NSW completes successful FFA National Futsal Championships in Canberra
Australia’s best young Futsal players descended on the capital in January to contest the 2020 FFA National Futsal Championships and determine the country’s best team across 10 divisions.
Grand final day was held at the AIS Training Halls in Canberra and it was a triumphant display from Football NSW Metro Thunder as they dominated with seven titles (FNSW Metro Lightning, FNSW Country North and Football Victoria claimed one each).
U12 Boys
NSW Metro Thunder were the day’s opening winners after edging top-placed FQ Metro 6-3 in an U12 Boys extra-time thriller.
It was end-to-end action from the get-go as Queensland’s Kingston Vaitusi unloaded a long-range blast past NSW keeper Harry Turner into the top corner to get things moving.
It didn’t take long for NSW to hit back with quickfire Oliver Sacks and Dylan Cotter strikes pushing Thunder ahead within minutes before the northerners returned to the lead behind Lucas Herrington and Lachlan Milan goals and manage a 3-2 Queensland break at halftime.
The see-sawing game was locked up again minutes after the restart when Lucas Jackson chipped the keeper to bring the sides level and neither team could manufacture a regular-time winner as the exciting contest headed to the bonus period.
The boys from NSW were unstoppable in extra-time as Sacks curled a delightful shot into the bottom corner before a Queensland own-goal and second Jackson strike rounded out a 6-3 victory to match their title-winning effort from last year.
U13 Boys
Football Victoria claimed the U13 Boys title in a heart-stopping penalty-shootout win over Football NSW Metro Thunder following a 5-5 stalemate in on-court play.
NSW fired out the blocks with Andre Rizgalla opening the scoring with a well-placed shot inside the first minute, but Victoria equalised through Lucas Green before a Thunder captain Tiago Quintal tap-in restored NSW’s lead to signal this match would be hardfought.
Levi Martins stretched the Thunder advantage to two goals within a minute but, despite some outstanding saves from NSW keeper George Frousalias, the southerners stayed right on their tails when captain Marc Petheriotis pounced on a rebound to trail 2-3 at the changeover.
Petheriotis would provide Victoria’s second-half inspiration when he levelled the scores with a rocket before team-mate Alexander Ditommaso also blasted one home to push FV in front for the first time.
As the clock wound down NSW skipper Quintal showed his worth with a long-range bomb that sent the clash into extra-time where Thunder’s Rizgalla traded goals with Petheriotis meant the final would be decided by spot-kicks.
It was strike-for-strike until the Victorian keeper held out Quintal’s penalty and send the title to Australia’s southern reaches for a second straight time.
U13 Girls
Football NSW Metro Thunder won the U13 Girls title following a comfortable 5-1 win over rivals FNSW Metro Storm that underlined their age division dominance.
Although both sides went through the group stages undefeated, Thunder’s remarkable record of 64 goals in four matches (including a 23-4 win against FNSW Country) gave them overwhelming favouritism.
Having said that both sides created early chances before Thunder finally went ahead on the quarter-hour through Milly Boughton, followed up almost immediately by an Emily Brewster tap-in from a quick counter-attack.
Storm continued to push and although they struggled in the final-third they did well to stay in the contest at halftime; however, Maya Lobo scored twice after the break to put Thunder in a commanding 4-0 lead.
Alvina Marie-Khoshaba finally found a breakthrough for Storm with 10 minutes to go but a Madeleine Caspers goal for Thunder sealed a 5-1 victory and memorable championship run.
It also made it four straight U13 Girls titles for Thunder.
U14 Boys
An incredible four-goal effort from Rhys Youlley saw Football NSW Metro Thunder lift a fifth-straight U14 Boys trophy after breezing past Football Victoria 8-2 in this year’s decider.
There was early drama as Victoria were awarded a penalty just three minutes in, and Alexander Tektonopoulos calmly sent the keeper the wrong way to put the southerners ahead.
But that’s about as good as it got for Victoria as Metro took control of the match scoring three goals in three minutes, including two from Maisam Awaz, Youlley adding his second courtesy of a beautiful freekick curler on the quarter-hour before Zane Schreiber finished off a swift counter to make it 5-1 at oranges.
Victoria started the second half on the front foot but were unable to get past NSW keeper Christian Marjanovic who made a number of impressive saves to keep the score unchanged until Oliver Lavale slid one past him for FV’s second.
Youlley sealed his hat-trick with a blistering shot from just inside the halfway line and added one more for good measure as a Sebastian Kiceec goal right on fulltime completed the six-goal rout.
U15 Boys
Football NSW Metro Lightning were crowned U15 Boys champions following a tense penalty-shootout win over FQ Metro.
The scores were deadlocked 1-1 after fulltime and extra-time before NSW triumphed 3-2 in the shootout, Lightning keeper Emlyn Cross making the key save to lift his side to the title.
The game started at a frantic pace with both sides denied by the woodwork in the opening minutes before Queensland hit the front when Dyce Robertson turned his defender and fired a shot off the post that bounced in.
NSW Metro had chances to equalise going into the break but two strong saves from FQ keeper Connor Damsma maintained FQ’s halftime advantage.
Both teams rued missed second-half opportunities and just as it looked like the northerners would cling on for a 1-0 win, Lightning’s Alen Harbas hit a beautiful strike from out wide that curled past Damsma into the net to level the scores.
Extra-time chances were few and far between and the game was ultimately decided in the shootout where Cross saved Nathan Weckert’s penalty to win the championship for NSW.
U15 Girls
A stunning Clare Holder performance ensured Football NSW Metro Thunder would claim the U15 Girls decider against FNSW Metro Lightning, winning 6-2.
Lightning started well and captain Mary Stanic-Floody blasted the ball home on the turn to open the scoring only for Thunder to draw level when Claudia Cicco’s cross took a wicked deflection before crashing the back of the net.
Minutes later Stanic-Floody had her second of the match, tapping in at the back post as Lightning regained a 2-1 lead that they held to halftime.
Thunder struck first in the second term after Holder blasted in a freekick equaliser and a neat Cicco goal put her side ahead for the first time moments later.
Thunder started to take control and added further goals through Kiara Holyoake-Caceda, Holder and Aurelia Collins to capture back-to-back U15 Girls trophies.
U16 Boys
Football NSW Metro Thunder proved too hot to handle as they beat FQ Metro 6-0 in a lopsided U16 Boys final.
It was sweet revenge for Thunder as they couldn’t find a way past Queensland in their 0-1 round-robin loss but hammered them in from everywhere in a dominant grand final display.
NSW scored three goals in each half led by doubles from Jack Herdman and Sebastian Cerecedo, while Joshua Kermond and Corby Fowler added one each to the scoreline.
The result made it back-to-back wins for Thunder in this division.
U17 Girls
In the day’s third all-NSW final Football NSW Country North beat FNSW Metro Thunder in a penalty shootout following a nail-biting U17 Girls decider.
Despite excellent chances at both ends neither side could conjure up a goal in either half, nor extra-time as NSW Country North finally got the better of their more-fancied opponents 3-2 from spot-kicks.
The country-siders finished the round-robin games in fourth place with just two wins from their five outings but produced the goods when it mattered most by knocking out unbeaten table-toppers Capital Football in the first semi-final.
This set up a championship clash against Thunder and Country again showed their worth as Brooke Kennedy and Hannah Jones both had excellent chances to find the back of the net in a tight contest.
Thunder’s Chloe Gordon and Eliza Pereria had glaring second-half opportunities denied brilliantly by Country custodian Sophie Emery, who continued her heroics in the shootout to allow Kennedy to score the match-winning penalty.
U19 Men’s
An Ethan De Melo hat-trick helped Football NSW Metro Thunder get the better of Football West Black Swans 4-0 and grab a fourth successive U19 Men’s championship.
It didn’t take long for 17-year-old Futsalroo De Melo to stamp his authority on the match with two goals by the seventh-minute mark giving Thunder a dream start.
The westerners slowly settled into the match but NSW extended their lead when Rhys Buick carried the ball beyond halfway and struck a nice shot into the bottom corner, and it was 4-zip just before the break as De Melo struck a third time.
The second half was a much more even contest as the Black Swans grew in confidence, but they couldn’t breach a resolute Thunder defence, the match finishing with the same four-goal margin.
Incredibly, NSW Thunder have reached the national 19 Men’s (Youth Men) final nine of the past 10 years, winning six times.
AWD Mixed
Football NSW Metro Thunder put on an AWD Mixed masterclass to secure an impressive 10-1 win over Football South Australia – their third national title on the trot.
Joshua Long scored in the first minute of play following a nice one-two with Brad Southwell and Thunder never looked back.
NSW keeper Nathan Whalen brought the crowd to their feet moments later as he charged up-field and chipped his opposing keeper to double Thunder’s lead, and a Southwell strike furthered the advantage a minute later.
Long added his second to put NSW up 4-0 inside 10 minutes and some excellent Whalen saves ensured the margin stayed the same to halftime.
Thunder again scored within 60 seconds of kick-off when Dion Kalogrios slotted home from an acute angle before Long fired in his third five minutes later, a Southwell penalty making it a magnificent seven and Rocco Musumeci extending the margin to eight before SA finally hit the scoreboard from a Sam Mills lob.
But NSW had the final say when Kalogrios and Long both scored again to run out nine-goal winners in front of a strong crowd.
