Match day 6 saw Bootham Ladies’ Futsal Club – York travel back to Warrington to face Loughborough Students. Bootham had late withdrawals from several players and only just managed to field a full team, but with no subs they knew it was going to be hard.

With only one defeat since the turn of the year Loughborough were looking to continue that strong record, and scored early goals to put Bootham on the back foot. After hitting the post with a long range effort, Hannah scored her first goal of the season with an assist from Ellie. Katie made several good saves throughout the first half, before a couple of late goals made the halftime score 8-1 to Loughborough.

Bootham started the second half with a great passing and defending display, keeping their opponents out for nearly 10 minutes. With an assist from goalkeeper Katie, Kimberly grabbed her first goal of the season with a well taken finish, before Bootham’s’ luck ran out. A seemingly harmless block from Suzy, left her limping badly, and with no subs, they were forced to finish the game with only 3 outfield players. Final score finished 16-2 to Loughborough.

After the game, an emotional Coach Chris spoke, ‘We just can’t catch any breaks this season, our injury list just keeps getting longer and longer. With 3 late dropout we were always going to be very much up against it. The players were immense today, they never stopped running and for the start of the second half we matched Loughborough in every department. I am really pleased that Hannah and Kim scored, they have got better and better in every game they have played. You can’t play futsal with only 5 players, you need at least 8 to survive the pace and intensity of the game, so to play 10 minutes with 4 shows immense character.’

When asked about the injury to Suzy, he said, ‘The ball struck her knee from the side and she is in real pain, there was no way she could have carried on. What impressed me was the other players just rolled their sleeves up and carried on, they never once talked about quitting. They are a special group and what they have been through this season will only hold them in good stead for the future.’

When asked about the future he said, ‘This first season was always about learning where we are in the journey. We are learning, and more importantly, we are improving with every game. I know we need to recruit well over the summer, especially to strengthen the depth of the squad, and this will happen. No-one in the club has given up and the players we have coming through from the academy deserve the right to play in this league. It was always going to be a marathon, not a sprint.’