Grecians Delight With National Finals Win

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The fifth and final National Finals Day at the International Futsal Arena in Birmingham took place on Thursday with ten teams split in to two groups all playing four matches in a round robin to advance to the semi-finals.

In Group A Southampton won all four matches and only conceded 2 goals to finish top on 12 points, they were followed closely behind by Bristol City who finished on 9 points, their only loss to the Saints. Mansfield Town finished in third with 6 points while Sheffield United and Preston North End both finished on 1 point respectively.

In Group B the final placing came down to the final round of matches with Grimsby Town topping the group on 9 points having lost their only match narrowly to Sheffield United , in second place Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle both finished on 7 points but in was Exeter who had the better goal difference to book their place in the semis. In fourth place were Sheffield United on 4 points and Chelsea finished fifth on 1 point.

Down to the Semi Finals and The Grecians played the in form Southampton but City produced some great attacking futsal to win the match 3-0, in the second semi final Grimsby Town who were coming in to form at the right time on the day beat Bristol City 3-2.

In to the final and the first goal went to Exeter City with a great move finished in style, they held the lead for 10 minutes before Grimsby Town equalized with 7 minutes remaining. Three minutes from time and it was all still square until City scored with 2 minutes left on the clock. It proved to be the winner after great defending and some outstanding saves from the Grecians keeper in the last minutes of play.

Another great day of finals, thank you to all the players, coaches and referees for some great Futsal.

Lilywhites prove invincible

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Another day of quality Futsal came to Birmingham International Arena today for the League 3 National Finals 2016, another 16 teams were split in to four groups and would play three group matches each before the knockout stages.

In Group A Bristol City were unbeaten winning every game by one goal to progress with 9 points, in second was Southampton who finished on 4 points the same as Blackpool but the Saints progressed by virtue of goal difference; Newport County finished fourth on 0 points.

In Group B Preston North End finished top on maximum points, convincingly winning all three game, Exeter snatches the second qualifying spot on 6 points while Norwich City finished third on 3 points and Newport County fourth on 0 points.

In Group C the other Canaries side finished unbeaten and topped the group on 9 points. In second place was another tie on points with Portmouth and Southampton finishing on 4 points respectively but it was Pompey who had the superior goal difference and progressed to the quarter finals. In fourth place were Bradford City on 0 points.

In Group D, the top spot was tied on 7 points with Scunthorpe United finishing above Grimsby Town on goal difference, in third place was Bristol City on 3 points and Hull City on 0 points.

To the quarter finals and the best 8 teams of the day would battle it out. In the first quarter final Exeter overcame Bristol, Norwich City had their revenge on Grimsby Town who until today had done the treble over the Carrow Road outfit, beating them for a place in the semis. In the bottom half of the draw Preston North End beat Southampton and Scunny beat Portsmouth.

In the semi finals Norwich City continued their good form in the finals beating Exeter City 3 – 2, The Lilywhites also remained unbeaten winning 3 – 0 against Scunthorpe to set up a great final.

The final between the best two teams of the day and it didn’t disappoint with both teams on the attack from the first whistle, it was Preston North End who scored first and it stayed 1 – 0 until for the rest of the match with a great display from their defence and keeper to keep the clean sheet.

Preston North End were Champions and fully deserved, a great day of Futsal from all the players, coaches, staff and of course the referees, well done everyone.

Scunthorpe United Clinch National Finals Title

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The National Finals continued last week, and it was the turn of the boys from League 2 as all 16 teams journeyed to the International Futsal Arena in Birmingham.

The teams were split in to four groups of four teams, each team playing three matches with the top two teams qualifying for the knockout stages.

In Group A Southampton toped the group and were unbeaten with 9 points, in second place were Norwich with 6 points while Bradford City and Huddersfield Town finished the group with 3 and 0 points respectively.

In Group B Grimsby Town were also unbeaten finishing on 7 points after a draw earlier in the group, Shrewsbury finished second in a close group on 5 points with Brentford missing out by just 1 point finishing on 4 points ahead of Mansfield on 0 points.

In Group C Reading were dominant and finished the group with maximum points, conceding just two goals. Notts County finished second on 4 points while Huddersfield Town and Blackburn Rovers finished on 2 and 1 points respectively.

In Group D Scunny topped the group with 9 points while Plymouth Argyle made it through on 4 points, beating Cardiff City who finished on 3 points and Newport County on 1 point to complete the group stage.

The Quarter Finals started with Southampton v Shrewsbury Town, in a tight match the Shrews came through victorious while in the second Quarter Final Reading beat Plymouth Argyle to book their spot.

The Iron kept up their unbeaten streak for the day beating Notts County, while in the closest match of the knockout stages and The Canaries went all the way to penalties, the Mariners coming through in sudden death.

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On to the Semi Finals and Scunthorpe were again dominant in the North East clash beating Grimsby to book their place in the final while it was Shrewsbury Town who made it through in the other Semi beating Reading.

On to the Final and a first for Shrewsbury, the match was a fast paced affair with both teams attacking from the start but it was Scunny who gained an early lead before seeing the match out 5 – 2 to become Champions of the League 2 National Finals.

Posh Clinch National Final Win

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The National Ladies Finals of the EFL Trust Futsal League came to a head this month with six teams from around the country travelling to the new Play Football Futsal Arena in Birmingham.

The season has taken it’s toll on some of the teams with some teams dropping out due to injuries but the teams that turned up to a wet and windy Futsal Arena were raring to go for the finals.

Of the six teams competing were League Champions and strong favourites Peterborough United Ladies who were looking to complete a league and Cup double, the team was presented with the League trophy prior to the matches today.

Three matches in each group and we were under way and The Posh got off to a great start with a 3 – 0 win over Bristol City Ladies, while in Group B another strong team Southampton Ladies clinched a 1 – 0 win over Shrewsbury Town Ladies.

In the next round of fixtures Cardiff City got the best possible start with a 4 – 1 win over The Shrews and Burton Albion also started well with a 3 – 1 win over Bristol City Ladies.

The final group matches saw Peterborough comfortably beat Burton Albion 5 – 1 while it was a tighter affair with Southampton and Cardiff City who were both in with a chance of qualifying for he final, Cardiff City came out winners with a 2 – 0 win.

To the Final between Peterborough and Cardiff and both teams started well with chances for both but it was Peterborough who scored first and by half time made it 2 – 0, a brave fight in the second half saw The Bluebirds score two goals themselves but it was after Peterborough has already added two more so too little too late as The Posh won 4 – 2 to complete the League and National Finals double.

Well done to all the teams and coaches who attended today with some great Futsal from every team, a big thank you to the venue and also the referee’s who kept the matches flowing throughout the day.