The Wellingtonians’ unbeaten weekend included a comprehensive 3-0 victory over 2014 champions Mainland and a 2-1 win over Auckland.
Futsal White pivot Micky Malivuk continued his devastating form of the previous two seasons, finishing with nine goals for the weekend. The Capital marksman scored in all five games, including a hat trick in the 5-2 demolition of Futsal South.
Malivuk was also on target twice against perennial title contenders Auckland, to give his side a two goal cushion in the first half of what was widely regarded as the key game of the weekend.
Despite his Futsal Whites team mate Ernesto Lopez pulling one back for Auckland, Capital held on for a confidence-boosting win.
South and Auckland both staked early claims for a place in the playoffs with four wins from five, while Central Manawatu showed a huge improvement on their wooden spoon finish in 2014, with three wins and a draw over the weekend.
Futsal Whites Kareem Osman and Marvin Eakins were regularly on target for Auckland with five and four goals respectively, while Futsal South showed little sign of missing Brazilian pivot Carlos Herrmann. Ben O’Farrell and Mike Sannum both ended the weekend with six goal hauls for the southerners.
Vanuatu international Seule Soromon was the star man for Manawatu, scoring ten goals to head the Golden Boot race, while seasoned footballer Adam Cowan returned to the side after missing last season, inspiring the men in green to wins over Central – Hawke’s Bay, WaiBOP and Northern.
Mainland, missing their entire starting line-up from last year’s victorious final side – struggled to hit the heights of 2014, with the only positive result a 6-2 win over the home side Central – Hawke’s Bay. However, the form of Atta Elayyan between the posts and an exciting crop of youngsters will have encouraged coach Ronan Naicker. Futsal White gloveman Elayyan pulled off a catalogue of outstanding saves over the weekend to keep himself firmly in the frame for the OFC Futsal Championship in February.
Central – Hawke’s Bay and WaiBOP both recorded one win each, while the 2012 champions Northern, also missing key players from previous campaigns, endured a difficult weekend, losing all five matches.
New Zealand Football Futsal development manager Dave Payne was delighted with the opening weekend of New Zealand’s domestic futsal showpiece, and said one of the most positive aspects of the series was the form of the Futsal Whites, four months out from the OFC Futsal Championship.
“The Auckland v Capital game was stacked full of Futsal Whites, and the level was as high as any match we have seen in the league in recent times. We saw forty minutes of real quality and I think it reflects the work that has gone in the national training camps under Scott Gilligan this year” Payne said.
Payne was equally encouraged by the number of youth players who have ‘graduated’ from New Zealand Football’s national youth federation and college futsal programmes.
“The quota system of three U-20 players in each team is a vital component of the league, so it was very rewarding to see so much new talent unveiled during Series One. Every side had at least one exceptional young player, and this augurs well not only the future of the league, but for the national team. Mainland, for example, had four 16-year-olds on court at one point, and they most certainly did not look out of place,” he said.
Series Two is in Wellington November 13-15 with the third and final leg of the competition in Auckland on 11-13 December.
For for full results, standings and Golden Boot standings click here.
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football

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