On Saturday 18th March, Bootham Ladies’ Futsal Club – York played East Riding Futsal Club Women in the 2nd Leg of the 1st Round of the new National Futsal League Women’s Cup. The game was played at The University of Hull at the Allam Sports Centre.

Coach Chris had several players missing due to work and family commitments, but 16 year old Ava Worthy was brought into the squad for her open age debut.

Starting Line-Up: Denva Coupland, Katie Samson, Kimberly Samson, Charlotte Broad, Ellie Whittaker (c).

Substitutes: Ava Worthy, Elena Rago, Colombe Mabboux-Fort, Suzy Collins, Eleanor Walker

Bootham had an 11 goal lead from the first leg and set their stall out to play a very watchful game. East Riding got off to a quick start and were 3 up after only a few minutes, but goals from Denva Coupland and Eleanor Walker saw Bootham trail at half-time.

Half Time – East Riding Futsal Club Women – 5 – Bootham Ladies’ Futsal Club – 2

The second half started with East Riding on the front foot, knowing they had to score. Bootham’s game plan didn’t change but with 10 minutes to go they lost captain Ellie Whittaker with cramp. East Riding piled on the pressure, but Bootham held firm knowing they had the aggregate lead. A moment of quick thinking, when East Riding swapped all outfield players, saw Suzy Collins square for Denva Coupland to get her second and ease the pressure. In a game that was getting more physical and with a high foul count, Bootham manage the last 5 minutes with some ease.

Full Time – East Riding Futsal Club Women – 11 – Bootham Ladies’ Futsal Club – 3

Aggregate Score – Bootham Ladies’ Futsal Club – 19 – East Riding Futsal Club Women – 16

Click here to watch the match highlights here.

Player Of The Match – Denva Coupland – A superb performance both in attack and defence from Denva. She made several last gasp blocks, putting her body on the line time and time again. Her two goals ultimately helped pile the pressure on East Riding, keeping Bootham just too far out of reach. Her pivot play, holding the ball and drawing fouls was exactly what the team needed to stem the forward tide. Top performance from a top player!

Captain Ellie Whittaker spoke to us after the game, and said, ‘I thought we showed good character over the two legs to get the win and progress to the next round. We’re also really happy that Ava’s made her debut for us after she turned 16 recently, she’s really progressed in the last year that she’s trained with us and I thought she was brilliant today against a really physical side. We’re looking forward to getting back to league action next week against Warrington, and hopefully we can put a good cup run together and finish the season strongly.’

Coach Chris said after the game, ‘Job done, but only just. I said we needed a 10 goal cushion from the first leg as I already knew we would have several key players missing for this game, and teams are always different at home. It wasn’t the best advert for futsal, as I guess both teams wanted the win. But I was happy the way we played, especially the way we saw out the last 5 minutes of the game. East Riding put us under tremendous pressure at times and we still came out on top.’

He went onto say, ‘I was delighted that Ava made her debut for the first team. She has been around the ladies team for the last 12 months and was desperate to play. She held her own and it’s only the first step on what we hope is a long futsal journey. Seeing Ava make her debut is a great incentive for the other 15 years olds at the club. I have often said if you are good enough, then you will play.‘

Bootham will now play Warrington over two legs in the next round of the cup. Watch out for the dates of these two upcoming games.