Sunday 14th February in the FA Futsal League North

1.15pm             Grimsby     3                  v          Middlesbrough         4                (Gemtec Arena)

Valentine's Day saw a Northern Premier Futsal clash that will live long in the memory of both teams for differing reasons. Boro will wonder how they had not put this game to bed in a first half that saw the Grimsby side struggle to penetrate with any speed or flair. Grimsby will wonder how they fought back so gamely only to let it slip away from them right at the end. Kev Bryant's side were missing key players including last year's league top scorer Matthew Payne and brought in more youth in order to fill the bench. Boro had only seven players and current thinking suggests that ten fit players will out work seven fit ones. However as Grimsby proved against Liverpool and Boro proved against Grimsby, if your players are fit enough they can easily cope with the demands placed upon them by Futsal. The first half performance from the Seasiders was lack lustre and devoid of imagination, with plenty of possession they should have made more of Boro's poor finishing. Boro struck first with a well worked goal but then missed a succession of chances before Danny Hornigold cleverly fired in from the right side of goal; catching the opposition napping when they clearly expected him to pull the ball back. However, evening the scores was not a true reflection of the play and Boro went on to score two more simple goals due to a lack of clarity in defensive tactics which would be rectified at half time. HT 1-3.

The second half saw a rapid response; Boro came close to adding a fourth before Grimsby began to apply the pressure much higher up the pitch which forced Boro into some defensive errors. The pressure was building but there was still a lack of penetration until Josh Parry had a speculative, yet well placed shot from the right, about 18 yards out. The crowd ensured the keeper could not see the ball and it was safely nestled in the far corner before anybody in Boro's defence could react. 2-3. Boro were now feeling the pressure as wave after wave of Grimsby attacks and constant high line defence meant Boro were starved of possession and could not get out of their own half. The substitutes were rolled on and off but Josh Parry was left on the field and with only four minutes left he drifted into a corner position on the right leaving his marker, received the ball from Ami who was quick to see his run and in one move, took a touch and fired at an acute angle past the disbelieving Boro keeper into the roof of the net. 3-3. Could Grimsby finally beat last year's league champions? It was a bridge too far, as the pressure was maintained by the fired up Grimsby side, the clock ticked down with attack after attack keeping Boro pinned down until with only 54 seconds left, Boro broke down the left and scored an improbable goal after a moment's lack of concentration at the back. Grimsby had a clear cut chance to equalise again but a free header was snatched and the moment was lost. There were some notable performances in this defeat from Hornigold and Parry and young Joe Kidd who did well defensively. The future of the team is looking good with many more young players becoming interested in what is the fastest, most skilful of all the football based sports.