7:20pm – Pascoe Vale FC 4-3 CF Brunswick

The Futsal Oz Cup was back once again and all top eight sides looked hungry to taste cup success. First clash on the card saw one of the cup favourites Pascoe Vale take on danger side CF Brunswick in what proved an epic encounter. The bloods started brighter as they opened the scoring through Ruz Roslan and strangely enough the bloods held that lead for the entire first half going into the break 1-0 in front. It wasn’t long before the Lions were back in it as Mark Burton levelled proceedings. A lovely piece of foot skills from Mike Sharples saw the Bloods regain the advantage and if not for a couple of world class saves from Dianooush Rasoulzadeh they may have been further in front. A thumping free kick from Adam Husseni had the lions level once again but before they could even catch their breath Matthew Piga restored the Bloods advantage with a thumping effort which flew into the top right hand corner. Pascoe Vale looked in danger of being eliminated in the first round of the cup trailing 3-2 with only 3 minutes remaining. Golden Boy Joao Da Silva equalised with a minute remaining and when it looked as if the game would be heading for extra time Andre Caro ended a Barron run in-front of goals thumping home the winner to send the Lions through in a fiery affair. Pascoe Vale will take on the winner of Prahran vs Ashburton while Brunswick fall at the first hurdle but could be proud of their efforts.

North Melbourne FC 6-5 FC Essendon

After watching arc rivals Pascoe Vale just scrape over the line North Melbourne fancied their chances against an out of sorts Essendon, and they were ahead within just 15 seconds through Mirza Pedic and doubled it early on with a beautiful toepoke through Jonathan Barrientos. Big man Pedic continued causing headaches for the Wanderers defence getting his second and opening up a 3-0 lead. Fearing a blowout Essendon hit back after new signing Taylan Aksoy cut one back for Udit Dhawan to give his side a fighting chance and Anthony Hammer got another one back to give a wasteful Essendon side a chance only trailing 3-2 at the half time break. Second half underway and again North flew out of the blocks with Adam Cooper streaming down the right flank cut it back for Mirza Pedic but Taylan Aksoy hit his first goal in Essendon colours to keep his new team in the contest. Jason Barrientos scored possibly his most important goal of the season as he restored the 2 goal buffer. A brilliant passing move from the champions saw Alex Jankovic extend the vipers lead. Late goals from Juso Julardzija and Vlado Zoric added some respectability to the scoreline but it wasn’t enough. North join Pascoe Vale in the semi finals and await the winner of Metropolitan vs Balwyn in the last clash of the night.

FC Prahran 10-4 Ashburton FC

With 2 sides already through to the Semi Finals an out of form Prahran take on Sofiane Soufi’s Ashburton side having being beaten by The Green Machine just a week earlier Ashburton were confident of ruining Prahran’s cup dream. Returning Maxi Avram opened the scoring for Prahran which was followed by Marcos Barbosa opening his account for the night. Avram showed how important he is to his warriors side doubling his tally to rush his side out to a 3-0 lead. Soufi grabbed one back after being heavily marked for most of the first half. Hep Tran classily finished a brilliant team goal from Prahran before Soufi hit his second just before the break to have his side trailing 4-2 at half time. To open the second period Barbosa slammed a free kick past stand in goalkeeper Jimmy Ly. A quick fire double from Clint Mogoai. Soufi cut the ball back for Jermaine Deng who unbelievably hit both posts from point blank range and it was quickly punished by clinical finisher Maxi Avram and Avram could have had another if not for a brilliant goal line clearance from Mussy Elor. Michael Chami pulled off a string of fine saves to deny Ashburton. Soufi and Ravel Tavares got The Green Machine back into the game. It was all too late though as Barbosa and Cameron Holmes put some polish on the result to send Prahran through to a Semi Final Showdown with Pascoe Vale. Ashurton meanwhile will be disappointed with their performance as they exit the tournament in the first round.

Metropolitan FC 11-15 FC Balwyn

Last clash on the card laid its claim for one of the most poorly played game of the season as defence was thrown out the window. Ivan Zilic opened the scoring against his former club but Alija Redzepovic levelled shortly after. Another 2 quick goals from Zilic lead to a timeout being called from Metro to stop the flow of goals as Zilic’s hat trick was completed within the opening 5 minutes. A sweet passing move between Zilic and Zadworny extended the deficit to 5-1. Jusuf Avdic bundled the ball home to bring the Sky Blues back into the contest before Alexander Stevanovic got another to close the gap a bit more. Zadworny and Zilic seemingly killed off the contest before half time, Dino Redzepovic hit one late in the half and if not for an amazing save from Frano Saric to deny Tomo Grigic but he could do nothing to deny Stevanovic with just a few seconds remaining in the half. Alija Redzepovic hit 3 goals early in the half to bring Metropolitan right back into this topsy tervy game. Before a scoring spree from Balwyn showed just how capable they were infront of goal adding 5 goals within 5 minutes with 2 to Zadworny 2 to Bodo and one for Zilic looked to have knocked the Sky Blues out of the cup in the first round. Alija got what looked like it was just a conciliation as Zadworny set up Mark Saric for a 14-8 lead with only 4 minutes remaining. Steanovic and Avdic added some respectability to the scoreline. Zilic set up another for strike partner Zadworny as they hit 12 goals between them showing their importance to their side. A late goal from Dino meant nothing to the scoreline and once again the Sky Blues fail in a cup competition and end the season with no silverware once again. While Balwyn need a serious tune up in defence heading into another showdown with North Melbourne but knowing that If need be there are goals in the line up. Stay tuned for next weeks Semi Finals as well as the relegation battles its a massive time for futsal.

FUTSAL OZ CUP TOP GOALSCORERS

1. I.Zilic 7
2. R.Zadworny 5
3. A.Redzepovic 4
4. M.Pedic 3
5. M.Avram 3

NEXT WEEKS CLASHES

• TBA – Pascoe Vale FC vs FC Prahran
• TBA – North Melbourne FC vs FC Balwyn
• 7:20pm – Brimbank FCvs Albert Park FC
• 8:30pm – Fitzroy FC vs Hume FC
• 9:15pm – Mickleham FC vs Elsternwick FC