Bootham Ladies entertained new side Leicester Athletic in their latest game of the 2024/24 National Futsal Series Tier 2 North campaign. After a disappointing start to the season, the ladies were looking to get their season off and running with a much needed win. Before the game, both sides stood for a minute’s silence to honour those who have fallen in defence of our country.

Katie Samson started in goal for the first time this season and Suzy Collins was a very late replacement for Jess Baker, otherwise Bootham were at near full strength for the first time this season.

The starting 5 were Nikki Brown, Rowan Treagus, Jess Barnes, Katie Samson (GK) and captain Ellie Whittaker. On the bench were Ruby Shaw, Suzy Collins, Kim Samson, Ava Worthy, Heather Smith, Natasha Eustance and Charlotte Board.

1st Half

Bootham started the game on the front foot, controlling the tempo and forcing Leicester back into their own half. Within the first 2 minutes a goalmouth scramble involving Treagus and Brown, saw the ball cleared twice off the Leicester goal line. Barnes went close when her cross shot was well saved, after good work from Whittaker and Brown. Whittaker nearly opened the scoring when a lofted pass from Brown found her free in front, but she couldn’t convert the chance. Shaw should have opened the scoring when she intercepted a cross court pass but the keeper made smart save low down, and Eustance saw the rebound cleared off the line. In the Bootham goal, Samson was dealing comfortably with any long range effort from Leicester. Bootham took a deserved lead when Eustance caught the Leicester player in possession and finished low down to the goalkeepers left. Bootham pushed for a second but late chances for Brown, Smith, Worthy and Barnes went begging.

Half Time – Bootham 1 – 0 Leicester

2nd Half

Straight from the kick off Leicester forced a series of corners, but the hosts held out. Bootham knew they needed an early second goal to put Leicester on the back foot, and it came after only 5 minutes. Shaw intercepted a pass and ran the length of the court before rolling the ball back to Treagus, who lofted a perfect pass for Board to head home with a deft flick. Almost immediately Leicester got one back when an unsighted Samson was beaten from long range. Eustance went close after good work from the impressive Broad, and she then saw another shot saved well by the Leicester keeper. Late on a swift passing move involved Samson and Brown saw Smiths low shot saved well. Worthy went close from long range as Bootham looked to kill the game off. With the very last kick of the game Leicester hit the crossbar from long range, but Bootham held on for their first win of the season.

Full Time – Bootham 2 – 1 Leicester

Coach Chris spoke to us after the game, and said, ‘It is always a nice feeling to get a win under your belt and I believe the ladies really did deserve that today. We controlled the game from the first whistle and apart from the start and end of the second half, we really felt in control. Leicester are a new team, so we were not quite sure what to expect, as most teams in this division either step right off or press you very high. That said we adapted well and produced some good play and, in the end, got the result we needed. Leicester has some very good technical players who are obviously new to futsal, so once they are more comfortable in the game, they will win matches.‘

He continued by saying, ‘At times today we were a little naive in how we played. We were winning the game, with 6 minutes left and we kept forcing the play. We needed to slow the game down, bring Leicester out of their deep block and try and use the space in behind. Instead, we kept forcing the play and giving the ball away. We need to learn how to play against different sides and adapt our approach to the match. It was a good lesson for the players today that there are many ways to play futsal.’

He finished by saying, ‘I was really pleased for Charlotte scoring today, she has come back from a horrible ankle injury and to score the winner shows how much hard work she has put in to get back into the squad. Same for Katie, she has missed a lot of game time and today she was calm and composed and looked very comfortable, especially with her distribution. We now need to take this result and go to Liverpool in 2 weeks and prove we are back to winning ways. From what we have seen this season, I think it will be a very tight league, with teams beating each other, so we need to put a few results together to keep us in that title race.’

Player of the Match as chosen by Pretty Plaits was Katie Samson – starting for the first time in nearly a year, she looked calm and confident in all she did today. Her distribution was spot on and time and time again she acted as a vital link in starting many of the Bootham attacks. Top performance from a top goalkeeper, well played Katie!

A few images from the day…