Futsal League Concluded

Saturday 27th January saw the final day of Scottish 1A Futsal fixtures, with both of our 1st and 2nd teams in action at West Lothian College, Livingston. Read below about how they got on!

Edinburgh University 1’s vs Edinburgh 2’s

Friends off the pitch, opponents on the pitch. The first game of the day was Edinburgh 1st team against Edinburgh 2nd team. The Edinburgh second team used this opportunity to implement tactics that they must have worked on in training. The second team initially defended zonally which changed to a high press and then to a man-marking tactic. This meant Edinburgh’s 1st team had to quickly adapt their style of play. The second team held off the first team from scoring for 12 minutes with their effective defending. Frustration started to build up in the first team until Beth Macleod slotted the first goal in the bottom corner.

First team player-coach Grete Wilson juggled the role of playing while managing the team and utilised the time outs to advise her players. With the team carrying out Wilsons’ instructions, luck started to fall in the favour of the first team and the goal tally started to increase as the first team eventually got going.

An admiral performance by the second team players meant that the last ten minutes of the game saw very few goals. With the majority of the goals scored just after the second half, Edinburgh’s 1st team won 11-0.

It was now time for the title deciding game.

Edinburgh University 1’s vs Stirling 1’s

As points were equal for the Edinburgh 1s and their rivals Stirling 1s, it was clear that Edinburgh had to win this game as a draw and goal difference would not see them lift the title.

Even with the arrival of coaches McLaughlin and Stavert, there was nothing that the Edinburgh side could do about first goal scored by Stirling’s formidable Rachel Donaldson. The ball took a deflection off an Edinburgh defender directly past keeper Charlotte Parker-Smith and saw Stirling go 1-0 up after five minutes.

It was clear that after three quarters into the first half this was going to be a tight game with any one team jumping on any chances created by the opponents’ mistakes. Stirling make it 2-0 going in at half time.

The half time break refocussed the Edinburgh side and a number of shots found the Stirling keeper having to stay agile and alert for the number of Edinburgh shots that were coming her way. However, the unsuccessful Edinburgh attacks left space for Stirling and again, they found the back of the net making in 3-0.

Shortly after, Stirling took advantage of the wide shot by club president Sarah Thompson, to break and not fail in hitting the target. Score 4-0 with 8 minutes to go.

Edinburgh did not give up. They pressed higher than they had before. Edinburgh’s keeper Charlotte Parker-Smith with a quick reflex saved Stirling’s shot and quickly delivers to Margaux’s feet who puts one past Stirling with two minutes to go making the final score 4-1.

Although the Edinburgh side did not win the title this year, positives can be taken forward to the BUCS British trophy that the team will be competing in this year. The team scored a total of 51 goals, with each outfield player scoring at least one. The golden boot goes to Margaux Durand-Watson with a ground breaking 18 goals. The team hope to take these positives forward against their next rivals Loughborough 2nd team in the BUCS British Trophy on the 17th February.

Below: 1st team

Back - Paul McLaughlin (Coach), Sarah Thompson, Beth Macleod, Charlotte Parker-Smith, Cecilia Bosman, Margaux Durand-Watson, Andrew Stavert (Coach),

Front - Rebecca Gray, Grete Wilson