Match Day 11 – Saturday 10th December, Dural Warriors.

Once again we take on the mighty Dural Warriors, looking not only to improve on the score lines from our previous encounter, but to improve on our performance and ultimately the single point that we returned with from our previous encounter.

First up our Academy and Development squads joined forces against a mixed Dural Academy side and came away with a fine victory. Hopefully it would set the scene for the day.

The 12 Boys were looking to put the disappointment of last week’s narrow defeat at the hands of Inner West behind them, and turn in a good performance against the established Warriors. An even first half of good, highly skilled futsal saw Dural go in with a narrow 0-1 lead. Bobby took the opportunity of the break to instil his wisdom, which seemed to have the desired effect. Goals from Joel King and Nathan Maljanovski saw the boys come away with a well deserved 2-1 victory.

The 12 Girls were not only looking to improve on the 5-0 defeat from our round 4 meeting, but to also try and forget last week’s 15-0 thumping from the All Stars. A much improved performance from all the girls was there for all to see and only a couple of defensive lapses letting in the Warriors for 0-2 lead at halftime. To their credit the girls never let their heads drop, and an equally spirited second half performance saw the girls get back to 1-2 through Taylor Hardgrave. Despite all their efforts they couldn’t quite get the equaliser, but a great improvement all round.

The 14 Boys, like our 12 Boys, are looking to get into the finals, and as the only team to get a point from Dural previously, all hopes were high. So when Kyle Del opened the scoring for the Taipans, it would just be a formality! Not in futsal, not against Dural… Two goals without reply had the Warriors go in 1-2 at halftime. An end to end second half and goals from Matt Mazevski, Mitch Ferraro and Mitch Di Pietro, saw the final score at 4-3 to the Taipans. A tough game but a vital win for the lads that had us on 6 points for the day after only three games.

The Taipan 14 Girls needed to overturn an 8-0 defeat from our round 4 match-up if they were going to get anything from today. Two goals from Dural in the first half and the game seemed to be going the same way of those before, but the second half saw probably the girls best performance of the season and 2 great goals from Ebony Fraser saw the girls get well earned 2-2 draw and another point for the Taipans on the day.

The Taipan 16 Boys lost 7-2 in our previous encounter, and it was always going to be tough against high flying Dural. The Taipan boys kept it close and were always in contention going in 0-1 down at half time. Unfortunately a solitary goal from Sam Chamberlain in the second half was not to be enough as the Warriors finished 1-3 to the good.

Like the 14’s, our 16 Girls were looking to overturn an 8-0 defeat from or previous match. As with all of our games so far today, the girls were extremely competitive and gave the Warriors a great game. Unfortunately 0-2 down at halftime turned to a 1-4 defeat with Chloe Raymond scoring a fine goal for the Taipans.

Our Youth Men finally had most of their players back from schoolies but failed to find the sort of form we know they are capable of. It was Dural who woke from their slumber first from a flat opening, and raced to a 1-4 halftime lead. The young Taipans did manage to contain the Warriors to just one second half goal, but it was too little too late with a final score of 1-5. Klime Sekutkoski was the scorer of the Taipan goal.

Our Women without a win all season, needed to turn around an 8-1 defeat from our round 4 encounter to get anything from this game but would be buoyed by last week’s performance against the All Stars. Goals from Brook Duffy and Ivana Zaric gave the Taipans an unbelievable 2-0 halftime lead. A goal from Dural set up the comeback, but a quick response from Hayley Cruickshank restored the two goal margin between the sides. Dural managed to pull another back but the young Taipan women held on to record their first win of the season 3-2. The Taipans now had a record 10 points for the day!

The Dural were men were sitting at the top of the table after defeating Sydney City Eagles last week, and the Taipans, despite improved performances of late were still sitting at the opposite end. With a 12-1 defeat still etched firmly on the minds of the players from round 4, a new resolve amongst the South Coast men was there for all to see. A customary goal from Pete Gaffney and a bomb from Daniel Atkins had the Taipans take a 2-1 lead at halftime. But any team with Seeto and Giovenali in it is never going to sit down, as the Warriors fought back to take a 2-3 lead before Anthony Dahdah equalised, finishing off a display of unbelievable tekers by Alvin Ceccoli. 3-3 was a fitting end to a good pulsating game of futsal

So 11 points from Dural was our best day yet, and beyond all our expectations. But the players deserve all the credit, as they showed they can compete at this level against such a great club like Dural. Well done to all the players.

Next week is our last game before Christmas and has us at home against Sydney City Eagles. We can look forward to a fun day full of exciting futsal.

See you all there…………..

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