Maccabi’s premiership first grade side. Photo: Tim Fulton
DAVID WEINER
THE “Championes, Championes” catchcry beamed from a huddled Maccabi futsal squad around Dural centre court late on Saturday night (February 20) – and there can be little disputing that claim.
The minor premiers in both the senior and youth grades were the best over 13 rounds of Football NSW’s Summer Super League, and when both teams stared down the barrel of upset grand final defeats, they showed their mettle to emerge with two premiership trophies from a riveting night of futsal.
The senior side looked a high-class unit in its 5-3 win over Boomerangs FC, but they endured an almighty scare when they let a 3-0 lead slip midway through the second half.
Despite missing captain Simon Keith and coach Steve Knight to international duties, the Blues were a breathtaking sight in full flight, delighting with their movement and one-touch futsal.
But they must have been sick of the sight of the Boomerangs’ goalkeeper, who saved his side more than a dozen times.
Slav Platkov’s solo run through the heart of the Canberra-based outfit opened the scoring after five minutes. Maccabi dictated the early tempo, but the Boomerangs then caught the Blues off guard against the run of play, forcing goalkeeper John Myers to bring down the oncoming striker within the box and luckily escape further sanction. Myers, as ever, was a formidable target to beat, and then parried the penalty away to his right.
The 1-0 half-time score belied the entertainment value on show, but it tells the story of the match’s intensity. Myers was called upon to make two further point-blank saves, while Antony Tow and Platkov both saw shots cannon off the post and the keeper.
The Blues started the second like a team possessed. Jordan Mundell was proving impossible to dispose, and Platkov was running riot. The side cashed in when Daniel Fulton scored from the penalty spot, after another eye-catching, one-touch move induced a foul in the box. Fulton then showed deft skill to maraud down the right flank and, after attracting the keeper and teeing up Tow, Maccabi looked comfortable at 3-0.
But with the Blues spurning a glut of chances, the Boomerangs were still in it when they did not deserve a sniff. With seven to go, the game turned on its head. Maccabi might have already been celebrating but, within minutes, the scores were level. There were jitters; the Boomerangs were on top for the first time all night and the title looked a goner.
The gauntlet was laid down and the Blues ran it. Stand-in skipper Doron Pozniak enjoyed an inspired performance, playing a defence-splitting pass to Mundell. Mundell then set up Tow, before celebrating his own final goal in a polished performance.
The tone was set earlier in the night when the youth side powered home in extra time to beat the Northern Tigers 6-4 in a pulsating decider. A Lev Lewis pile-driver with his non-preferred right foot got the side off to the perfect start, and the Blues were full of energy, hustling their opposition.
But a momentary lapse saw a long-range strike sneak in for 1-1 at the break, turning the momentum.
The Blues slipped down 1-2, but Judd Felsher’s headed flick helped Jarrod Basger get them back to 2-2. At 3-2 down, and with time well against them, Lewis slid an unbelievable pass to Brett Rosenberg, who held his nerve to finish at the back stick and send the match into overtime.
Fittingly, it was Basger -– a star on the night -– who took matters into his own hands, and broke the game open with a solo game-breaker straight away.
Sam Kettler and Nic Fisher both deservedly got on the board, and the mood was set for a day that Maccabi futsal will never forget.
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