Courtesy: The FA.com


Helvecia add to their history

By Simon Walker

Monday, 26 October, 2009

A memorable double-double for Futsal outfit.

The FA National Futsal League
Grand Finals
Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October 2009
@Futsal, Swindon

This weekend witnessed a sporting triumph for Helvecia as they did the double in winning the two major Futsal trophies this season for the second successive year. Already having The FA Futsal Cup safely tucked under their arm from their win in July, Helvecia struck again by clinching The FA National Futsal League, to be crowned national Futsal champions for 2009.

The London club were in imperious form during an exciting weekend of top-level Futsal action in The FA National Futsal League Grand Finals held at the @Futsal arena in Swindon. The FA National Futsal Leagues are split into three regional leagues (North, Midlands and South), with the two top teams from each league progressing to the Grand Finals to battle it out for the title of national champions.

The six clubs that reached the Grand Finals were split into two groups, with the winners from each group facing each other in the Final. Loughborough University and Hartpury College gave Helvecia a run for their money in one group, with some impressive performances coming from the two university-based clubs. However, Helvecia’s class shone through and they managed to top this group with some breathtaking performances.

The other group was overshadowed somewhat, with the late arrival of Genesis from London resulting in technicalities to unfortunately decide the outcome of this group. The group involved both the northern and midlands league winners Middlesbrough and Tranmere Victoria, who were two evenly matched teams but as a result of a major technical decision in the Tranmere v Genesis fixture that resulted in Tranmere receiving a walk-over, Middlesbrough were unluckily faced with a mountain to climb in their final match against Genesis: they required a victory by six-clear goals. After a brave performance by Middlesbrough, they were unable to overpower the Genesis team, meaning that Tranmere progressed to The Final.

Helvecia were very much the favourites leading into The Final, but Tranmere Victoria were not prepared to go down without a fight. The opening salvos saw Tranmere create a number of half-chances, which appeared to rattle The FA Futsal Cup winners who were edgy and tense during the first period.

Towards the end of the first half, Helvecia managed to establish some control over the game with their clever moves and led at half-time 4-1. Tranmere started the second half brightly, scoring early and threatening to come back into the match. The game remained tight up until the last five minutes, when Tranmere began to fade and Helvecia asserted their authority, scoring a couple of late goals to make the scoreline suggest that the game was more one-sided than in truth it actually was.

Helvecia finished as euphoric 7-2 winners to retain their national league title from last season and will now have a chance of representing England in the 2010 UEFA Futsal Cup.







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com