Middlesbrough Futsal Club - Press Release

Grimsby vs Middlesbrough

UMBRO FA Futsal League North


Grimsby put up a strong display, but failed to keep Boro out as Grimsby boy, Mortlock led Boro to a late comeback at the Gemtec Arena in Hull.

Kevin Bryant’s strong Grimsby team looked like they would take all three points when they scored the opening goal 5 minutes into the second half, after the Teessiders had seen a hatful of chances in the first half go begging.

It was an even, end to end match in the first half, although Boro created the majority of chances but Leigh Graves made some superb saves to take Grimsby in level at half-time. Boro’s tight defence was rarely breached, but Paul Goodhand was a constant threat with his quick feet and Curt Holmes made some good stops from Grimsby’s shots from range.

A goalless first half was somewhat of a surprise as Boro had 22 shots on goal, 9 of which hit the target, showing how influential Graves was in the score line.

Boro kept up their tempo in the second half and worked the keeper 3 times in the opening minute, but to no avail. An afternoon of frustration looked likely and was typified when Grimsby’s first significant attack resulted in the opening goal. Paul Goodhand weaved his way past two Boro players before poking a shot away but Holmes was quick to react. The ball fell to another Grimsby player who hit a deflected shot towards the goal. Herbert, on the goal line, was in the way and the ball was cleared, but only as far as Daniel Hornigold who made no mistake and fired home.

Boro never gave up and continued to lay siege on the Grimsby goal, and it wasn’t until the 30th minute when Boro had a similarly fortunate goal. Dalghusa, making his national league debut, received the ball on the left wing before playing in Mortlock, who had made a piercing run. His resultant shot was saved, or deflected, nobody knows in the scramble, but eventually the ball was fumbled over the line by Herbert, for his 3rd goal of the FA League. Finally, Boro had broken the deadlock and continued in search of the winner. In this time 5 fouls had been reached – any more fouls would result in a 10 metre penalty.

At 1-1 the game was finely balanced and it was the Great Britain international who gave Boro the lead with 6 minutes remaining taking his league tally to 4 goals, and he doubled Boro’s advantage less than two minutes later with a goal resulting from a quick counter attack and Grimsby had a 2 goal deficit to claw back if they were to keep their 100% record.

They were offered a lifeline less than a minute after Boro had edged into a 2 goal lead when Holmes clumsily fouled Hornigold in the area after the attacker had used his feet well to keep the ball. A penalty was awarded to Grimsby in the 37th minute and despite Holmes making a great save, the rebound fell straight to Hornigold who buried the ball past a grounded ‘keeper. It was 3-2 with three minutes remaining and Grimsby pressed on. They were vulnerable to counter attack and it wasn’t long before the 2 goal cushion was restored. Ben Amos, the player with the most minutes in the national league, capped off another solid performance with a superbly crafted goal.

The lead, with 2 minutes remaining gave Middlesbrough a sense of relief and despite conceding a 10 metre penalty, which was very well saved by Holmes, Grimsby played out the remainder of the game chasing the ball and had very little to worry the league leaders.

There wasn’t the massive amount of goals scored as in the opening game, but a win against one of the undoubtedly stronger teams in the league at this stage of the season, by however many goals, is what’s important.

Team line-ups:
Middlesbrough: Holmes, Herbert, Mortlock, Amos, Prosser, Dalghusa, Burgess, Leyshon, Saifah, Kilbride, Al-Harthi.
Grimsby: Graves, Russell, Harris, Cooper, Lowthorpe, Durosimo, Hornigold, Goodhand, Watts

For more information on Boro Futsal check out the club’s website www.BoroFutsal.co.uk






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