Futsalroo Lynch pulling the strings for the Green and Gold
Futsal electricity is circuited on exciting fast-paced energy; it’s end-to-end action in the blink of an eye and ‘nil’ scorelines are a rarity; it’s driven by a scorer’s philosophy and the best at it can only be combatted by a great defence and an even better commander… Grant Lynch fits the requirements perfectly.
The UTS Northside lynchpin leads an outfit that continually belies itself by competing with the state’s best.
They’ve never reached the finals in five years of trying, finishing fifth or sixth every time; never managed more than six wins in a 14-game season; heck, they’ve never won more than twice in a row.
Yet they’ve rarely been flogged (three times beaten by six goals, only premier league-benchmark Dural boast a better league record of a five-goal defeat as their greatest loss); and UTS conceding 3.2 goals per outing only Dural (2.3) and Inner West (2.7) command a stricter defensive mark.
To underline how tight it is in a Northside run, their games average the lowest scoreline of any club fixture in PL history – 5.9 goals per UTS match followed by Inner West (6.1), Boomerangs (6.7), Dural (6.9) and, surprise, Phoenix (6.9), where, funny enough, Grant started his premier league career.
But perhaps the most convincing statistic as to how remarkable UTS’ competitiveness is and how uncanny their ability to keep a result within reach – a heart-stopping 41% of their 73 matches (30) have resulted in one-goal differences; next-best, now lesser a surprise, Phoenix (29%), Hakoah (28%) and Inner West (28%).
Phoenix, Lynch’s first club, never finished higher than seventh.
So why does such powerful defensive data leans toward seemingly underwhelming teams Northside and Phoenix… well, plenty of reason can be laid at Lynch’s feet, and probably why he was called into the Futsalroo squad for this week’s AFF Futsal Championships being held in Vietnam.
It’s not Lynch’s first national call-up, having travelled to Uzbekistan in 2016 for the AFC tournament that saw the Futsalroos qualify for the world cup, but he wasn’t selected for the global challenge – and he’s on a mission to change that.
“Clearly it’s a huge honour to play for your country and personally something I’ve always strived for,” he said.
“I got some game time [in Uzbekistan] and had a good experience, but I was devastated to be left out of the World Cup squad and vowed to work hard for another chance, so it feels pretty good to be given a new shot, especially as this time it’s as a selection and not a replacement.
“Over the past few years I’ve put a lot of focus to develop my coaching and playing and taking on a leadership role,” he said.
“Now, I just really want to be more comfortable on court and play a major role for the team.”
Lynch was named in the 2019 Ultra-Football Team of the year in the NPL NSW Men’s top tier competition playing centre-back for Blacktown City.
But he also currently owns Northside’s overall scoring record with a 32-goal count – fast under threat by UTS young guns Mason Ireland (25) and Nathan Amore (23) – and it’s a side to his game he’s worked very hard on.
Being around coaching stalwart Rob Varela and Australia’s best futsal practitioners can only help.
“My role has changed a few times over the years, but in futsal you can’t choose between being a scorer or defender,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve definitely improved both sides of my game playing futsal – one-v-one defending, when to go for the intercept, positioning, reading the play.
“It’s just great that I get to bounce ideas off someone like Rob Varela and senior players like Greg Giovenali; they’ve just got so much experience and learning specific technical aspects and nuance stuff like playing specific roles has been so beneficial.”
But he could barely stifle his chuckle when then asked to address the elephant in the room.
Last Wednesday night UTS produced a huge Futsal Cup upset when they demolished champion unit Dural 5-2, a side that has five of his Futsalroo team-mates in it and coached by Varela – so, was it a good idea to knock out the man who will decide his game time in Vietnam?
“From my point of view it was really about showcasing the other talent we have at the club and help them make an impression on the national coach,” he said.
“Guys like goalkeeper Jett Griffiths, Lucas Rainbird and Eddie Caspers are all part of the next generation, and I think they might’ve caught Rob’s eye with the type of performance we put on… Griffiths in particular was outstanding for us.
“But they are also a big part of a UTS push to finisher higher up the table and strive for a finals spot,” Lynch continued.
“It’s taken a few years to develop, and players like Nathan Amore and Mason Ireland have become main players in our goal; adding Loupi [Michael Loupis, who scored a hat-trick against Dural] has made a massive difference because he presents himself as such a big threat.
“They’re all buying into what we want to achieve and showed they have the same sort of quality as the big sides the other night.”
“We need to get better at getting those close results to go our way because that’s probably the difference to us making the finals, but we also have a bigger club intention to encourage a more wholistic environment and get players to enjoy their futsal rather than just see it as a secondary to outdoor.”
The Futsalroos leave Sydney on October 16 for Ho Chi Minh City where they play warm-up games against two top Vietnam Futsal League outfits before the AFF Championships start October 21.
Australia’s Group B opponents are host nation Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, with Group A comprising Thailand, Myanmar, Timor-Leste and Cambodia.
A top-three finish secures a place at the 2020 AFC Futsal Championship held in Turkmenistan next February, and a chance to qualify for September’s FIFA Futsal World Cup in Lithuania.
Stand tall, Lynchy! Add your messages of support to the Futsalroos in the comments section, and don’t forget to Like & Share.
-By Dan De Nardi
