Report by Geoffrey Hughes

"Many regular readers of Futsal Planet will remember the outstanding success achieved during season 2006/07 by the premier Futsal Club in Wales, Deeside Dragons, who were not only the first winners of the Welsh Futsal League, but who swept the board by also winning both the Welsh Futsal Cup and the Welsh Futsal League Cup.

Along with the top Futsal Clubs from Ireland, Scotland and England, the Welsh Champions had looked forward to playing in this season's UEFA Futsal Cup with real anticipation, but for reasons that have yet to be advised by the Football Association of Wales the F.A.W. decided to block the Dragons' participation, with the result that whilst Shamrock Rovers, Fair City Santos and London White Bear travelled to play in August's Preliminary Round the Deeside Dragons were left kicking their heels at home.

On the other side of the Irish Sea the Football Association of Ireland has adopted a far more positive approach to Futsal than their counterparts in Wales, for not only have they actively support the efforts of their champion side at international level, they have also decide to entered their national Under 21 side in next year's UEFA Futsal Championships.

In order to get their preparations for next Spring under way the F.A.I. issued an invitation to the Deeside Dragons to travel over to Dublin this month for a friendly match against the Ireland Under 21 Team in a match to be played at the excellent main sports hall of the University of Dublin.

After an enforced six month lay off the Dragons took a few minutes to shake off the "cobwebs", and the Irish duly tool their chance to take an early lead with a spectacular volley from the left sideline.

This initial reverse served as a useful "wake up" call for the Welsh Club, who quickly got back into their stride, and the longer the game went on the more the experience and tactical strengths of the Dragons told, enabling them to take control of events, leading ultimately to a 3-2 victory for the visitors.

Speaking after the match Derek O' Neill, the Futsal Coordinator of the F.A.I., expressed his satisfaction with his team's display, finding many positives in the Irish side's performance against a Futsal Club he felt could have achieved much, had they permitted to take part in Europe competition this season.

Looking ahead to Ireland's upcoming Under 21 friendly matches in Portugal, and hopefully a re-match with Deeside Dragons in the New Year, Mr. O 'Neill confirmed that Ireland still has some way to go before he feels it can compete at the highest level in Europe, but confirmed that matches like the recent game in Dublin provide exactly the right basis upon which the national team can continue its' development.

For Deeside Dragons the match confirmed their top line Futsal pedigree…..and can only hope that the F.A.W. will follow the line of the F.A. in London, where the English champion side of season 2006/07 (the Portuguese based Ipswich Wolves) will receive their invitation to play in next season's UEFA Futsal Cup."



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