We bring you a comprehensive round-up of the latest results from the Posh Futsal programme.
The recently formed Peterborough United Men’s Futsal Team has got off to a good start. After four fixtures in their 1st season, they are sitting in 2nd place, three points behind leaders Corby Futsal Club. With two wins and two losses, the Posh will be really up for their last two fixtures in the New Year, knowing that a league victory is still achievable.
In their first fixture, they were unlucky to lose 8-6 to the league leaders Corby, in what was a very closely fought match that was 2-2 at half time. The Posh went to push for an equaliser at 7-6 in the final minute, and were caught on the counter attack. Garrido scored a hat-trick, and Lopez, Clarke and Doyle got themselves on the scoresheet. Garrido was then given the Man of the Match award by manager Mark Bland.
Going into the second fixture, Posh recruited two new players, Michael Johnson and Callum Avent. Both currently work at the club with the Futsal Scholarship for 16-19year olds. Both have very good futsal knowledge and have a lot of experience playing between them. In the second fixture, they bounced back from the previous result in a fine fashion by seeing off Kettering Futsal Club Development 7-1.
Posh started very quickly by scoring in the first 60 seconds of the game. Posh scored twice again before the end of the second half, meaning they had a comfortable cushion going into the second period of play. Soon after the break, Kettering scored from a free-kick, which unluckily deflected off of Gohill’s back and left keeper bland helpless. However, Posh bounced back and continued to dominate the rest of the half and the result ended 7-1. Johnson was given the Man of the Match award for his excellent first performance. Goal Scorers: Johnson (3), Santos (3), Nassunculo (1).
Northampton Oly Cats were next up for Posh in their third league fixture. Northampton had lost their opening game but won their second. Posh looked strong to start with, scoring with what was their first real chance in the game. Pereira played a ball from the back into Doyle, who slotted home first time to give the Posh a 1-0 lead. Corby then went on to equalise from a counter attack after Posh were caught out of position. Posh replied with what turned out be the winning goal went Avent finished after Pereira’s good run from defence. Posh saw out the rest of the game, and were unlucky not to score, particularly when the Oly Cats keeper made an incredible save from Avent’s close range free kick. The game finished 2-1 in what was a very tight game. In the final game before the Christmas break, Posh were playing Kettering again, and were unlucky to lose 4-1 this time around. Posh conceded 2 early goals at the start of the first half, before Johnson made it 4 for the season with an excellent goal after taking on two players. Posh were far from their best in the game, and were unlucky not to score more after hitting the bar and post numerous times, with the Kettering keeper putting in a Man of the Match performance.
Squad List:
Manager – Mark Bland
Assistant Manager - Ethan Stokes
Posh Futsal
The Posh Futsal are again collecting win after win as they qualified for the Nationals finals in February alongside Burton Albion. Posh topped their group, seeing off Plymouth Argyle 6-1, thrashing Burton Albion 4-0 and drawing 2-2 with Birmingham City, after being two down early on in the game. Nassunculo scored 4, with Jaquite and Kielty both getting 2 apiece. The other scores included Gray, Powell, Mureza and also Hollis getting one each. Posh will face tough opponents in the next round, but Michael Johnson, Futsal Manager, is more than confident in his talented squad. “We have a lot of talent in the current squad for this season, young men that work so very hard on and off the pitch because they are determined and aspire for success while here with us at the club. There hard work will only give them the rewards they want, and I’m very confident in our chances in February.”
The Posh have already seen more success this season, with the ‘B’ team finishing first in their respective league. The ‘A’ team also managed to finish 3rd, which puts them in a good position for the road to the nationals in the New Year. The Posh ‘C’ are top of their league, with Posh ‘D’ not too far behind them.
Posh B went into the final game week in 3rd place, needing Norwich and Cambridge to draw to have a chance of winning the league. Norwich scored early on to make it 1-0, but Cambridge equalised very late on in the game and the game ended as a draw, meaning Posh needed to win to seal the trophy.
The Posh took a 1-0 lead at the start of the first half, after Findley’s shot was rebounded and he finished second time around. Birmingham equalised shortly after and the half finished 1-1. Birmingham took the lead at the start of the second half but with five minutes to go Posh managed to find an equaliser through a Mureza rebound off the post! Findley took a quick shot which deflected onto Mureza off the post who slotted away to pull things level. With 3 minutes to go, Taylor secured posh the league after finishing in fine style from a corner set piece. The Posh had to hold on for the last few minutes and they did that by keeping the ball, with a series of interchanges and good rotation between players. This is the Posh’s first taste of league victory, and Assistant Manager Callum Avent was overwhelmed with the victory. “The boys thoroughly deserve the win today for the endless amounts of effort and energy that they put into all of their games, not just this close encounter. They deserve the triumph, and I’m 100% sure that we can get the same kind of success on the road to the nationals next year!”
The Posh are currently recruiting for new scholars to join the club in September 2017, with recent successful open evenings and taster sessions that saw over 40 potential new scholars coming in to see what they would be doing on the course. There are more taster sessions coming in the New Year, with two dates announced being the following;
• Saturday 28th Jan 2017
• Saturday 25th Feb 2017
Also, a new announcement for any aspiring goalkeepers, with Jose Lima, an England Blind Futsal Team Player, coming in to do coaching sessions for anyone wishing to learn more about goalkeeping in Futsal. The first three announced sessions will be held at Nene Park Academy on the following dates;
• Mon 9th Jan 2017 (16:45-19:45)
• Mon 30th Jan 2017 (16:45-19:45)
• Mon 27th Feb 2017 (16:45-19:45)
Keep up to date with the boys’ progress this season by following;
• @theposhfutsal on Twitter
• theposhfutsal on Instagram
• The Posh Futsal Team- Facebook
• https://www.efltrustfutsal.co.uk/club/peterborough-united/squad - The official EFLT Trust Futsal Website
To find out more about the Futsal programme, or if you are interested in trial dates contact - Michael.johnson@theposh.com