The Invincibles! January success for Ladies Futsal

The arrival of the new term brought with it a swathe of new positive energy. The Warwick Ladies Futsal team were keen to get back to winning ways, especially after a painful 7-5 loss to a large Derby squad in their first game, last December. Having recently recruited Joe from Support Sport as Head Coach, the team started the year stronger and with far greater tactical awareness. At the January Tournament, then, the team was keen to get out onto the pitch and perfect some of these new techniques.

The day long tournament began with Warwick comfortably defeating Leicester 11-4. This was the initial sign that Warwick’s new tactics were working. However, the next game brought with it a greater challenge, against Loughborough. The game started sluggishly, and even though Warwick led 4-3 at the interval, the game was exceptionally close. A half-time tactical refresher from Coach Joe quickly changed Warwick’s mentality and brought momentum to the second half. Some great goals from Roseanna Deakin and fantastic goalkeeping from Joanne Harrower contributed to the strong 11-3 victory for Warwick.

The day long tournament began with Warwick comfortably defeating Leicester 11-4

The final game of the day was against a violent Derby side and required a final burst of energy from the team. Warwick controlled the game with their swift movements and passing, and Derby struggled to keep up with them. And despite being aggressively fouled by a Derby player, who received a yellow card, Justine Buckmire still managed to maintain focus and contribute some great goals to the overall score line. Other scorers included Rachel Ephraim and Akina Carey. The team managed an impressive and comfortable win of 12-0, leaving a frustrated Derby outfit even more frustrated.

Three members of the UWWFC Futsal team, who emerged victorious in this year’s January Tournament. Photo: UWWFC website.

The next weekend saw a new round of Futsal games, which were played with both nerves and anticipation, as losing a game would have destroyed the team’s chances of being league champions. The first game was against a Loughborough side that returned for vengeance after their loss the previous week. Since it was the first game of the day, both teams had fresh legs, and it was competitive from the outset.

Beth Griffiths performed like a pro in goal, in her first game after a long absence from injury

The team soon noticed that this Loughborough team was far stronger than the previous week’s team as they equalized almost immediately after every Warwick goal throughout the first half. Eventually Warwick managed to edge away and finish with a half time score of 6-4. This was largely thanks to Beth Griffiths’ epic goalkeeping, who performed like a pro in her first game after a long absence because of injury. Phoebe Penfold and Olivia Lonsdale were the dynamic duo of the second half with their nifty link-ups and fast-flying shots, that even the much-improved Loughborough keeper could not keep out. The team, yet again, delivered a well-deserved, but ultimately unexpected, win of 13-7.

Warwick entered the final game of the tournament requiring only a draw to emerge as league winners. But the team was not prepared to negatively sacrifice their winning streak, and focused on defeating the final competitor, Leicester. However, winning proved difficult as the previous match finished only 30 minutes prior to the Leicester kick-off, resulting in some tired legs. This caused a slow start, but Warwick were nevertheless 4-2 to the good in the first half. Despite the advantage, the motivated Warwick side battled away for one final push to ensure the victory. They ended the game with a fantastic 15-3 success, thus defending their title as League winners! Warwick will now go on to compete in the National Futsal Championship.

The squad consisted of: Justine Buckmire (captain); Olivia Lonsdale; Rachel Ephraim; Phoebe Penfold; Akina Carey; Joanne Harrower; Roseanna Deakin; Beth Griffiths; Naomi Wass; Hannie Boyle; Helen Babalola; Blerta Berisha; Divya Pathak; Coach Joe.