Year 10 and 11 students from LSA High Technology College represented Blackpool FC Community Trust in the Under 16’s National EFL Trust Futsal Cup in Derby this afternoon having won the first qualifying tournament back in November.
Blackpool were drawn in Group A alongside Fleetwood Town, Bradford City and Mansfield Town.
Blackpool’s opener was against Bradford City. The Seasiders lost the game 3-2 but showed great character to get back into the game after Bradford raced into a 3-0 lead. Goals from Cian Menzies and an own goal were not enough to prevent an opening defeat.
Blackpool’s second game saw them take on Baines representing Fleetwood Town. Blackpool played much better in this fixture with a lot more tempo and patterns to their play. However, Blackpool struggled to cope with Fleetwood’s counter attack and the score finished 4-2 to Fleetwood, with Blackpool’s goals coming from Cian Menzies and James Ludlum.
The last game saw Blackpool take on league leaders Mansfield Town. The Seasiders needed to win by four goals to stand any chance of qualifying into the semi-finals. Mansfield took an early 2-0 lead but Blackpool replied brilliantly, levelling up the score 2-2. The Seasiders continued to push which left gaps at the back and resulted in Mansfield retaking the lead. Blackpool deployed the ‘fly-keeper’ technique in a last ditch effort to get something out of the game. Blackpool then equalised with one minute to go. Blackpool continued with the same attacking approach, but conceded with seconds to spare as Mansfield won the game 4-3. Goals came from Lewis Simmons and Cian Menzies (2)
The Trust’s Football Development Officer Alex Taylor said, “It was a great experience for the students who were talented individual football players making the transition to Futsal.”
“With a little more practice playing Futsal and getting used to playing together we might have had a bit more success at National level.”
“The students represented LSA High and Blackpool FC Community Trust very well.”
For more information on our Futsal programmes, please contact us on 01253 348691.
