England’s Futsal team made their first outing of the season against an emerging Wales outfit at St. George’s Park over the weekend.
On Saturday, a sell-out crowd saw the first of a double header and despite Wales being ranked lower than England in Futsal, local derby games always make for a great spectacle and it did not disappoint this time round.
The Three Lions started dominantly with the ball and looked to get on the front foot as Wales soaked up some long periods of pressure.
But it was Wales who scored against the run of play through a well-worked parallel pass and first time shot. However, England’s pressure paid dividends a minute before half time with a cleverly worked free-kick which Jordan Edge rocketed home.
The second half saw England take the lead when a great move saw captain Raoni Medina tee up Liam Palfreeman for a finish.
Sunday afternoon saw the second match and another fast-paced affair as the teams battled it out again.
Again, it was Wales who took the lead through their impressive captain Chris Hugh, who bagged two to put his side 2-0 up at half time.
England came out and dominated the game after half time, but with a resilient defence and some world class saves from keeper Lee Jones, England found it hard to turn chances into goals.
The breakthrough finally came with six minutes left on the clock, after a great turn by Richard Ward found Russell Goldstein to finish from close range.
It was Ward who then found the net again to make it 2-2 after some clever work from England in the fly keeper setup and another assist coming from Medina.
The Three Lions went in search of the winner with three minutes remaining, but had to settle for a draw to round off a positive weekend.
“It was a great event at SGP which made for a couple of great games,” said England head coach Mike Skubala.
“For me, it was important to implement what we have been working on in training and gaining more experience for our younger players to blend more with some of the senior players.”
The teams will meet again in four weeks at the Four Nations Tournament in Scotland.
