On Sunday 30th October, Bootham Girls U14s took on York Railway Institute U14s at St Peters Sport Hall.

Bootham Futsal Club were represented by:

Lacey B (Captain), Heidi J, Megan G, Lexie B, Aria P, Abbie D, Hattie F, Martha P, Hannah B, Keira L and Jessica H.

Todays game was going to be a challenge with most of the girls being U13s and playing an age group above, and so it proved. York Railway Institute playing their first game of futsal were physically stronger than the Bootham Girls, and ultimately this proved to be the difference. We asked the girls to concentrate on simple futsal fundamentals with real emphasis on recovery. The longer the game went, with some gentle reminders the girls applied these very well and the scoreline didn’t reflect their hard work.

The match was played over four 15 minute periods, and at the end of this York RI ran out 5-1 winners, with the Bootham goal being scored in the last minute by captain Lacey B.

A huge thank you to York RI U14s and their coach for giving up their Sunday to come and play us, you are welcome back any time!

Player Of The Match was Hattie F – This was Hattie’s best performance for a long time. Her desire to cover every part of the court was unmatched by anyone else on the Bootham side. She made several full court recovery runs, and physically matched up to the older team. This is one young lady the ladies team will be watching with real interest – brilliant performance Hattie, well done!

Click here to see the video of the full match

Final thoughts of a coach – Whenever a side plays an older team, and this happens a lot in futsal due to the dual age banding, I am unsure what to expect. Yes on one hand it is always nice to win, but on the other I want to see how players respond to the physical challenge. Needless to say, every player today put their body on the line, with some of the smallest players really matching and in some case, out muscling their opponents. Great performance with so many positives for me to think about, well done everyone!

Click here to see the images from the match