FFA National Futsal Championships Day Two
FFA National Futsal Championships Day reviews of the Open Men and Open Women held at Canberra on Monday 13th of November. Full results can be found on the National Futsal Championships website.
Open Mens
NSW Thunder 8 (Jarrod Basger 7’, Jonathan Kontalis 10’, Jordan Guerrero 12’, 22’, Jordan Mundell 18’, Sam Perre 31’, 32’, 35’) Queensland Metro 0
NSW Thunder made sure that they would end the morning session of Day Two on top of the table after swamping Queensland Metro 8-0. Thunder followed up their convincing opening day success over South Australia with another effective display keeping a second clean sheet and scoring at will against Metro, who was playing their first match of the tournament after enjoying the bye last night. It took NSW seven minutes to open their account, Futsalroo Jarrod Basger slotting home his second of the tournament. After that the goals flowed at regular intervals with Jonathan Kontalis (10 minutes) and Jordan Guerrero (12 minutes) extending the advantage to 3-0. The best goal of the first half came close to the half-time whistle as Jordan Mundell finished off an excellent team move with a cheeky back-heel flick that found its way past Brendan Prickett in the Queensland goal via the foot of the post. It took Thunder just two minutes to add to that tally in the second half as Guerrero notched his third goal in two matches with another composed finish to a slick move. The scene was set for Sam Perre to showcase his ability, the outstanding tricky playmaker bagging a four minute hat-trick with three wonderfully taken efforts including a half-volley, and two mid-range thunderbolts after Goran Ljuboja had held up play.
ACT 5 (Trent Flanigan 10’, 39’, Robbie Cattanach 31’, Callum Smith 36’, Angelo Konstantinou 40’) NSW Thunder 6 (Clayton Musumeci 3’, Jordan Mundell 17’, 18’, Jordan Guerrero 23’, Jarrod Basger 33’, Mark Symington 40’)
A goal with the final kick of the match from Mark Symington gave NSW Thunder a remarkable 6-5 victory over the ACT in a sensational match that puts the Thunder in prime position to finish on top of the ladder. Symington struck with seconds remaining after the ACT had recovered from 5-2 down with two goals in a minute to draw level. Trent Flanigan blasted home the first and when Angelo Konstantinou welted home a free shot with twenty seconds to play a draw seemed inevitable. But them Symington struck. Earlier the Thunder had roared into a 4-1 lead playing some tactical futsal that saw them counter the ACT at pace and utilising the full width of the court. Clayton Musumeci had opened the scoring only for Flanigan to level in the 10th minute. A double from Jordan Mundell had Thunder in front by the break and when Jordan Guerrero extended the lead to 4-1 the Thunder looked home and dry. The ACT weren’t done though and Robbie Cattanach gave them a glimmer of hope which Jarrod Basger appeared to have extinguished when he guided home after a deft run to make it 5-2. Callum Smith cracked home from the angle to start the fight back before the last minute drama that saw Thunder come away with a positive result from one of the best pool matches seen in the tournament for many a year.
LEADING SCORERS
4 Jordan GUERRERO (NSW Thunder)
3 Robbie CATTANACH, Trent FLANIGAN (ACT), Jarrod BASGER, Jordan MUNDELL, Sam PERRE (NSW Thunder)
2 Daniel BENNETT, Michael REEVE, Callum SMITH (ACT), Clayton MUSUMECI (NSW Thunder)
1 Ryan KEIR, Angelo KONSTANTINOU (ACT), Jonathan KONTALIS, Lev LEWIS, Mark SYMINGTON (NSW Thunder), Brian QUAN (Queensland), Maxim AVRAM, Jason BARRIENTOS, Miguel BARRIGOS, Konrad MACHOY (Victoria), own GOAL
Open Womens
NSW Lightning 1 (Kathryn Mladineo 21’) NSW Thunder 0
NSW Lightning claimed a narrow 1-0 win in a feisty encounter against neighbours NSW Thunder thanks to a solitary goal from Kathryn Mladineo a minute into the second half. Mladineo hit the match winner seconds after the resumption when she broke away from her marker and rounded Melanie McCauley to slot home from the angle. That goal proved to be the difference in a game that was played with the intensity of a Grand Final. Laura Donnelly went close in the early stages for the Thunder who enjoyed more of the possession but were held at bay by a stubborn Lightning defence. As such both goalkeepers, Sarah Easthope (Lightning) and McCauley (Thunder) were redundant, neither needing to make a save of note in the first ten minutes. When called into action however McCauley was alive to deny Elisha Williams with a smothering block as the pace increased, Easthope mirroring the stop at the other end to deny Jo-Anne Saliba. But with the defences standing firm the teams changed around all square at 0-0. After Mladineo had struck the game settled into a pattern of Thunder pressing hard and Lightning defending superbly to deny them time and space. Even withdrawing their ‘keeper for the fifth player didn’t work for Thunder and the closest they came to rescuing a point was when Renee Tomkins fired in a trademark missile that clattered back off the bar otherwise Dana Buttigieg, on for the second half, was unbeatable.
ACT 0 NSW Lightning 2 (Dominique Caridad 31’, Logan Garard 33’)
NSW Lightning made sure that they would end Day 2 of the Open Women’s competition on top of the ladder after completing a NSW Thunder/ACT victory double with a high intensity 2-0 win over the ACT in front of a decent early evening crowd at the AIS Arena. And the Lightning thoroughly deserved their win, putting on a perfect tactical display that frustrated the ACT at source. Luisa Marzotto excelled in goal for the ACT denying Dominique Caridad in the opening minutes and keeping in her team in the contest for large periods. In what was an even first half there was little to trouble either shot-stopper with Michelle Aurousseau having the best chance for the hosts, denied by a good block by Sarah Easthope. After the break it was Lightning who struck the decisive blows, scoring twice in two minutes. The first was the perfect example of being alive in transition as Lightning turned over ball in centre court and allowed Caridad to break away and finish with a composed shot underneath Marzotto. Two minutes later came the killer blow as the impressive Logan Garard burst onto a bouncing ball and thrashed a shot past Marzotto for 2-0. With a lead to defend, Lightning sat back and allowed the ACT plenty of the ball but replacement ‘keeper Dana Buttigieg was again in top form making excellent stops from Hayley Buckingham and Ashleigh Palombi as the Lightning struck.
NSW Thunder 2 (Laura Donnelly 35’, Jo-Anne Saliba 40’) Victoria 1 (Kristin Stensholt 3’)
A goal with five seconds remaining from Jo-Anne Saliba, scrambling the ball home from right on the line gave NSW Thunder a narrow 2-1 win over Victoria in the final match of the day. With both teams in pressing need of a win the contest was understandably cagey at times but that in no way detracted from the quality on show. Victoria struck first blood in only the third minute, dispossessing Thunder mid-court and working the ball to Kristin Stensholt who drilled a shot inside Tani Rosekelly’s near post. The response was almost immediate, Elizabeth Sarcevic in the Victorian goal saving well from a fierce shot by Thunder’s Saliba as the tension mounted. Sarcevic was called into action again seven minutes from half-time flinging herself to her left to push away a fizzing drive from Claudia Fruscalzo to preserve the slender lead at the interval. Thunder, staring at an unexpected second defeat in a row, needed to find their form in the second twenty and they started on the front foot. And, after Victoria denied them for 15 minutes, they found their goal. Renee Tomkins and Laura Donnelly exchanged rapid-fire passes with Donnelly slotting home. Melanie McCauley saved a late shot from the 10m mark from Madelaine Richardson before Saliba netted the match-winner as time ran out.
LEADING SCORERS
3 Erin CLOUT (ACT)
2 Hayley BUCKINGHAM, Ashleigh PALOMBI, Becky ROCHE (ACT), Dominique CARIDAD, Ceyda CAMBAZ (NSW Lightning)
1 Michelle AUROUSSEAU, Michaela DAY, Nikola ORGILL (ACT), Logan GARARD, Kathryn MLADINEO (NSW Lightning), Laura DONNELLY, Jo-Anne SALIBA (NSW Thunder), Shannon ADAMS, Jamilla HULL (South Australia), Melissa MISSAILIDIS, Kristin STENSHOLT, Liesl WOODS (Victoria)
