Tuesday December 9, 2008 6:51 pm

Tasmanian Futsal Supa Liga Final Round

Monday Night saw the final two games of the Tasmanian Supa Liga before the finals series on Saturday the 13th of December.

With ladder positions to be decided for 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions it was a very good round for Minor Premiers Tassal Stripes as they coasted to an 8-1 victory in the final group game against Hobart United to consolidate top spot on the ladder with 6 wins from 6 games. Once again Huw Jarvis showed excellent finishing with 3 goals while Jason Dawes and Kirk Stanton both grabbed 2 a piece with Seth van Heyster rounding out the scoring for the top side while for Hobart United it was Adrian Pickin who grabbed to solitary goal.

The other game of the night saw a battle for 2nd spot between the Tasmanian Islanders Southern Youth team and Sandy Bay Storm. This was an eagerly awaited clash with many of the State’s top junior coaches meeting players they had coached at previous National Titles head to head on the court. The game started well for the Youth side with DiPendra Kunwar opening the scoring although the tempo of the game was controlled by Sandy Bay Storm and the addition of Matthew Brown and Kosta Grillas back into the squad made all the difference. Debutant Keeper Rory McCallum had a great game for Sandy Bay Storm in what was a very tactical and patient game but in the end it was the Storm who recorded a confident 9-5 victory to go to 2nd on the table. Goals for the Storm were Josh Fielding 3, Kosta Grillas and Corey Smith both 2, Igor Sao Jose 1 and Jacob Gordon 1 while for the Youth side Kunwar grabbed 2, Will Ashwood 2 and Jamie Vernon 1.

Upset of the round saw bottom side Tas. Islanders Northern Youth grab their first win of the season against Northern Fusion 8-5 which saw the Fusion stuck in 4th place.

Saturday sees top side Tassal Stripes take on 4th Placed Northern Fusion at 11am in the first semi final at Moonah Sports Centre while at 12pm 2nd placed Sandy Bay Storm will take on the 3rd placed Tasmanian Islanders Southern Youth side for a spot in the final which will be played the same day at 4pm.

The top four teams will all be confident going into finals day with all teams looking to find top form. Northern Fusion will be missing star player Shay Hickey while Sandy Bay Storm will be missing Joshua Fielding and Goalkeeper Ben Peter.

During the day there will be exhibition games from the Tasmanian Islanders Futsal Academy squads in the 10 year, 11 year and 12 year old age groups while proceeding the Supa Liga Grand Final at 4pm will be a Women’s Exhibition game between two of the South’s top A Grade teams.

Tassal Stripes are the favourites heading into Saturday with an unblemished record to date but will need to be on their game with the other three sides all capable of upsets on their day.

Team Coaches had this to say about their finals chances -

Tassal Stripes Coach and Organiser Jez Singh – “we would have to be confident going on form so far although we are very aware of the threat that both Sandy Bay Storm and the Youth team pose, we will be very focused and will be trying to do the business saturday”

Sandy Bay Storm Captain and tournament organiser Corey Smith – “It will be a great day if all teams bring their best line ups and i am sure that if things go right for us we can push for a finals victory although for me i would say Tassal Goalkeeper Michael McKenna could be the biggest stumbling block for any of the other sides chances, It will be great to see some high quality futsal in what will be the end of a very good competition and it will also be great to have the juniors and womens games proceeding the final which will show just how far the sport is coming along”

Youth team coach Nick Harrison – ” If the boys can stay focused and disciplined then we could cause an upset but you would have to favour Tassal at this stage”

Northern Fusion Captain and tournament organiser Will Gee – ” We will be under strength with a few niggling injuries but i am looking forward to being a part of the first ever finals series and i hope its a great day to end what has been an exceptionally high standard competition to date”