while three players boast three summer triples in Mascot’s Mitchell Stamatellis (2013/14), Campbelltown’s Mark Symington (2012/13) and Boomerangs ace Daniel Fulton (2011/12).
The eight-contest fixture has certainly produced some big individual performances over the years with Adeli, Fulton and Rovers player Dominic Cox all scoring hat-tricks in the past, while Fulton and Enfield veteran Lachlan Wright have also tallied league-high five-goal games – a mark only reached on four other occasions in the competition’s 10-year history.
Enfield are winless in their past three outings and face besieged UTS this weekend, leaders Inner West the week after, and a desperate Mascot in the final round. From competition pace-setters early in the season, Rovers are facing a distinct possibility they may miss the finals altogether if they don’t pull their socks up.
Next week’s games
Football NSW Select Futsal Premier League round 12 Saturday night features Mountain Majik versus South Coast Taipans at Blacktown Leisure Centre (4.40pm), UTS Northside host Enfield Rovers at Sydney Boys High School (6.40pm), Boomerangs FS welcome Mascot Vipers to the AIS Training Halls (7.20pm), and Inner West Magic play Dural Warriors at Valentine Sports Park (7.40pm). Visit the Football NSW website (Futsal tab) for full details.