Courtesy: FAW


Wales Futsal Squad ready to depart for Cyprus

The Men’s Senior Futsal squad will depart for a four day training camp and fixtures in Cyprus on Thursday 5th July.

The squad will travel to the capital city of Nicosia, Cyprus and play 2 fixtures against AC Omonia a professional Futsal team and the current National Futsal Champions.

This will be the first opportunity for the young Welsh squad to meet up for a full training camp and the experience will be extremely important as the squad prepares for their first full international fixture in September and UEFA EURO qualifiers in October.

Wales will play host club AC Omonia at the impressive 6,800 capacity Papadopoulos -Eleftheria and the opponents many of whom are full International Futsal players will provide a severe test for the young welsh team.

Wales will play the opening fixture on Friday evening in what should be a very exciting encounter before playing game two on Saturday evening.

Due to injury Gareth Delve has been withdrawn from the squad and TNF FC Naim Arsan has been added along with Dafydd Jones of Genesis Futsal Club.

Squad
Lee Jones (Team Bath Futsal)
Alex Ramsay (TNS FC)
Dafydd Jones (Genesis FC)
Eric Ramsay (C) (Loughborough University Futsal)
Taylor Harding (Cardiff City Futsal Club)
Sion Kitson (Team Bath Futsal)
Danny Hooper (Cardiff Corinthians FC)
Lloyd Jenkins (Cardiff Corinthians FC)
Gareth Delve (Cardiff Corinthians FC)
Tyler Mills (Cardiff City Futsal Club)
Elliot Thomas (Cardiff University Futsal)
Tom Allen (TNS FC)
Dean Maynard (Cardiff City Futsal Club)
Jonny Nelson (Cardiff City Futsal Club)
Tyrrell Webbe (Caerau Ely FC)
Naim Arsan (TNS FC)



Courtesy: FAW


Wales Futsal Squad defeated by AC Omonia

In the opening game of the two match series, away to the fully professional outfit and current Cypriot champions, AC Omonia, the Welsh National Futsal Squad were defeated by their more clinical opponents.

The Welsh squad, only formed in December 2011 is made up of amateur players from across the country and this was the first foray into Europe. After encouraging results against Hereford, Manchester and d the England Development Squad the FAW decided a sterner test was in order and planned a 4 day trip to Cyrpus for a two match series against AC Omonia.

After two days of intense training in the 35 degree heat the squad were finally ready for a Friday evening kick off in the 6,000 seater indoor arena in Nicosia.

The experienced Omonia side were lead by the Latvian National Team Captain and contained various other full international players.
This showed in the early stages as they took control of a frenetic opening. The young welsh side managed to see off the early onslaught before a lack of concentration at an Omonia corner resulted in a chance at the near post which Maxim Kozhevim smashed into the roof of the net leaving Welsh Keeper Lee Jones no chance. In the next ten minutes, the game opened up and Wales came close through efforts on goal from Tom Allen, Dean Maynard and Elliot Thomas. With four minutes of the half remaining Omonia again showed their ruthlessness in front of goal scoring two in quick succession to put the Cypriot side 3-0 up at half time.

At the start of the second half the Welsh side managed to regain a foothold in the game and but for some slack finishing would have found themselves back in it. However, the breakthrough did eventually come with seven minutes of the game remaining. Elliot Thomas won the ball in midfield and played a pass out wide to Lloyd Jenkins who fired the ball across goal for Dean Maynard to take a touch, swivel and put a neat finish past the Cypriot keeper. This gave the Welsh side the momentum and some fresh legs from the bench provided some more impetuous. Substitute keeper Dafydd Jones continued to give Wales hope with some outstanding saves but unfortunately collided with the post during the course of denying a scoring opportunity resulting which resulted in a nasty head injury cutting short his evening.

The Omonia players showed their experience as they defended resolutely and frustrated the Welsh side for the next five minutes. As Wales continued to push forward they left gaps at the back and Omonia scored 2 clinical goals on the counter attack in the last few minutes of the game with Maxim again scoring the final goal of the game. Whilst disappointed at the final whistle the Wales side should be very proud of the distance they have come in just eight months together. Saturday night sees the second and final fixture of the trip and the young Welsh side hope to improve on Friday nights result and get some momentum before their first full international fixture against Andorra in September before competing in the European Championship qualifiers in October.

AC Omonia 5 v 1 Wales

Wales Squad
1. Lee Jones
2. Eric Ramsay (C)
3. Danny Hooper
4. Taylor Harding
5. Lloyd Jenkins
6. Tyler Mills
7. Tom Allen
8. Elliot Thomas
9. Jonny Nelson
10. Dean Maynard
11. Tyrrell Webbe
12. Dafydd Jones

Players not used
Alex Ramsay
Sion Kitson
Naim Arsan




Courtesy: FAW


Futsal Squad show progress in their second Cypriot fixture

Wales’ Futsal team show true dragon fire as they lose to their Cypriot hosts in the final moments.

After defeat in their opening game in Cyprus the young Welsh squad were tasked with producing an improved performance against the experienced professional Cypriot side AC Omonia. After a day of recovery and video analysis of the previous night’s game the team were provided with all the information they needed to perform by Head Coach Richard Gunney and his staff.

The Cypriot side were again led by their Latvian National Captain and are currently preparing for the main round stages of this year’s UEFA Futsal Cup.

The game again started at a frenetic pace but this time Wales were the side setting the tempo and creating chances early on. This initially caught AC Omonia off guard but good chances created by Jonny Nelson and Danny Hooper were wasted and Wales soon paid the price as the Cypriot’s scored two clinically taken goals on the counter attack in quick succession on the break to give them a two nil lead after ten minutes.

The Welsh side made changes and freshened things up which again changed the momentum. Danny Hopper got himself onto the end of a good through ball and finished well under the advancing keeper to put Wales right back in the game just over halfway through the first half. The Welsh side continued to push forward but the experience of their opponents again told as they scored another well taken goal on the break. As half time approached Wales found themselves on a foul count of five, which meant the players had to be careful with their challenges, and inevitably they were broken down and conceded another goal before half time.

Whilst disappointed with the score line the Welsh players had produced a far better first half performance than the previous night and taken the game to their professional opponents in a positive manner. The next goal was always going to be important and with ten minutes of the half left Wales were caught on the break as the Omonia pivot player swivelled in the box and finished clinically leaving keeper Lee Jones no chance. Now 4 goals behind it would have been easy for the Welsh players to drop their heads but the spirit of the squad shone through as debutant Sion Kitson broke down the left before squaring the ball for Captain Eric Ramsay to slide in and finish well off the post.

Within a minute Kitson was the provider by squaring the ball for another debutant, Naim Arsan to take a touch and rifle a left foot strike from twenty yards in off the underside of the crossbar.
At 5-3 down with seven minutes to go Wales were now right back in the game and for the first time the Cypriot side looked panicked. However, they then introduced the ‘fly keeper’ tactic and whilst the Wales players defended it superbly for over four minutes the pressure eventually told and Omonia scored two well taken goals in the last two minutes to run out 7-3 winners.

Wales Head Coach Richard Gunney could only be positive about his side’s performance and after the game reflected on how far the team have come in eight months.
"In December 2011 there was no Welsh squad in place and within seven months we have a pool of young players who have pushed one of the best club sides in Europe all the way to the final whistle with a score line that ended up flattering AC Omonia.

"I can’t be anything but positive about the way the players have applied themselves during this four day training camp and tonight’s performance was the culmination of a lot of hard work in a climate that we’re not accustomed to.

"No one was overawed by playing in a 6,800 seater indoor arena and as a squad we have grown in stature. There is a long way to go yet but I look forward to challenging the players again in our first full international fixture in Andorra in six weeks time."

Wales 3 v 7 AC Omonia

Wales Squad
1. Alex Ramsay
2. Eric Ramsay (C)
3. Danny Hooper
4. Sion Kitson
5. Lloyd Jenkins
6. Tyler Mills
7. Naim Arsan
8. Elliot Thomas
9. Jonny Nelson
10. Dean Maynard
11. Tyrrell Webbe
12. Lee Jones

Players not used
Dafydd Jones
Taylor Harding
Tom Allen




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com