Wednesday the 11th of Novmber

By Adam Husseini

North Melbourne 16 – 2 Melbourne University 6:30pm

Another warm balmy one in Melbourne and a hot stadium welcomed Futsal giants North Melbourne FC take on an undermanned Melbourne University, with coach Ling Zhong pulling on the royal blue outfit with star Udit Dahwan and Morris Edwards running late. Ling can be found playing in the lower tier competitions, but he gave a good account for himself putting in several decent tackles. North Melbourne arrived 30 minutes prior to kick off, completed a full warm up and looks to be stepping up their preparation for Nationals in January.

They were slow out of the blocks, they went 2-0 up after 7 minutes, Melbourne University pegged one back to 2-1 then North scored an unanswered 4 to take a 6-1 half time lead. Udit Dahwan arrived to a side in damage control and he could do little to stop De Moraes on numerous occasions that scored a record 9 goals, which was a tremendous effort against Melbourne University goal keeper Tom Wang. North Melbourne frightened all who were privileged to watch them with an orthodox & disciplined style of Futsal. 16-2 in the end, Melbourne University need to forget about this one as soon as possible and be better prepared for 6:30 kick offs.

Referees: Nectar Karalis & Ricardo Arajuo
North Melbourne: Fernando De Moraes 9, Colby Waterfield 3, Kui Mu 1, Johnathan Barrientos 1, Alex Jankovic 1, Mirza Pedic 1
Melbourne University: Duke Duva 1, Udit Dahwan 1

Doncaster 6 – 7 FC Prahran 7:15pm

Second clash of the night saw cup winners Prahran take on a Doncaster side that had lost all previous seven games. After a brief and intense shootout both teams had scored a few goals. Haider Noor, Prahran’s super signing struggled early and was berated by team mates for selfish play and missing several chances, he scored two important goals though but Prahran just couldn’t shrug a Doncaster side holding on for dear life.

They were in with a chance at half time and really gave it everything they had; Prahran grabbed a hold of the game with goal keeper Dima Shakhanov scoring an absolute screamer from half way. The stage was set for a superstar to steal the show, and he did, magical Maxim Avram with a vital goal on an acute angle to snatch back the lead. Doncaster equalized again, and with a minute remaining celebrated euphorically happy to take a point, but a minute was all Maxim needed to blast a left foot pile driver off the post to grab three points for Prahran and leave Doncaster with nothing in a truly remarkable game.

Referees: Ricardo Arajuo & Duck Farah
Doncaster FC: Bill Giannakos 3, John Kounna 2, Ari Vlahos 1
FC Prahran: Maxim Avram 4, Haider Noor 2, Dima Shakhanov 1

Pascoe Vale 8 – 4 Fitzroy FC 8:00pm

Dubbed game of the round by stat man Theo Lolo Lassa, this game had a lot to live up to. Fitzroy had won every previous game and looked a formidable outfit only missing solid Manny Karas. Pascoe Vale was without the injured Ravel Tavares and missing Simon Lamanda but both sides had enough quality to put on an epic. Simply, Pascoe Vale obliterated Fitzroy in a 14 minute spell that had everybody in utter disbelief. Tomislav Grgic rattled the cross bar from half way before Pascoe Vale put on a show, they played years above the youthful age of the team playing high tempo Futsal and maintaining possession in their attacking half.

4-0 down Flo Deffner called a time out with 7 minutes to go in the first half. You just felt that if Fitzroy could get a goal they would be back in the game. Adrian D’Ortenzio went down injured and he was causing Fitzroy all sorts of problems. Pascoe Vale only had 5 players and Fitzroy sensed blood.

5-0 to PV at half time, Fitzroy captain Flo Deffner ruffled the feathers of the Fitzroy team and they came out blazing. James Blackburn couldn’t find a metre of space with Pascoe Vale pressing like vultures so it was up to Dimitri Vithoulkas to score a hat trick in anger. Two simple finishes from corners and a lovely run around the arc of the D slotting under Gregory Laskaris. 8-4 in the end, Pascoe Vale has joined the title race party; they move into 3rd and play Metropolitan next week. Fitzroy need to bounce back against a resurgent Albert Park with a planned & optimistic approach.

Referees: Duck Farah & Nectar Karalis
Pascoe Vale: Marco Kuna 2, Adrian D’Ortenzio 2, Tomislav Grgic 2, Ernie Simsek 2
Fitzroy FC: Dimitri Vithoulkas 3, Luciano Bessa 1

Albert Park 8 – 7 Essendon 8:45pm

The royal blues took on the champions after two crackerjack Futsal games and didn’t disappoint. Essendon took a 2 nil lead before being pegged back by Ahmed Azzam, 2-2. Essendon really missed the youth, creativity and exuberance of Dushan Bosnjak. Spiro Athana played another solid game for Essendon and scored another brace. Ignat Filipovic (APFC) received a yellow card for a professional foul early, Dino Redzepovic was adventurous playing deep in Albert Parks defensive half linking up with brother Alia and striker Minja well. Essendon went into the break 4-3 up.

Albert Park came out firing with words of wisdom from Zoran Matic, poor finishing hurt them in the first half and they were slightly more clinical in the second. Ahmed Azzam definitely was, he scored 6! Alexander marshalled his troops and scored a hat trick himself but it wasn’t enough to stop a really determined Albert Park. Ignat Filipovic was sent off for a second yellow card offence late, and Albert Park had a nervy finish. They were 8-6 up in the dying stages, Alexander scored a very late goal to make things interesting and Albert Park just didn’t know what to do, when wasting time was probably the best option! Essendon are suffering from a massive championship hangover, Albert Park are the dark horse of the LEGEA V-League premiership.

Referees: Nectar Karalis & Ricardo Arajuo
Albert Park: Ahmed Azzam 6, Alija Redzepovic 2
Essendon: Alexander Stevanovic 3, Spiro Athana 2, Igor Stevanovic 2

Metropolitan 7-2 FC Geelong 9:30pm

If fans had finished entrée’s and mains, desert was on the cards with silky skills Metropolitan taking on brittle FC Geelong. Both sides were virtually unchanged from the previous week. After the high octane clashes witnessed, this game was easy on the eye as metropolitan dodged, danced and ran around Geelong like training cones.

Metropolitan was 4-1 up at half time after much better finishing from Victor Mesquita. Eren Ozdemir was solid on the wing providing support for Marcus Barbosa. Geelong worked hard but had nothing to show for it scoring a measly 2 goals in 40 minutes of Futsal. Geelong seemed to have found the right players and now they just need to find a suitable system to stay in games longer and give them a better chance of winning.

7-2 was the final score, Metropolitan continue to battle in that mid table area of the ladder, its not as rosy for Geelong who look destined for do or die relegation battles.

Referees: Ricardo Arajuo & Duck Farah
Metropolitan: Victor Mesquita 3, Gustav Gavalcanti 1, Eren Ozdemir 1, Mus Elor 1, Marcus Barbosa
FC Geelong: Adrian Bond 1, Robert Zadworny 1

Ashburton FC 3 – 3 FC Carlton 10:15pm

The last match of the evening saw FC Carlton, just as decimated and depleted as the week before take on Ashburton who had lost all three previous games. The game was a stale mate early, but confusion between Ramzy & Husseini allowed Carlton to score a simple back post volley. Carlton held a 1-0 lead for long spells and went into half time a goal up after several missed golden chances by Diego Assaeda (2) and Irzad Spijodic (4) who is going through a real rough patch of form.

The second half was a war of attrition. Shayan Alinejad got one over former team mate Husseini with a cheeky nutmeg and goal that deflated Ashburton and looked to seal the points for Carlton. The last 5 minutes proved to be the nights best with end to end action. Ashburton were 3-1 down, Husseini equalised after a side ball from Dixon, and then Junior Melo unleashed a powerful left foot drive to equalize 3-3. The game was a real spectacle; tackles were hard, there were important blocks, quick counter attacks and terrific saves. Carlton were the underdogs and could have had all 3 points! Ashburton need to get back to winning ways fast to avoid slipping down the ladder, they take on spirited Prahran next week.

Referees: Duck Farah & Nectar Karalis
Ashburton FC: Adam Husseini 1, Junior Melo 1, Anthony Ramzy 1
FC Carlton: Mohammed Alghorabi 1, Shayan Alinejad 1, Amir Mehravar 1

www.futsaloz.tv for highlights and www.futsaloz.com.au/vleague.html for ladder