We are now being provided with a strong indication of who will be playing finals football after we reached the halfway point in the BBC competition.
Aside from top of the table Enfield, this weekend belonged to the away teams with Inter Lions, Hurlstone Park, LFC Sports and Balmain all winning on the road.
Enfield Rovers – Abbotsford Juniors 4-1
A convincing display saw Enfield topple Abbotsford 4-1 in their encounter at Henley Park on Saturday afternoon.
However, the league leaders had to do it the hard way with Abbotsford taking the lead via John-Paul Foti on 18 minutes.
The visitors’ lead did not remain intact for long with a Ryan Henderson penalty leveling the scoring after Matt Issa was brought down in the box.
Image: Action shot from Enfield vs Strathfield. Credit: MMS Sports Photography
It was then Issa who popped up to score with a back post header to put his side in the lead shortly after the interval.
An own goal then gave them a 3-1 advantage and allowed them to run away with the three points with Ronaldo Almeida adding a fourth to their repertoire with an exquisite lob.
Enfield will be back at Henley to host a Balmain side who have secured two wins on the bounce while Abbotsford take on LFC Sports in the late kick off at Parry Park.
Cooks River Titans – Inter Lions FC 0-3
Three goals and a clean sheet is exactly what Inter Lions would have hoped for as they comfortably saw off Cooks River Titans at Gough Whitlam Park.
Giancarlo Papaianni was on hand to score the only goal of the first half with his 8th minute strike.
The second half saw Inter take control of the affair with Nick Paradisis arriving on the scene with a brace with his two goals coming in the 50th and 52nd minute.
Fourth placed Inter can now look forward to a clash with Leichhardt Tigers at Lambert Park while Cooks River welcome Hurlstone Park to Gough Whitlam.
Marrickville FC – Hurlstone Park 0-2
Hurlstone Park posted their third win on the trot against Marrickville with 3-0 the full-time score at Fraser Park on Saturday afternoon.
The home side controlled the tempo for much of the encounter with but to their frustration they were unable to find the back of the net.
It was now Hurlstone Park’s turn to pounce with Angus Brown coming up with the goods on 75 minutes after he dispatched of Sebastian Coello’s pinpoint cross.
Coello then turned goal scorer 10 minutes later when weaved his way through the Red Devils defence before slotting his effort into the bottom corner.
The Titans await Hurlstone Park next weekend while Marrickville welcome an out of form Strathfield to Mackey Park.
Strathfield FC – LFC Sports 1-5
It was one way traffic at Strathfield Park as the hosts were dismantled 5-1 by a ruthless LFC Sports.
The first goal of the evening did belong to Strathfield’s Jeff Brennan but that was about as good as it got for the home side who were soon put to the sword by their opponents.
Nathan Paull and Aman Hadid ensured that their side reversed the score line ahead of the break.
Image: LFC Sports contesting for a header. Credit: MMS Sports Photography
Paull then added to his tally on the hour mark before a Francesco Giannetto penalty and Diego Herrera goal in the dying moments of the encounter sealed an emphatic victory for the men from Parry Park.
On the horizon for LFC is a home tie against Abbotsford while Strathfield make the short trip to Mackey Park to meet Marrickville.
Leichhardt Tigers – Balmain DFC 1-2
A highly-entertaining fixture ended up in favour of Balmain who secured a 2-1 win under lights at Lambert Park on Saturday night.
Balmain’s Kelton Muir got on the scoresheet for the second week running when he tapped in the rebound after five minutes.
A red card to the Tigers just before half time did not help their cause but to their credit, they were able to restore parity in the second half to make for a nail biting ending.
However, any chances of Leichhardt pulling away with a point were put to rest thanks to Alex Barnstone’s 20-yard strike which had no destination other than the back of the net.
Sixth placed Balmain will be targeting a third consecutive win when they travel to Enfield while eighth placed Leichhardt entertain Inter.
By CDSFA Communications Officer – Samuel Greco Schwartz
