After twenty one rounds of fine futsal action and three playoff games, it all comes down to this. Cambio Cumbre, the two time Cairns International winners, two time Football West Champions, Four time Series Futsal Australia Champions and multiple State Futsal League winners take on one of the finest talent developing and emerging clubs in the State, Fremantle Futsal Club.
The futsal diehards will already know that Cambio Cumbre dispatched Fremantle in the qualifying final 2-1 last weekend, with a thunderbolt strike from Colombian Nestor Javier Fonseca leaving Fremantle keeper Frank De Rosso stunned as he broke the deadlock for 1-0. After Fremantle found an equaliser through Mario Zubonja it was then up to another Colombian, Angel Hurtado Rocha who struck late in the second half to make it 2-1 .When fiery youngster Salman Alhammadi got his marching orders for dissent, Fremantle looked a good thing to equalise, playing with the extra attacker, but La Cumbre held on booked a spot in the Grand Final this Friday night.
Finishing first in the SFL regular season meant Fremantle had a second chance at finals glory, but would need to beat a red hot Stirling Futsal Club, lead by one of the best futsal players in Australia, Victor Brauner. Goals from Tidy, Tavares and a late winner from young target man Chris Rocchi saw the Fremantle squad overcome the odds, and Stirling, to force there way into the Grand Final - albeit the hard way.
For Fremantle, a well earned good weeks rest after a weekend of two intense games means that they will not head into Fridays final with any physical disadvantage, but perhaps a psychological one. While they came out aggressive against a strong Stirling side to book their spot in the Grand Final, the same cannot be said about their qualifying final, where they looked scared against the likes of Fonseca, Alhammadi and Hurtado in particular.
For La Cumbre, it was an almost arrogant Nestor Javier Fonseca in the post game interview after their win over Fremantle, perhaps sending a message to the doubters as he commented "when Cumbre wants to win, we win". He may be right. For a long time Fremantle have been able to top Cumbre in the regular season in accumulating points with consistent week in week out play, but in clutch finals it has been the older, wiser veteran professional who has always managed to prepare and peak his troops at the right time to lift title after title.
With all that being said, a 2-1 win to Cambio Cumbre less than a week ago will mean very little in the Grand Final, where the ultimate prize in Western Australian Futsal is at stake. If Fremantle are as aggressive as they were against Stirling, they may very well find themselves drinking out of silverware Friday night, but it would be a brave soul to swing against the kings of WA Futsal in Claremont Cambio Cumbre.
Regards,
Football Commentator | Analyst
Perth, Western Australia.