In front of their largest crowd of the season, Bootham Ladies entertained Warrington Futsal Club Ladies on Saturday 22 May at St Peters School. The ladies were on their best run of the season, with only one defeat in their Iast six league games, and confidence was high they could finish with another win.

Bootham were at near full strength with only Lucy Hudson and Eleanor Walker unable to play. Talented youngster Ava Worthy was handed a starting place by Coach Chris, with Nikki Brown dropping to the bench.

Starting Line-Up: Ava Worthy, Charlotte Broad, Katie Samson, Kimberly Samson, Rowan Treagus.

Substitutes: Nikki Brown, Suzy Collins, Lucy Hudson, Denva Coupland, Ellie Whittaker (c), Charli Goodfellow, Lucy Grehan-Bradley

Bootham dominated the game from the start and scored Rowan Treagus scored two early goals. Poor defending and lacks of concentration allowed Warrington to get the game back to 2-2. Denva Coupland restored the lead with a cheeky finish, before Rowan Treagus sprinted the whole length of the court to calmly finish into the corner. Charlotte Broad smashed another into the top corner after good work from Rowan Treagus, to leave the halftime score:

Half Time – Bootham Ladies’ Futsal Club – 5 – Warrington Futsal Club Ladies – 2

Coach Chris asked his side to play with more pace in the second half, and they duly obliged. Charlotte Board scored from a quickly taken corner, before Nikki Brown smashed one into the top corner with the goalkeeper stranded. Kimberly Samson got on the score sheet when she finished a sweeping move, before captain Ellie Whittaker converted at the second post. Rowan added her 4th with another well taken finish. Warrington grabbed two late consolation goals with the final score finishing:

Full Time – Bootham Ladies’ Futsal Club – 10 – Warrington Futsal Club Ladies – 4

Click here to see the images from the day

Player Of The Match – Rowan Treagus – Another stellar performance from top scorer Rowan. She caused the Warrington defence problems all game, and they simply couldn’t deal with her pace and movement. Over the season she has developed into a superb futsal player and the coaches feel she will only get better next season.

A delighted captain, Ellie Whittaker spoke to us after the game, she said, ‘Professional performance today to get a comprehensive win, with some really good combinations and tactics on show. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come over the course of the season, and to (hopefully) finish 3rd and above some really established clubs is a phenomenal achievement in our second season. The mood in the squad is fantastic and we were really glad Izzy could join us as a mascot after we saw the photo of her watching us last month. We now turn our attention to a tough quarter final against Genesis in the cup, we don’t know a lot about them but hopefully if we can have the same levels of support we saw today then we can make it a difficult trip to York for them! Thank you to everyone who turned out and filled the hall today- the atmosphere was fantastic and we’re glad we could put on a show!

Coach Chris was also pleased with the performance, ‘It wasn’t our best performance but we had enough in the team to look comfortable. In the first half our movement and passing were too slow and we allowed Warrington to block the space on the court. I asked the players to move the the ball quicker and with less touches in the second half. When we do this we look a much better side and can cause any team problems. Second half was much more about what we are about and I think we should have really scored more. We gave good court time to several layers who have missed out recently and Ava Worthy showed this level is not going to phase her, we are now just waiting for her first goal. It was brilliant to have our first ever mascot at the game, and I know the ladies loved having Isabelle involved. I said to her at the end of the game that one day she could be walking our with a mascot when she is captaining this ladies team!’

When asked about the crowd he said, ‘We asked our supporters to turn up and cheer the ladies home, and they didn’t disappoint today. Our home performance haven’t been good enough this season and we have to show we are worth coming to watch. I know the ladies were desperate to show they are a good team to watch. I think this result and the previous ones this year show we are going in the right direction. Today the crowd were amazing, noisy and involved in the game, and gave the ladies that lift they needed at times in the game. I hope next season we can continue to grow the crowd and get more people in York supporting this talented ladies futsal team.’

He continued by saying, ‘To finish 3rd or 4th in the league, depending on the outcome of the Sunderland result, is a remarkable achievement for the club. We are still only in the second year of our development but when you think the target for the season was 2 wins, and not finish bottom, and we have managed 6 wins, I am delighted. What happens next, well, we sit down and review what we have done and work out what needs to be better next season.’

He finished by saying, ‘We are still in the national cup with a home tie against a strong London Genesis side to come sometime in May. This is a real bonus for us and we have nothing to lose in this game, so who knows, in cup games anything can happen!’

Check back next week when we sit down with Coach Chris and discuss the season in more detail.