Courtesy: Futsal England


No more than 50 turn out to watch England defeated again

First win eludes Dell

Moldova 6 : 4 England

England lost their first game of this tri-nations Futsal tournament last night at the National Cycling Centre, Manchester, when they went down 6-4 to Moldova.
Graeme Dell's side were placed thirty places lower than the Moldavans in the rankings coming into the game and were confident that a first international win was a possibility. Having played five internationals in the last two months England have made considerable progress, particularly in games against Egypt and Thailand.

The game started well for England with a sustained period of confident possession but after two minutes they conceded tamely following Vicolas drive from a cut back corner.

A second Moldovan goal followed when Stephen Gallen was dispossessed on the edge of his own area. England however hit back through top scorer Ben Walker - taking down a long throw from Faria Jackson with one touch and poking it beyond Polivenco in the Moldovan goal with his second.

The game then settled down to a pattern of England possession and Moldovan defence and rapid counter attacks. England 'keeper Jackson played as fifth outfielder for long periods however with three minutes to play England lost the ball and with Jackson caught outside his area a goal bound chip was handled by the keeper outside his area and a red card was inevitable.

This was a disappointing end to Jackson’s night as he had been England’s best performer in the first half with a string of outstanding reaction saves. The FIFA laws of Futsal allow a dismissed player to be replaced after two minutes. England attempted to run down the clock but with twelve seconds remaining Moldova scored again to make the score 3 - 1. More seriously England’s replacement keeper Graham Smith damaged his hamstring and had to play the rest of the game in considerable discomfort.

The second half saw an England revival with Bath's Alex Sykes and Belper’s Ben Walker scoring in quick succession to peg back the Moldovan lead to 4-3. However just when a revival seemed possible two further goals from the pacy Moldovans put them once again in a position of comfort. A late penalty from Sykes brought the scores to 4-6.

England were disappointed with their overall performance as a long anticipated first international win should have been secured against a modest Moldovan side. Once again an eleven a side novices attempting to play a different game. The plus points for England were the performance of Jackson in goal, the ability of Walker to create his own goal scoring opportunities and the contributions of Neil Saunders and Jim Elford – both newcomers to the international squad. Bath City’s Russell Milton and Dagenham and Redbridge’s Paul Bruce also made sound debuts.

England play their final match of the tournament against the impressive Romanians on Tuesday night at 8.45 pm at the National Cycling Centre. The Romanians will provide far stiffer opposition as the team is drawn from a professional national Futsal League and are considered to be the rising force in European Futsal.

Monday, 13 December 2004.