The Lindsey School and Community Arts College football teams narrowly missed out on a third national Futsal title after being beaten on penalties in Sheffield.

 

The weekend saw both the Lindsey U14 and U16 boys teams in action at the English Institute of Sport, where over 750 players and 1000 spectators were in attendance.

 

The morning session saw both age groups competing in the group stages, which saw them face teams from all around the country.

 

The U14 boys were in action first, and showed crisp passing and sublime movement in the opening moments of the game. After conceding a sloppy goal, a Ricky Smith strike with only thirty second left gave them a deserved point. The U16 boys matched this in their first game, with a goal less draw against Brentford FC.

 

After a crushing defeat in the second game, the U14 boys needed a win against Real FC to seal their place in the cup knock out stages. Despite a scrappy performance, a Jackson Bradley goal saw TLS into the quarter finals. They were joined in the knock out stages by the U16 team, who won both their remaining fixtures, with Joe Hutchinson and Chris Harmer in the goals, with assists from Alex Flett and Luke Dawson.

 

The knock out stages saw tough fixtures for both teams, with the U14 team against Kickers Futsal and the U16 team playing Team Birmingham. The younger boys game was a tight, edgy affair, with Lindsey having the best of the chances. With no scorers in normal time, the game was to be decided by penalty kicks. ‘Keeper Gary McGrath saved two penalties, with successful attempts by Ricky Smith and Macaulay Crowther progressing TLS into the semi finals.

 

There was less drama in the older boys age group, as Harmer and Hutchinson both stuck to give Lindsey a fully deserved victory. Burley Community College were their opponents in the semi finals, who were blown away by a superb display of counter attacking futsal. Harmer, Hutchinson and Dawson all netted, along with a rocket of a goal from pivot defender Tom Heaton.

The U14 team found their semi final opponents too strong and classy, though the result might have been different if Ricky Smith shot went in instead of hitting the post.

The final game of the day was the U16 boys final between Lindsey and St. John Fisher School from Staffordshire. After defeating them in the group stages Lindsey started as favourites, but found the going tough against a tough and resilient outfit. Despite two red cards, Lindsey could not break their opponents down, and so the tournament was to be decided by spot kicks. Unfortunately for TLS they had one saved, which meant the title went to Staffordshire, leaving Lindsey to contemplate on what might have been.

Coach Les Jones was understandably disappointed with the result. ‘Today I though we had played the best Futsal out of all the teams, so to lose in a shoot-out am hard to take. The boys were fantastic though.’

Teacher Mr. Rob Allenby who has been inspiration with his support for futsal.