England topple Slovenia

By Oliver Eadsforth in Moscow. Thursday, 16 November 2006.

Slovenia 2-8 England
European Deaf Futsal Championship, 9th-12th place Semi Final
Sushevsky Val Street 56, Pitch 2
Moscow, Russia
Thursday 16 November 2006

Just 24 hours after Croatia defeated England for the second place in the Group D and an ultimate place in the Quarter-Finals, England were in an optimistic mood ahead of the match against Slovenia.

This was an opportunity for the side to gain a respectable position in the European Championship - the first in England's history.

There was no place on the team sheet for Chris Naylor, who was suspended, but Peter Sturgess' team started off the first-half brightly. John Atkinson looked strong on the pitch, with his speed and close control and he was the first one on the score sheet firing England ahead with a powerful shot.

However, Slovenia managed to capitalise on an error from England's back two to nick a goal back, under the feet of Sam Kitchin.

Soon, though, England were back on top as Ali Dalziel’s excellent ball found Atkinson. He crossed for Ollie Monksfield to tap in his first goal of the tournament, and give England a 2-1 lead.

With the introduction of David Holdsworth in the second-half, the Doncaster Deaf C star was peppering the Slovenian goal and it wasn’t long before his reward came, making it 3-1.

Dalziel made it four with his solo run from the half way line, which was beautifully finished off looping over the goalkeeper.

England then went on a 15-minute goal spree, first with Monksfield adding another one to his tally. His powerful shot hit the roof of the net after excellent work from Daniel Hogan

Atkinson then contributed one to the scoreline with an excellent goal, before creating another one for Peter Wood, making it 7-1 with just over five minutes to play.

England had Kitchin to thank for all afternoon, when he pulled out some unpredictable stops to thwart any fight back from Slovenia, but he was unable to prevent a late consolation from Slovenia with less than two minutes on the clock.

Hogan linked well with Jason Corbett and ran the length of the pitch before finishing with aplomb.

That rounded off an excellent day for England, and it was a consolation for their disappointment from the previous day.

England assistant coach Jon Smith praised the team’s courage for bouncing back from the result against Croatia: “We are aiming for the ninth place," he said. "I could not ask for more from the lads, they have done the whole nation proud today”

England now face Belarus for the 9th/10th place on Friday morning. Without a doubt, England will want to finish in the highest possible position with the World Futsal Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria next year.

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ENGLAND TOPPLE SLOVENIA

16 November 2006