Things are heating up in the Football NSW State Leagues as the second round of the Premier Futsal League begins this weekend and just six rounds remaining before the finals of the Super Futsal League.

The Development panel referees have been pushing the top referees for places in the appointments stakes. The development panel comprises of promising referees under 23 years of age who are on the pathway, striving for bigger and better things.

Three such referees have been making regular appearances on senior fixtures and will be on court again this weekend controlling Super Futsal League senior matches.

Cameron Bruce will take charge of the vital top five Super League clash between Breakers FC and South Coast Taipans at the Sydney Academy of sport with Wayne Ranson teaming up in the combination that controlled the Men’s final at the Football NSW State Titles.

Darren Allatt will work with Khodr Yaghi at Emerton Leisure Centre as Greater Western Sydney Vikings host Sydney University while Nicholas Backo comes off the National Youth League lines at Sydney FC and joins Dougie Hendry at Marrickville PCYC for the clash between Sydney Benfica and Enfield Rovers.

Other development group referees have been learning their craft in the Premier Futsal League’s junior ranks.

This Saturday Alessandra Moussa and Matthew Allatt will control the top ranked junior fixtures this weekend between Campbelltown City and Sydney Magic.

Another promising young female referee, Kelly Jones will head to Hawkesbury where the Commodores meet promoted West City Crusaders, and Ashley Medway will be on hand at Bankstown Basketball Stadium for the always challenging fixtures between Sydney City and Inner West Allstars.

For referees wanting to be involved in the Football NSW State Leagues, get in contact with the Technical Sub-committee via the feedback form on the web site.

Source : NSW Futsal Referees Association
Published : 28/12/2008

An enthusiastic crowd of around 200 people gathered at the Michael Wenden Centre to see if the NSW Thunder could repeat the triumph of the previous night over the Russian touring team, FC Doctors.

From the outset it was easy to see that the visitors had learnt some of the lessons from the first game by setting up a very compact defensive zone around their “D” area. This tactic, coupled with some early turnovers from the locals, meant that it took NSW until the 13th minute to get on the scoreboard when Toby Seeto finished off a very slick move tapping in at the far post. FC Doctors showed some good touches on the ball but they were always put under pressure by the younger and more mobile Thunder boys. When World Cup referee Scott Kidson blew for half time the locals held a 2 - 0 advantage with Ross Fazzalaro having scored with a very good shot from a tight angle; the score line was kept at reasonable levels due to some very good saves by Karpov, the Russian goalkeeper and lacklustre shooting by the locals.

The second half gave us more of the same early on with the NSW team putting the pressure on the visitors but unable to make it count on the scoreboard. FC Doctors then began to work their way into the game and caused problems for the local defence forcing the Thunder keeper, Gavin O’Brian, into a very good save and hitting the post on another occasion. NSW weathered the storm and hit back with 2 good goals: classy Lachlan Wright scored the third one finishing off a good corner kick routine with a very powerful shot with the highlight a very nicely worked free kick resulting in an easy tap in by Ross Fazzalaro for the final score of the night.

All in all a very good start for the NSW Thunder team in a series of games that gave the coaching staff the opportunity to try out several different combinations against an outfit that showed some very good skills at times.

NSW Thunder

GK. Gavin O’Brien, 12. Tobias Seeto, 7. Rhys Giovenali, 10. Adrian Vizzari, 5. Simon Keith 8. Andre Gomez, 30. Lachlan Wright, 3. Chris Zabballos, 12. Danny Martinez, 23. Dean Lockhart, 9. Marino Musumeci, 25. Ross Fazzalaro, GK. Peter Spathis

FC Doctor

GK. Dimitri Karpov , 5. Michael Alexandrov, 3. Vitaly Samokhvalov, 10. Uri Predybaylov, 2. E Kutyrev , 6. I Volkov, 12. S Toms, 9. Dimitri Lupakov, 8. Serge Aladin , 11. Denis Afanasyev, 14. Konst Slobodin

Goals

NSW 4 (Ross Fazzalaro x2, Tobias Seeto, Lachlan Wright)

FC Doctor 0

Officials

Referee: Scott Kidson
2nd Referee: Nicholas Backo
Timekeeper: Ashley Medway
3rd Referee: Owen Ferguson

Source : Football NSW
Published : 28/11/2008

The finals of the Honiara Futsal League has taken place with the 3rd place playoffs for men’s divisions 1 and 2 being played yesterday and today.

The finals for all remaining categories will be played on Saturday 29 November.

The presentation for all categories will take place straight after the Men’s Division 1 final.

All fans and supporters of futsal are encouraged to go down and enjoy the excitement of watching at the Multi-purpose Hall.

Today’s game at 3pm will see Makuru taking on Kossa for third place play off in the men’s category.

Source : Solomon Star
Published : 28/11/2008

Ryan Catholic College’s dominance in the under-14 level at the recent Australasian futsal championships on the Gold Coast has two students poised for international honours.

The Townsville school blasted its way through the group stages with strong wins against Saint Andrews from Cairns (10-1), Robina (2-0) and Gympie (7-3) as well a hard fought battled with Albany Creek which ended 2-1 in Ryan’s favour.

They again dusted Gympie 7-3 in the semi-finals to set up another showdown with Albany Creek in the decider.

But instead of another tense encounter, Ryan demolished the southern Queenslanders with four goals in the opening five minutes to pave the way for a bruising 7-2 win.

A team of five were selected from all teams in the tournament to join the All-Star side, with Ryan’s twin attacking threats Maggie Dwyer and Bethaney Lawrence both making the cut.

Co-coach Mark Burgess was ecstatic to seal the result in such emphatic fashion after Albany Creek pushed them so hard in the group stages.

“After winning all the other games they were a bit worried they would come undone in the final
but they blew them away, they played brilliantly,” he said.

“It definitely is a big achievement, we really could have had all girls selected in the All-Star team.”

Dwyer and Lawrence will now get a chance to tour either New Zealand Brazil or China next year and Burgess is confident his three other starters will get the nod as well, with 10-strong touring parties to be selected for the tours.

Source : Townsville Bulletin
By : Josh Alston
Published : 26/11/2008

Well we’re half way through Tasmania’s premier futsal youth roster, being the Vikings Futsal twilight comp held on a Wed night at the Hockey Center and “The Stig” have made it seven from seven, scoring an impressive 81 goals while conceding just 6, one would expect them to perform well being the nucleus of the state team that won the National school titals in Dandenong and all bar one attend the Vikings Futsal Academy run by Corey Smith.

But its the way the boys play the game that impresses the most, the composure in possesion and the patiance and determination in defence really stands out regardless of the score. They are not definately not playing weak sides as most oponents contain State and Academy players and teams with over age players.

Most games will see teams from other age groups watching the boys play and hopfully learning from the way they get the job done. They still have to get over some very good teams in the second half of the roster but standing on the sideline I wonder who will be able to stop them with Trey Angus Josh D and Alex giving them so many options in attack and Cam Josh N Harry and Charlie (keeper) never giving an inch in defence its going to take a big effort for someone to knock them off.

Some of the passing moves are a joy to watch, stringing together fast accurate passes that almost always end in a shot on goal, text book stuff. Surely one of the best 12yo futsal teams in the Nation. But that is coming from their team manager.

Can anyone stop “The Stig”????

Source : Rob Norton
Published : 27/11/2008

In Game two of the International Futsal Friendly Series a crowd of around 300 turn out at Marrickville to watch NSW vs. FC Doctor (Russia).

It was NSW Thunder’s turn to take on the touring Russians. With seven current Futsalroos on display for the NSW Thunder it was always going to be hard for FC Doctor.

Both sides started the match slowly with neither side able to hold possession, NSW settled first and took the lead with a well worked goal. Some of the movement from the Thunder side was too much for the Russians to handle and NSW extended their lead five minutes later with a scramble inside the “D” which lead to a simple tap in. The Russians tried to continue to play their passing game but the mobile Thunder side was too much for FC Doctor to handle as they conceded three more goals to go into the break five-nil down.

The second half the Russians looked like a different team as they tried to play a counter attacking game which nearly worked for them when Michael Alexandrov found himself with only keeper Peter Spathis to beat, Spathis saved nicely for his only real work for the game. NSW continued to work on their combinations and NSW finished the game in style with Simon Keith grabbing a Hat-trick to finish FC Doctor off. The final result was nine-nil to NSW Thunder.

NSW Thunder

GK. Peter Spathis, 11. Tobias Seeto, 7. Rhys Giovenali, 30. Adrian Vizzari, 5. Simon Keith 8. Andre Gomez, 10. Lachlan Wright, 3. Chris Zabballos, 12. Danny Martinez, 23. Dean Lockhart, 9. Marino Musumeci, 24. Ross Fazzalaro, GK. Josh Da Palma

FC Doctor

GK. Dimitri Karpov , 5. Michael Alexandrov, 3. Vitaly Samokhvalov, 10. Uri Predybaylov, 2. E Kutyrev , 6. I Volkov, 12. S Toms, 9. Dimitri Lupakov, 8. Serge Aladin , 11. Denis Afanasyev, 14. Konst Slobodin

Goals

NSW 9 (Simon Keith 8″, 27″,35″, Lachlan Wright 17″, 33″, Ross Fazzalaro 13″, 14″, Adrian Vizzari 3″, Danny Martinez 30″)

FC Doctor 0

Officals

Referee: Sam McIntosh
2nd Referee: Andrew Best
Timekeeper: Alex Eroukhimovitch
3rd Referee: Darren Allatt

Source : Football NSW
Published : 27/11/2008

Eighth placed Sydney University gave a fighting and disciplined rear guard performance to defeat the more highly ranked Enfield Rovers 5-4 in an exciting and entertaining round 7 encounter.

The game started at a fast pace with both teams testing out goalkeepers Daniel Ingrati from Enfield and Cameron Nascon from Uni.

The first goal came in the 6th minute after an Enfield defender lost possession in the own half. This allowed Michael Watson to weave through the defence and guide a low wide shot past the keeper. The lead was consolidated in the 11th minute through an interception by Steve Vargas who dribbled down the left flank and crossed directly to the boot of Ben Hudson who eased the ball into the back of the net.

Enfield’s reply came in the 13th minute with a long distance shot from Nick Latsinos to beat the keeper. The equaliser from Enfield came a minute later when keeper Nascon came out of his area to clear a ball but was beaten to the task by a quickly arriving Scott Tonkin.

In the blink of an eye the momentum of the game seemed to be running with the Rovers. But to their credit Sydney University kept their cool and produced two stunning goals in the last 3 minutes of the half. In the 18th minute Steve Vargas took a shot from half way that smashed into the right post before hitting the back of the net. Watson then surprised everyone when he took a shot from close to the right corner which beat the defence, found the right post and crossed the line.

In the final moments of the half the score could have been greater if not for Ingrati saving two penalty shots. Sydney University went to half time with a 4-2 lead.

The second half started with an early goal from Enfield’s Anthony Dahdah to narrow the margin to 4-3.

A really exciting and tense game continued with end to end play as both sides hit the post on numerous occasions. The Uni team had conceded 5 fouls in the half after only eight minutes but showed excellent composure from this point.

The game was sealed in the last minute with Michael Watson slamming a free kick past the defence.

The excellent Cameron Nascon in goal and his defence was finally beaten as Enfield scored a deserved consolation goal from the last kick of the game after Uni finally conceded a foul. Enfield won the second half but Uni won the game.

The final score in what was a very exciting and entertaining game for the spectators was 5-4. Sydney University deserved their win while Enfield can lament on a game that should have been won but got away from them.

Source : Football NSW
Published : 27/11/2008

A strong showing from 6th placed Sydney University has put them in good position to push for a finals spot against a determined Enfield side at Ashfield.

Not to be taken lightly, the Rovers started strongly when, in the 3rd minute Courtney received a ball with her back to goal, swiveled quickly and buried her shot past the Uni keeper.

On the back foot Uni reasserted themselves into the game when Samantha equalised, slotting the ball past the Rovers keeper.

Both teams were working on passing and control, looking to move the ball into gaps and take shots at goal. In the 10th minute Alicia scored to give Uni a 2-1 lead.

With impressive play from both sides in a very even tussle, the score remained at 2-1 through to half time.

Making the most of their opportunities, in the 5th minute of the second half Sydney Uni took a firm grip on the game when Alicia slammed a goal into the back of the net to give Uni a 3-1 lead.

Both keepers were kept on their toes in particular the courageous Enfield keeper as the game swept from end to end. With the tenacious Enfield side trying to get back into the game and Uni looking to extend their lead.

But Sydney Uni’s speed and passing around the court was starting to tell as Enfield’s determined effort began to tire. Uni gained ascendancy and control of the play during the latter stages of the second half and the game was put beyond doubt when Carmel scored two quick goals.

Sydney Uni running out deserved winners over a fighting Enfield team 6-1.

Source : Football NSW
Published : 27/11/2008

Hastings Regions Development Officer, Alison Fazzolari has feature in a short Futsal promo on Port Macquarie’s Prime TV station.

Aired on the 18th of November, the story focused on Futsal as a hole and it’s benefits as a spot in its own right as well as a skill development base for soccer.

Alison has received positive feedback & enquires from all over the region, which will not only help the Mid North Coast Blaze but also clubs at Wauchope and up the north coast into the Coffs Harbour Region.

The Mid North Coast hope to push on with their PR campaign through varying mediums and are expecting to reap the rewards of their endeavours throughout 2009.

See the Video Online here

Source : Vikings Northern NSW
Published : 27/11/2008

Futsal Players in Brisbane and surrounding areas are invited to come to the Open Day at Ipswich’s newest Futsal venue.

After battling delays in construction due to weather we can finally have the Open Day on this Sunday (30th November), there will be FREE Sausage Sizzle, Roary the Qld Roar mascot will be making a special appearance as well. You are welcome to bring you Futsal shoes and have a kick and try out the new courts.

Developed at Swifts Sports Club on the corner of Brisbane and Green Streets Booval the venue has already attracted interest from players and teams to start playing next Wednesday night.

Any enquires can be directed to Ian West 0418 796 739

Source : Vikings Queensland
Published : 27/11/2008