2018-2019 SFL Round 21 wrap-up

Friday night lights at the Pro Futsal Centre in Bibra Lake and what a way to start Round 21 with an absorbing 3-3 draw between Curtin Footballista FC and Spearwood Lions FC. Spearwood have picked up momentum in the second half of the season with some impressive results against sides in the top half of the table. Footballista struggled to impose themselves in this match and were clearly missing spearhead Mason Vojdani. Not only did they start the match without a full compliment of substitutes, but, they also lost club president & inspirational leader Behrad Shirvani to an early red card, for a hand ball in front of his goal. An entertaining match in which both sides worked hard to end up with a well earned draw.

The excitement continued with in-form Murdoch Warriors FC defeating Balga FC 12-2 as they continued their hunt for a spot in the Top 6. The high-scoring demolition included doubles to Justin Pearce, Massimo Basolu, Jamie Dunn and Meysam Kanani. Murdoch simply sat back in their half and consistently picked off Balga with expertly executed counter-attacks. Balga have a lot of work to do on their defence this week.

Another team that has been working hard on their defence this week is Perth AFC, who lost 3-1 to Perth Longobarda FC in the final match of the evening. Mid-season recruit Luca Bergomi against starred for Longobarda adding 2 more goals to his impressive tally since transferring from South Perth. He is proving to be the capture of the mid-season transfer so far with 7 goals in his last 4 matches. AFC head coach Jon Bucolo will have his work cut out again at training this week in order to address the inconsistency of play in his talented roster.

Saturday afternoon’s matches commenced with the Match-of-the-Round featuring third-placed Rockingham Cambio Cumbre FC taking on table-topping Cockburn EWA FC. EWA came out 3-1 winners, and in the process extending their record-breaking-run to 11 wins in a row. An extraordinary achievement backed up by their creative captain Mark Gavranic with 2 goals (taking his season tally to an impressive 21 goals in 21 matches). The loss was Cumbre’s second in a row, and third of the season. They have some work to do on the training courts in order to get their rhythm back. Head coach Wazeem Omar is now back from his trip to Barcelona, Spain, where he spent 2 weeks with some of the best futsal coaches in the world.

That top-of-the-table clash was followed by another low-scoring affair with Fremantle FC edging Joondalup ECU Jets 2-0. ECU missed top-scorer Joe Higgins as they chased the match late on. Fremantle kept their first clean-sheet of the season and in the process jumped up to fourth spot on the table. Fremantle showed their steel in this match with their slick passing and movement off the ball. Captain Daniel Muzzarelli scored once again to take his season tally to an imposing 23 goals in 20 matches. He was ably assisted by the young Fremantle squad, with Benji Mikhael also on the scoresheet.

The final match of the round saw Stirling Braza Ginga FC defeat South Perth FC 5-0 in a routine victory. Braza’s captain Pavel Parihuzic celebrated his birthday with a brace of goals, taking his season tally to 13 goals in 19 games. He has certainly led Braza with pride this season. Goalkeeper Glenn Sheldon kept a clean sheet to add to his impressive tally of clean sheets this season. It was a comfortable victory for Braza who employed the zero rotation in this match, a formation that South Perth struggled to cope with. South Perth were missing several of their stars and again fielded several youngsters from the youth team. The invaluable experience that the U19s players are gaining from playing for the senior side will hold them in good stead as they progress to the semi-finals of the U19s JSFL Competition this weekend. They certainly have shown their improvement in that competition jumping from last on the table earlier in the season to finish comfortably in fourth spot.