Futsal F-League Round 3

Round Three of the 2015 F-Leaguecompetition was played out over the weekend of 24/25 May with home matches for both the Boomerangs men and women against the travelling Queensland teams, South Brisbane and Galaxy FC (Gold Coast).

It was a beautiful autumn afternoon in the capital, and with the sun shining, quite pleasant outdoors and indeed inside the mPowerdome. However as the afternoon sun gave way to the evening chill, the air became distinctly icy, making both the players and spectators shiver through the three matches.

MEN

South Brisbane

The first of the two men’s matches – against the South Brisbane team – kicked off at 4.15pm to open up the day’s proceedings at the mPowerdome. It took until nine minutes into the game for the Boomerangs to register their first score with a smashing shot by Grant Barlow – his second goal in just his second F-League match. In no time at all though, South Brisbane countered effectively to tie it up 1-1.

The Boomerangs coaching staff were forced to call a time-out as as South Brisbane score a second with seven and a half left in the first half.

On almost the very next offensive play the South Brisbane team had a player red carded for an infringement on Boomerangs first half goal keeper,Zac Sorenson. As hard as they tried though, the Boomers failed to convert the one man on-field advantage into scoreboard advantage in the following two minute period. However, not five seconds had elapsed after South Brisbane regained their full quota of on-field personnel, when a Cal Smith bomb smashed into the back of the net to tie it up two all.

The Boomers conceded another through an unfortunate own goal with just three minutes to play of the first half, ensuring the Queenslanders went into the half-time break a goal to the good.

The first eight minutes of the second half saw the Boomerangs pepper the South Brisbane goal for no return….  on the counter South Brisbane were busy throwing their best efforts at the Boomer’s defence. It took until eight minutes into the second stanza for a goal to come – and it was a cracker with Cal Smith taking matters into his own hands and slotting one home after beating most of the defenders along the way. Boomerangs 3-3 South Brisbane.

With five minutes remaining on the clock, the Boomerangs coaching staff called a much needed timeout after what had become a very physical period of play, resulting in several players being heavily knocked to the floor, including Smith, Ciminelli and second half keeper van Aalst.

Soon after the resumption, and for the second time in the match, Cal Smith took it upon himself to beat the whole South Brisbane team and smash home his third to make it a single goal lead with two and a half minutes to play.

Smith registered his fourth for the match from the ten metre penalty spot as South Brisbane incurred their sixth team foul of the physical second half. Ben Basser-Silk put a full stoon the game with just two seconds to play to wrap up a solid, and hard fought win over the courageous South Brisbane team.

Boomerangs Men 6-3 South Brisbane C. Smith 4, Barlow 1, Basser-Silk 1 

Futsal F-League Round 1

Round One of the 2015 F-League competition was played out over the weekend of 9/10 May and delivered a comprehensive victory to the Boomerangs Men’s team over F-League débutantes Bayside Pirates (Vic). The Boomerangs Women’s team had a Round 1 bye.

The match kicked off on a chilly Sunday morning in Fadden with the gusty winds buffering mPowerdome throughout the encounter. The Boomers men started the game with purpose, structure and discipline – an improvement over the fortnight since these two teams clashed in the pre-season Bairnsdale Futsal Challenge – a match the Boomerangs lads took out narrowly 6-4.

The Pirates, to their credit, also started the match with discipline and structure and it was both teams’ defensive structures that stood out across the first quarter of the match supported by some notable saves by both ‘keepers saving the scorer from registering any goals.

The second ten minute stanza of the first half though, saw the Boomerangs lift intensity and apply more pressure to the stretched Pirates defence. Two goals before half time ensued for the Boomers with Brad Sawyer flicking a header on from a wonderful Callum Smith pass, the shot just trickling over the line before the Pirates keeper could stop it, and a second only moments later thanks to a stabbed effort from Jono Ciminelli in front of goal in heavy traffic.

The team went into the half time break on the up seeing a scoreline advantage to go with the growing dominance across the court.

The second half could not have gotten off to a better start with Jake Wilsener netting within thirty seconds of the restart after a nice slick passage of play. This goal appeared to knock a bit of the confidence from the Pirates players and they spent most of the following five minutes on the back foot – with Sawyer slotting in his second in his first F-League match in a Boomerangs shirt – after some wonderful build up play leaving the score at 4-0 with fifteen to play.

The Pirates did their best to consolidate over the remainder of the half, but were no match for the more experienced Boomerangs. It seemed inevitable then that the Boomers finished off the match with a flurry with Ciminelli sweeping in a second off a rebound and Grant Barlownetting his maiden F-League goal within the final minute of play.

A solid win to start the season for the men’s team – but a match that identified a few areas to work on prior to the next set of challenges in two weeks time against Queensland’s South Brisbane and Galaxy FC.

Boomerangs Men 6-0 Bayside Pirates (Vic) Ciminelli 2, Sawyer 2, Wilsener 1, Barlow 1

2015 F-League Season

The F-League season for 2015 is about to kick off and once again the Boomerangs will be competing in both the Men’s and Women’s divisions.

Boomerangs are one of only three clubs that have competed in all previous seasons of the F-League (four for the men and two for the women). The men’s team have finished in fourth place in the past three seasons and played in semi-finals in the past two (seasons 2011 and 2012 had no finals series). The Boomerangs women have made it all the way to the Grand Final in the only two seasons of the Women’s F-League played so far, going down both times to the Sydney Scorpions.

The Boomerangs men’s team have lost a few players in the off season, with veteran keeper Angelo Konstantinou and Daniel Bennett signing up with the Magic and Daniel Fulton committing to East Coast Heat. Several additional senior players (Cattanach, Flannigan, Ross-Magee) have retired from this level of futsal (focussing on NPL Football) leaving the Boomerangs with one of the youngest teams in the league.

The team consists of (current Futsalroo) Cal Smith, Michael Reeve, the hard working and under-rated Jason O’Dwyer, the ever reliable Kristian Collins and shot-stopper Keiran Stroh forming the core of the senior players. The highly successful Boomerangs Youth team of the past few years contributes a number of players who will be asked to step up to the mark this season – something that is certainly on the cards as they have been given good court time at this level over the past few F-League seasons. The highly talented youth roster includes Jake Wilsener, Jono Ciminelli, Ben Basser, Daniel Giovinazzo and keepers Nick van Aalst and Zac Sorenson. A new signing this season is Brad Sawyer (played 2014 with Capital FC) who will be a welcome addition to the team as will rookie Grant Barlow. Nik Popovich also returns to the team after a year off F-League.

A top four finish is again the target as is the opportunity to play finals futsal for the fourth year in succession, and to grab a Grand Final spot for the first time.