BUCS Futsal National Championships Quarter Final: York 1sts 10-5 Middlesex 1sts

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Photos: Jack Western

York’s fairytale run continued in the tent tonight, as they produced a sublime performance to defeat Middlesex 1sts 10-5, and progress through to the semi-finals of the BUCS National Futsal Championships.

Four goals from Alex Tringham and a hat-trick from Connor McCoy saw York fight back from 4-1 down, as they dominated the majority of the match. To reach the final four of the competition is an incredible achievement, considering that York are not renown for being a top sporting university.

A buoyant home crowd witnessed York control the early stages, as efforts from Tringham, Ash Daly and Jonathan Brown all threatened to give York the lead. After seven minutes the pressure told, as the visitors’ ‘keeper was unable to stop a powerful drive from Tringham, putting York in the ascendancy.

York were looking good value for their lead, in what was a decidedly one-sided encounter, in which Ash Daly and Tom Day were displaying some beautiful touches of pure class. Yet against the run of play Middlesex equalised, a cross from the right being cleverly turned home by a visiting forward.

Less than two minutes later the same player gave the team from the South the lead, as he rifled home after Jonny Sim had initially punched clear. Prior to that Daly had been brilliantly denied by arguably the save of the match, as the Middlesex ‘keeper acrobatically turned the ball away to safety.

Day was leading the line excellently for York, finding teammates with his intelligent touches and vision. The York captain almost levelled the scoring with a clever back heel from three yards, but once more the danger was well averted.

York had dominated, but still trailed, and soon the situation got worse as a long distance shot nestled into the top corner. Only minutes later it was 4-1, as at the third attempt a Middlesex player found the back of the net. The scoreline by no means reflected the nature of the contest, but the flurry of Middlesex goals temporarily silenced the vocal York following.

The stats weighed heavily in York’s favour, as the home side dominated possession, territory and had the majority of shots, but still couldn’t find away to breach Middlesex’s stubborn defence, led by their gallant goalkeeper.

The physical nature of the game resulted in Middlesex totting up the fouls, and one too many led to the award of a penalty for York. Daly stepped up but he was denied by the ‘keeper’s legs, who then also blocked Tringham’s follow up.

Finally though York did pull a goal back to make it 4-2; beautiful footwork by Daly allowed him to skip past his marker, and after his shot had clattered off the post, McCoy was on hand to tap in the rebound. Middlesex almost responded instantly, capitalising on a rare error by York, but Sim was on hand to rescue the situation.

Yet another foul by the visitors saw York handed another glorious opportunity to score from the penalty spot, and this time they made no mistake, Tringham stepping up and blasting home into the top left corner.

Tringham was only denied his hattrick by another superb save, but York soon equalised through Club President Dom Hallas, who finished off a neat move which saw him link up cleverly with Daly. The half-time whistle soon followed, and despite York’s dominance, the two teams could not be separated at 4-4.

A resurgent York emerged from the half-time interval, and within a minute of the half kicking off, York were ahead. Tringham pounced upon a loose ball with his weaker right foot, and finished clinically into the top right hand corner from eight yards out.

This time York were not prepared to squander their lead, or hand their opponents any opportunity to fight their way back into the contest. A brilliant fourth by Tringham solidified York’s position, as he drilled a long distance strike into the top corner from wide on the left.

Middlesex nearly pulled one back through their lively number nine, who had scored their first two goals. Firstly he was denied by Sim, and then he dragged another shot agonisingly wide of the post on the turn, with the York ‘keeper beaten.

York though extended their lead with arguably the goal of the game, to make it 7-4. James Briars finished off an outstanding team goal, which saw York crisply stroke the ball around the pitch, with all four outfield players involved. Indeed York played some delightful Futsal throughout the encounter, whilst the visitors relied predominantly on the long ball, which was for most parts comfortably dealt with by York.

The only reason why York were unable to completely run away with the game was down to the excellence of Middlesex’s keeper, who made a string of fine saves to deny Jonathan Brown, Briars and Daly. Not to be outdone Sim was in similar form at the other end, commanding his area, and displaying his bravery with a sprawling save at the feet of an opposing forward.

A touch of pure genius helped York to bag their eighth. Daly launched the ball forward to Day, and his outrageous first time flick set up McCoy who made no mistake from six yards. Middlesex quickly responded with a goal of their own, as Sim’s initial save was in vain as the rebound was coolly tapped home.

McCoy then completed his hattrick to make it 9-5, as York countered and exploited a two-on-one situation to extend their lead over their tiring and increasingly frustrated opponents. By this time York’s supporters were in full voice, cheering vehemently and urging their team on, creating a fervent atmosphere which bolstered York and intimidated their opponents.

The visitors did not give up however, and Sim prevented them scoring their sixth, with a brilliant acrobatic save being the highlight of a trio of decisive interventions. At the other end, McCoy missed a glorious chance to net his fourth, firing into the side-netting, but York’s standard of play was exceptional overall.

Play was delayed temporarily to mop up some blood from on the pitch, and with seven minutes remaining all York had to do was maintain their concentration to seal their progress through to the semi-finals. They did that and much more with ease, Brown quickly adding an excellent tenth, after he nutmegged one player, and calmly slotted home the return pass from Briars.

Daly squandered the chance to get his name on the scoresheet as he dragged his shot wide, after being brilliantly picked out by Day. However, both Daly and Tringham were instrumental in defence, producing a series of crunching and well-timed challenges.

York continued to apply the pressure until the very end, Daly and Day both being well denied, before Sim prevented Middlesex from having the last laugh and ensuring a miserable journey home with a stunning reflex save. The final scoreline of 10-5 reflected York’s dominance, as they produced arguably their best performance of the season to progress through to the semi-finals, where they will make the trip to either Derby or Brighton in two weeks time.

After the match a delighted York Captain Tom Day told Vision: “Absolutely unbelievable; to make the last four of the Nationals is an unbelievable achievement in itself. These games keep getting better and better; last time against Leicester in the last 16 we didn’t play very well but you could see the character in the team, everybody tried so hard. And then today we turned it on second half, and some of the Futsal you saw played there was brilliant.

“The crowd again massive shout to them, they were awesome. All of us played pretty well today, and it just goes to show that if we get our game right on the day we can go on and beat any team; the sky is the limit. We’ve got to be aiming for the final now and why not go on and win this competition. It gives us so much belief every round that we go through. I’m absolutely over the moon and so proud of everyone.”

Vision MOTM: Alex Tringham