FA Futsal Conference North Week 6
Sunday 17 May 2009
Manchester Futsal Club 6 FC Barsa 2
Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield


Manchester Futsal Club will have to qualify for the FA Futsal Cup Finals the hard way as they finally got back to winning ways in the FA Futsal League North with a comfortable win against FC Barsa. The win means that Manchester will now play in the North A Qualifying Tournament on 6 June at Hillsborough Leisure Centre. The vital win against FC Barsa moves the club up to third in the league and has restored some confidence back in a team that has struggled to find top form so far this season.

Fixtures against FC Barsa have always been closely contested in the past and this game also mirrored the first game between the two sides at the start of the season. Manchester were without their influential captain Reed who was rested with an ankle injury and Ovechkin who has returned home for a holiday. Reed was replaced by Settle who was making his first appearance of the season following his handful of games last season.

Manchester started brightly and pressed Barsa into early errors. Excellent pivot play from Richardson drew the foul and from the resulting free-kick the same player drove through a crowded area to give Manchester a deserved lead. Barsa were not going to go down without a fight and created several chances of their own in which Allen in the Manchester goal had to be alert to with several confident saves and blocks to maintain Manchester’s lead. Complacency again was Manchester’s downfall as Barsa worked an opening and crashed the ball passed Allen from close range at the far post.

Manchester tried several changes and finally managed to restore the lead when Torres, who was making his first appearance in the starting five, poked home from close range as Barsa failed to clear. Manchester, who were already without their Head Coach due to a touch line ban, were becoming increasingly frustrated with some of the refereeing decisions. In all three players were booked in the first half as Manchester played out the final minutes of the half trying to ensure they did not gift Barsa a free shot. Instead they managed to extend their lead when Haworth got his first league goal just before the break.

Barsa came out fighting in the second half and Allen once again was Manchester’s saviour with several top class saves to keep Manchester’s lead in tact. To their credit the team from Leeds got themselves back into the game as the ball broke loose and slack marking allowed them to close the gap. Manchester responded with some of their best play so far this season and showed a glimpse of what might be to come when Bond finished off a great team goal that involved every player in a slick passing move that was too good for Barsa. Minutes later Richardson got in on the act and created space to slam home a shot into the far corner from ten yards. The game now looked won but Barsa were determined to make it as heated as possible by trying to ignite some past history between the two teams. It failed to work and inevitable lead to two free shots being awarded with Haworth converting one and Manna failing to beat the keeper.

The win keeps Manchester within touching distance of the top two teams but they will need to ensure that the determined display continues when they face Loughborough in their next league game.

Manchester will be in action on 24 May when they travel to London to take on
FC Enfield, Kickers Futsal Club, Team United, Sheffield and Hallamshire and London United Brazil in the Video Manifesto Tournament organised by our Brazilian friends Rogerio and James.

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