Futsal
Futsal

England's Futsal team win the Home Nations Tournament after victory over Wales at SGP

Sunday 01 Dec 2019
England celebrate their Home Nations Tournament victory on Sunday evening

England's Futsal team won the Home Nations Tournament title for a third successive year, after making it three wins from three with a 4-0 victory over Wales on Sunday.

Michael Skubala's side had seen off opposition from Scotland and Northern Ireland in their first two games, which meant they went into Sunday's showdown at St. George's Park knowing a win would be enough to seal the title for a third time.

And Matt Overton put them on the right path when he opened the scoring in the first half with a fine individual run and strike after six minutes.

The Futsal Lions doubled their advantage soon after when Russell Goldstein finished off a cross from Richard Ward to mark his 50th cap with a goal and put England firmly in the driving seat by half time.

England head coach Michael Skubala saw his side win all three games this week

Wales more than held their own after the break though and England had to show their patience to manage the game, before James Webb showed his experience to calmly slot home a third goal and make it 3-0 with just over eight minutes remaining.

The visitors, by now electing to use a fly-keeper to try and find a way back into the game, were hit with two minutes to go when Will Rooke finished off from close range to complete the scoring and a perfect end to a memorable three days at St. George's Park.

You can watch all of the games from this weekend, via the BBC and England YouTube channel on the links below as well as reports from England's games.

Sunday 1 December
- Northern Ireland v Scotland - 1pm
- England 4-0 Wales - 4pm

Saturday 30 November
-England 6-4 Northern Ireland
-Scotland v Wales

The Futsal Lions made it two wins from two on Saturday, with a 6-4 win against Northern Ireland in a thrilling encounter which swung between both teams. 

It was a slower start than the previous night, with Northern Ireland looking to sit back and counter. 

And with both teams creating early chances but cancelling each other out, Ryan Dabbs put the visitors in front in the fifth minute.

England ramped up the pressure and the equaliser came from a Northern Ireland attack, as Russell Goldstein blocked a shot with the ball falling to Richard Ward, who rounded the keeper and passed the ball into the empty net to make it level.

Northern Ireland then reached the five foul count with five minutes remaining and made a sixth shortly after, leading to an England penalty which is saved by Matthew McErlain.

 

England celebrate a goal against Northern Ireland

The visitors then made their seventh foul, leading to another 10m penalty, which was scored by Doug Reed to secure a 2-1 lead at half time.

The Futsal Lions come out strong for the second half and captain Raoni Medina makes it 3-1 two minutes after the re-start.

 

But Northern Ireland kept pushing and were rewarded with a second goal from Craig Taylor to reduce the arrears only for Ward to find the back of the net again from just outside the area, to give the Lions a two-goal cushion for the second time.

Matt Overton and Jordan Deer made it five and six respectively, with both players scoring their first senior goals while Munmeet Jagpal also made his senior debut having progressed through the U19 and U21 Futsal squads along with Myles Chadwick.

Unfortunately for England, Medina was sent off after receiving two yellow cards, meaning he will miss Sunday’s game against Wales. Northern Ireland were then awarded a 10m penalty, which Joe Payne saved initially only for Connor Millar to scores the rebound and make it 6-3.

Northern Ireland clawed another one back to make it 6-4 through Taylor from the 10m spot, but Skubala's men held firm to secure the win.

Friday 29 November
Northern Ireland 3-9 Wales 
- England 5-1 Scotland 

England got off to a winning start on Friday evening with a 5-1 victory over Scotland. England stormed into a three-goal lead thanks to strikes from Robbie Bettson, Liam Palfreeman and Richard Ward, before the Scots responded just before the break through Conor McLaren. 

England managed the second period well and restored their three-goal lead thanks to Ward's second of the evening and Jon Kurrant finished the scoring off in the later stages. Earlier on Friday, Wales beat Northern Ireland by 9-3.

By Nicholas Veevers Content Manager - FA Owned Channels