FUTSAL WA

R13 – Men’s Supa-Liga, 2021/22 Summer Season

Featured Match Review

The featured Men’s match of this weekend was between Scarborough Sharks and Northern Hawks SC. The match was between two sides with completely contrasting seasons. Sharks have always threatened an upset against the top sides and have previously been very unlucky not to come away with more points than they have. Meanwhile, the Hawks were looking for another win to set up a blockbuster top of the table clash in the following week against the Pumas.

The match started off fairly tense with both sides trying to figure out what the best style of play would be. It took three minutes for the first chance of the game to come along. Northern Hawks Chez Houston taking matters into his own hands. Houston received the ball on the right flank and comfortably dribbled inside the court, passing it into the bottom right corner with his weaker right foot. The early Hawks goal made it look as though it was business as usual for them, but the Sharks held strong until the half-time whistle, in part through some strong defending but also due to the Hawks lacking any clear cut chances.

The second half was played in similar fashion to the first. The tense match restricted the amount of chances that both teams had and with every minute that went by with the score at 0-1, the Sharks would grow in confidence. The match began to get physical as the tensions grew. with just 5 minutes remaining, Jelenovic of the Hawks was deemed to have pushed over Nguyen into his Hawks team mate, knocking his head in the process. Jelenovic was given a yellow card for dangerous play, as Nguyen stepped off for the remainder of the match with a suspected concussion. The resulting free kick was laid off to Brandon Oosthuizen, who coolly passed it into the goals via a deflection, to give the Sharks their equalizer.

With the score line now at 1-1, both sides began to push for the winner. After a high octane few minutes, it was the Hawks that broke the dead lock and found their winner. Chez Houston picked up a loose ball and created a 2 on 1 offensive overload, back rolling it to Jelenovic who obliged and calmly put it past a helpless Middleton in the Sharks goal. The 2-1 win for the Hawks keeps them within one point of the top of the table. The Sharks on the other hand remain rooted to the bottom of the table, though still remain an outside chance for the finals.

In other league news, Futsal Factory were defeated by Andinxs FC 2-4. The win for the Andinxs sees them overtake the Factory in 5th, setting them up nicely on the run in to the finals. Perth Pumas FC narrowly defeated West Coast Cobras SC 5-4 to keep their top spot. The Cobras now drop to 4th after Condors FC comfortably defeated Phoenix Futsal WA 6-0, putting them in 3rd and keeping the Nix at 7th. ECU Jets remain in 8th place after their bye.