BUCS Futsal Championships: York 1sts 8-7 Leicester 1sts

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Photos: Jack Western

A last gasp strike from Ash Daly fired York Futsal 1sts to an incredible 8-7 victory over Leicester, in arguably the most exhilarating and enthralling match in the University’s sporting history. With only 30 seconds left Daly crashed home an unstoppable drive from 20 yards to settle the superb contest, and send York through to the quarter finals of the BUCS National Championships.

York were perhaps not at their finest, and trailed for the vast majority of the contest, but they showed great character and determination to grind out the most important victory in the club’s history. York, who had become the first side ever to win a Premier Division title for the University, entered the contest as favourites; however it was Leicester, who only finished fourth in their division, who started the brighter.

Indeed, it was the visitors who struck first, a rasping drive into the top left hand corner left York ‘keeper Johnny Sim with no chance. Both James Briars and Alex Tringham had shots saved by a nervy looking Leicester keeper, before the team from the East Midlands doubled their lead as the impressive Zac Boggs scored on the counter attack.

York responded positively and began to move the ball around comfortably, leading to Alex Tringham pulling a goal back with a strike into the bottom left corner. York were piling on the pressure, but they soon received another major blow as a second breakaway goal led to Boggs restoring Leicester’s two goal advantage with a thunderous finish.

In general the visitors were content to allow York to dominate possession, as they focused their game around counter attacking and capitalising on errors. However it was an error of their own which handed York their second goal. Club President Dom Hallas robbed a dawdling defender of the ball, before coolly slotting home after neat interplay with Jonathan Brown.

Up front, Captain Tom Day was holding the ball up cleverly and effectively bringing his teammates into play, but it was Leicester striker Boggs who was particularly impressing. The Leicester number seven forced an acrobatic save from the excellent Sim, but minutes later the York ‘keeper was unable to deny Boggs scoring his third of the game, to put the visitors 4-2 up.

Sim was again called into action to keep York in touch, before the White Rose were unfortunate not to pull a goal back as James Briars first looped a header onto the bar, before cleverly flicking a Daly shot onto the post. At half-time, York still trailed by two goals.

There’s a reason why York were crowned northern champions, and they proved it in the second half, increasing the tempo and dictating play. The side were buoyed on by the animated support of a vociferous York crowd, who created a fabulous atmosphere throughout.

Indeed York seemed to thrive off the atmosphere as they settled into the second half which started in relatively scrappy fashion. The next goal was crucial as a fifth for Leicester would have opened up a substantial advantage, which would have been hard for York to erase. However this didn’t occur as York struck next, Hallas winning the ball high up the pitch, and feeding Daly who swivelled and fired home with his left foot.

The good work was almost instantaneously undone as Leicester squandered a fabulous opportunity by hooking a shot horribly wide. Minutes later though the visitors regained their two goal advantage, as Gregory Jones capitalised on a sloppy York pass and executed a perfect lofted finish over Sim.

Gradually York began to wear their opponents down, as the home side continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession and looked relatively comfortable on the ball. With fifteen minutes left Brown made it 5-4, firing home from the right wing after being picked out by the enigmatic Tringham.

York sensed an equaliser as Connor McCoy and Day were both denied by the Leeds ‘keeper, before the former unleashed a volley into the side netting. At the other end Sim was forced into a diving save, before a brilliant piece of skill by Jones left the ‘keeper stranded, but fortunately the crossbar rescued York.

The feisty encounter was typified by strong challenges from both sides; with Hallas and Tringham producing some excellently timed sliding tackles. However on multiple occasions York were indebted to Sim for making terrific saves, and showing intelligent anticipation to deny the visitors.

With six minutes remaining York equalised, a crashing drive by Daly deflecting off a Leicester defender and wrong footing the ‘keeper. Seconds later York were ahead for the first time, as Tringham was set free and calmly finished into the top corner. York’s lead lasted no more than a minute. A freekick was conceded in a dangerous position, and up stepped Boggs to drill an unstoppable effort into the top left hand corner.

At 6-6 the game was in the balance, and the boisterous York crowd increased the decibel levels to urge their team on. Both Hallas and Daly went close, but with three minutes remaining York were once more behind, Leicester retaking the lead with a shot from the left.

Leicester could have sealed victory by taking advantage of a rare error by Tringham, but Sim was once more to the rescue to keep York only one goal behind. Tringham then made amends for his previous mistake, by drilling a powerful effort into the bottom corner for his third of the game to make the score 7-7 in an enthralling encounter.

The tension was evident, as both teams realised that with only 90 seconds left on the clock the next goal was likely to be the winner. A cutback from the right from a Leicester player found a teammate in space, and his shot appeared destined for the back of the net, only for the exceptional Sim to somehow throw his body in the way of the shot.

Then, as they say, the rest will go down in sporting legend here at York. With only thirty seconds left on the clock, the ball found its way to Daly, who from twenty yards out and slightly to the right of goal unleashed a beautiful drive which fizzed into the back of the net, sparking jubilant celebrations.

York held on comfortably for the remaining seconds to secure victory in a contest, which will live long in the memory of all those who were fortunate enough to witness arguably the best ever game on York soil. York will now host either UWE or Middlesex on the 24th February in the quarter finals.

After the game a delighted Tom Day commented: “It was our worst performance of the season, compared to how we played against Sheffield last game we were awful. We started off poorly and were 2-0 down, but I guess it shows a lot about the character and spirit of the team. I think we were definitely buoyed on by the crowd and that helped a lot. We knew that as soon as we got level with them, we could go on and win it, it was just a matter of getting that two goal difference back. Ash Daly and Tringham were excellent as usual, and Johnny Sim at the back. Absolutely buzzing to get through!”

Vision MOTM: Alex Tringham