Futsal

For the first time the Manchester FA has run an introduction to Futsal and invited teams of between 6 and 12 players age 15+ to take part in a Futsal tournament. Futsal came to this country from Brazil, Italy and Spain and is massive across Europe. In Manchester there is a Men's league but nothing as yet for ladies, but the plan is for that to change and the reason why the Manchester FA put on this tournament.

As a game it places considerable demand on technique, movement, tactical awareness and fitness.

Differences between Futsal and 5-a-side:

Futsal 5-a-side

5 players on court - rolling subs 5 players on court - limited subs

Played to lines - ball is returned No by or end lines - ball constantly

with a kick in 4 second rule. in play.

All players allowed in penalty area Only GK in penalty area.

No height restriction on ball. Use of restriction on height of ball.

Use of larger goals (3mx2m) Rectangular goals

Futsal ball 30% reduced bounce. Use of Size 5 ball.

5 foul limit - direct free kick from Unlimited number of fouls.

10m with no wall after 5th foul.

Bury took a team of 6 girls and were joined at the tournament by 5 other teams Heyside A and B, Chaddy End FC A and B and Manchester United. The girls spent the first hour being briefed on the rules and were able to get a feel of the new 3G surfaced pitch and the Futsal ball.

Bury's first game was against Chaddy End A, and it began with a very shaky start as Bury were adapting their usual 11 a side football to the new game of Futsal. They found the game moved very quickly and was more tiring than expected and soon went 1-0 down. A quick chat at half time and a change in tactics brought Bury back out determined to come back and soon equalised. In the last minute of the game some quick one twos between Abbie and Lucy saw Bury take the win 2-1.

The second game against Chaddy End B saw Bury dominate and the team of Francesca Davies, Lucy Golding, Lizzie Lunn, Chantelle O'Hara, Abbie McManus and Becky Hollingsworth played some of the best one touch football we had seen for a long time, even the referees were full of praise for the team. Bury finished the game 9-0, a remarkable score considering the game was only 16 minutes long.

Bury's winning streak continued with a third win against Heyside A 4-0. Manchester United had also had a day of wins and we knew the fourth game against them would be the most exciting of the day with the winners probably clinching the title overall. Bury were advised to play as they had all day, with some great one touch passing using all the space on the pitch and not to get caught up in United's more physical game. At half time with two great goals by Lucy, Bury found themselves 2-0 up, not to be complacent Bury knew they had to keep up the fight in the second half as United were giving their all to come back. Bury held on and United could only manage to get one goal back. Final score Bury 2, United 1.

Last game was against Heyside B with the girls tiring they had to dig deep as they wanted to end the day with 5 wins out of 5 and so they did seeing Heyside off with a 2-0.

The girls came out tournament winners and were presented with medals and a trophy. Having won all their games Bury scored 19 goals and only conceded 2.

Well done to all the girls and thank you for a great day.