It was another exciting week in The FA National Futsal League as Sheffield FC and Middlesbrough kept up their 100 per cent record in the Northern League to go joint top, whilst there were plenty of goals in the Midland League too.
The second game for Sheffield Futsal Club was against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Barsa, who were looking for their first win after a heavy defeat against Middlesborough last time out.
Sheffield were also looking to build on their great win against local rivals Sheffield and Hallamshire, but found Leeds a difficult and hard working team to face.
Barsa started the brighter of both teams and quickly forced Sheffield keeper Steven Marshall in a wonder save from point blank range, as both teams struggled to keep the ball for any prolonged period of time.
However, after 13 minutes Alvyn Riley put Sheffield ahead after latching onto a great pass from Liam Morris, before putting the ball into the top right corner from an acute angle.
Leeds hit back though and Marshall had to make several great saves to keep the scoreline level, but with half time just 50 seconds away Sheffield doubled their lead when Matthew Hammond opened his account for the season from close range.
Sheffield were certainly made to work for their win though and they were put under great pressure by Leeds, who got their reward for all their play when a great run was finished well from a tight angle.
As the game settled down, Sheffield began to play better and created a cluster of chances through James Bennett and Ceri Looker, only for the Leeds keeper to make some brilliant stops with the best coming from a Frazer Thomas free-kick to keep the score at 2-1.
Sheffield held on for the six points though which puts them joint top ahead of their next game with Grimsby Futsal Club on Sunday 6 April.
Grimsby (pictured left) themselves put up a strong display only to miss out on a win in their match with Middlesbrough Futsal Club, at the Gemtec Arena in Hull.
They opened the scoring five minutes into the second half, after the Teesiders had seen a hatful of chances in the first half go begging with Grimsby keeper Leigh Graves making a number of fine saves.
At the other end, Boro’s tight defence was rarely breached but Paul Goodhand was a constant threat with his quick feet and keeper Curt Holmes made some good stops to keep them at bay.
Grimsby took the lead when Goodhand weaved his way past two Boro players before poking a shot away. Holmes was quick to react but when the ball fell out as far as Daniel Hornigold, he made no mistake and fired home.
Boro never gave up and levelled the scores when Dalghusa, making his national league debut, received the ball on the left wing before playing in Ben Mortlock. His shot was scrambled clear but eventually fumbled over the line by Herbert.
At 1-1, the game was finely balanced and it was Herbert who gave Boro the lead with six minutes remaining to take his league tally to four goals and he doubled Boro’s advantage less than two minutes later with a goal resulting from a quick counter attack.
Grimsby found a lifeline less than a minute after that goal though when Holmes fouled Hornigold in the area for a penalty to be awarded. Holmes made a great save, but the rebound fell straight to Hornigold who buried the ball past a grounded keeper to make it 3-2.
With Grimsby pushing for an equaliser though, Ben Amos capped off another solid performance with a superbly crafted goal to seal a final score of 4-2.
Elsewhere, there was plenty of attacking Futsal and goals in the Midlands League at the Nechells Sports Centre in Birmingham, where Ipswich Wolves were 12-5 winners over the New Saints Futsal Club and Birmingham Tigers ran out 10-5 victors against Loughborough University.
Click here for latest results, forthcoming fixtures and tables from The FA National Futsal League.