On Saturday 13 April 2019, Bootham Futsal Club U14s made the long trip down to Birmingham for the FA Youth Futsal Cup.

The games were 16 minutes straight through with a constant clock. Bootham were represented by:

Abbi S, Hannah P, Lily C, Niamh T, Alice P, Ruby W – Special thank you to Alice and Abbi for coming along and helping us out.

Game 1 – Hinton & Finchley – Bootham started against probably the best team in the competition, and were very quickly on the back foot. Hinton had 2 very quick and technical forwards, who looked very much at ease in futsal. Ruby managed to score a fantastic solo goal and Lily, Niamh and Ruby again all had chances to score, but ultimately they lost 5-1.

Game 2 – Plymouth Aspire Girls – In a game that Bootham dominated for most of the match, the scoreline just didn’t reflect this. Abbi made some outstanding saves in goal, Alice, playing her first ever futsal matches really started to impose herself, the impressive Hannah and Lily worked their socks off in defence. It just wasn’t Bootham’s day as they just couldn’t force the ball home, eventually losing 3-0.

Game 3 – St Annes Rovers Girls FC – The girls were determined to win one game and boy did they go out on a high! Ruby scored early on and from that moment on they looked at ease, playing some lovely futsal, and defending like demons. Abbi, again, made some vital saves and with a bit of luck they could have scored more, with Niamh, Lily and Ruby all going close. They held on and ran out winning 1-0.

In conversation afterwards, Coach Chris said ‘Suzy and I are so very proud of each and every one of these players today. They played against sides who play grassroots football every week together, and these girls get 1 hour a week and virtually no games. They held their own and didn’t look out of place and on another day, with that bit of luck you need in tournaments, they could have got that second win!’

He added ‘The support the girls got from the parents, who travelled down all the way from York, was amazing. A special mention to Eleanor, who couldn’t play today due to an ankle injury, came all this way on crutches to support her team mates, what an absolute star. The way these girls conducted themselves today was unbelievable and the future is definitely very bright. Bring on next year!’