Bootham ladies travelled to their first away game of the season when they travelled to the National Cycling Centre to take on rivals Manchester Futsal Club. Having lost 4 times to Manchester last season, the ladies were on a mission to get their first ever win in the city.

Returning to the line-up were goalkeeper Katie Samson and Nikki Brown, with Suzy Collins pulling out of the squad in the morning due to illness.

The starting 5 were Nikki Brown, Jess Barnes, Jess Baker, Ruby Shaw and Allegra Sellschop-Evans. On the bench were Katie Samson, Heather Smith, Ava Worthy, Isabella Fernandes, Natasha Eustance and Ellie Whittaker.

1st Half

The first chance of the game came when Manchester tested Sellschop-Evans from distance, but the Bootham goalkeeper saved well. A sweeping move saw Bootham go the full length of the court, before Barnes saw her effort just go wide. Manchester took the lead with a well taken finish before quickly adding a second when a deflected shot was tapped home from close range. Bootham finally got the goal their play deserved when good work between Smith and Brown, saw Brown cross for Smith to score from in front. Another sweeping move saw Barnes play in Shaw, whose finish missed the near post. Another great team move saw Bootham again go the full length of the court, only for Shaw to miss her shot demo in front of goal. Shaw made amends seconds later when she intercepted a cross-field ball and ran through before during the ball into the back of the net.

Half Time – Manchester 2 – 2 Bootham

2nd Half

Manchester retook the lead when a poor ball was intercepted and finished from in front. This only seemed to inspire Bootham more and great play between Brown and Shaw saw Barnes shoot just over. Bootham were dominating the ball, and Fernandes went close from a pass from the imposing Barnes. Barnes went close again when good work from Eustance saw Barnes’s shot drift agonisingly wide. Bootham got their deserved equaliser when Eustance intercepted a pass and ran through before finishing with a clever finish. The game was now end to end and Brown had a chance at the second post that sailed just wide of the second post. Bootham were now well on top, and Worthy forced a save from the Manchester keeper. Moments later Worthy went close again from a well worked corner routine. With 3 minutes left, the move of the game saw Brown and Smith combine to put Shaw with an open goal, but she somehow hit the inside of the post, and the ball rebounded straight to the keeper. Moments later Bootham were made to pay when Manchester won the game with 90 seconds left.

Full Time – Manchester 4 – 3 Bootham

Coach Chris spoke to us after the game, and said, ‘That will hurt for a while, I honestly don’t think we deserved to lose that game. When I watched it back, we controlled a lot of the possession, created some excellent goalscoring chances, but again we just couldn’t score, and individual errors cost us. We can’t give teams in this division a 2-goal lead and expect to win the game.‘

He continued, ‘We really dug in, and came back to 2-2 just before halftime, but the chances we missed today, especially at 3-3, the players should have sleepless nights over them! Our recovery and emergency defending were outstanding, with Nikki Brown and Jess Baker time and time again putting their bodies on the line for the club, inspirational to watch.’

He finished by saying, ‘We really do need to bounce back from that defeat and get our first win on the board, or the season may start to get away from us. We are playing better futsal than last season but the finishing and that bit of luck you need have just deserted us now. I know if we keep playing well, then the wins will come, the squad is very strong this season and I have 100% faith in them.’

Player of the Match was again Jess Barnes – she carried on from last week with another dominating performance. Coach Chris was impressed by the way she controlled the tempo of the game, and her passing put Manchester on the back foot time and time again.