Courtesy: Nouse - University of York Students Newspaper


National futsal champions no match for table-topping York

20 November 2012

UNIVERSITY OF YORK 9-4 TEESSIDE UNIVERSITY
BUCS Northern Premier League

York’s futsal first team continued their impressive return to the BUCS Northern Premier League with an away victory over reigning national champions Teesside on Sunday. This resounding 9-4 triumph makes it two wins out of two for the York side who now find themselves leading the top league in the country.

Following a similar pattern to last week’s gritty success over Sheffield, York’s defence proved too strong for the opponent’s patient build-up play. Despite losing on the possession stats again, York proved that ultimately, it is what you do with the ball that matters.

The game began with Teesside determined to keep the ball, and it took a while for the first touch from a York player to come. Other than an audacious attempted lob from York ‘keeper Jonny Sim following a Teeside corner, the first four minutes saw little action. But York grabbed an early lead once again. A Dom Hallas corner found Alex Tringham in space, who powered home the opener with his left foot.

Moments later, the favour was returned as this time Hallas met a Tringham corner, and his first time effort found its way through the crowd to nestle in the net.

This 2-0 lead was maintained by great defensive shape that prevented any clear-cut chances. However, a great passing move did eventually drag York out of position and their defence was breached by an unmarked attacker tapping in a cross at the back post.

But York stuck to their resilient game plan and reaped the rewards by being far more clinical. A well-worked free-kick between Hallas and James Briars seemed to have been lifted straight from the training ground. Briars’ run was picked out perfectly and he just managed to squeeze the ball into the goal from close range whilst avoiding the post himself.

At 3-1, York were struck with another injury blow, as captain Tom Day limped off clutching his hamstring to join the already sidelined Ash Daly on the bench. Now left with only one fit sub, compared to the army of Teessiders occupying the opposition bench, the gradient of York’s task was steepening.

Just before half time, however, a bit more breathing space was created. A well-placed Tringham free-kick from distance found the bottom corner and beat the motionless keeper.

The half time break saw a change of system from both sides that initially seemed to be to the home side’s advantage. Finally they looked more threatening with the ball, and began to test Sim in the York goal. Their best chance saw a pile-driver cannon off the post to safety, to York’s great relief. And within a minute, York had managed to cut straight through the Teesside defence thanks to an incisive pass from Hallas that found Tringham cantering into space down the left. He duly capitalised and fired across the keeper into the opposite corner to complete a great hat-trick.

Spurred on, Teesside put their possession to better use and began to pepper the York goal, eventually breaking through with a deflected shot from a corner bringing the score to 5-2. As long as York’s defence held, Teesside were inevitably vulnerable to the counter, and York certainly made the most of their chances with the ball.

Connor McCoy’s rasping shot from near the half-way line proved too potent for the Teesside keeper, who could only fumble the ball into the net. And shortly after, a lovely passing move between Jonny Brown, McCoy and Briars culminated in Briars virtually walking the ball into the net.

Unfortunately, at 7-2 York’s concentration seemed to slip. A Teesside-revival seemed possible as two quick-fire goals in the same minute narrowed the gap and proved that the game was far from over.

This sloppiness was soon rectified, and York weathered the Teesside storm with more determined defending. Once more, a swift counter attack proved fruitful, as Briars added his third with a blast that nearly burst the net and extended the lead to 8-4.

With less than ten minutes to go and a four goal lead to address, Teesside opted to ‘lift the keeper’- a risky tactic that replaces the ‘keeper with an outfielder to maximise attacking threat. What followed was a highly entertaining period in which the outnumbered York defence managed to limit their opponents to shots from distance. Sim was bombarded from range, and each save was quickly followed by a scrambled attempt to send the ball towards the empty Teesside net.

The cherry was eventually placed on top of the cake as, with three seconds to go, Hallas intercepted and unleashed a shot that rolled tantalizingly into the empty goal.

The final whistle ended the game at 9-4, adding another prestigious scalp to York’s recent collection back in the top-flight. Building on the positives from last week, the futsal firsts produced an even more emphatic performance that sees them rise to lofty heights atop the league.

Captain Tom Day praised his team’s outstanding efforts so far, but emphasised the need to take each game as it comes, saying “As a team we defended with great discipline and were extremely clinical going forward. The score-line speaks for itself. Its been a terrific start to the season so far, but we mustn’t get carried away. There’s a long way to go and a lot of hard work to be done.”

Man of the match: Alex Tringham

York: Sim, Hallas, Tringham, Day (C), Briars, Brown, Daly






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