Written by Nancy Hughes.
On the morning of Wednesday 10th May, Durham Women’s Futsal First Team, joined by a group of keen supporters, endured a 4-hour long coach journey to travel down to the University of Wolverhampton where they would compete in the Women’s Futsal National Championship Final 2023. Durham were set to face Hartpury University, who knocked out Nottingham during a tight 8-7 win in their semi-final, and, having won their Futsal League, came into the fixture confident and determined. Durham were also arriving off the back of an unbeaten league campaign, as well as a dominant 19-3 win over Bath in the previous round – thus, the stage was set.
The first five minutes of the match were somewhat shaky – with a few loose passes and sloppy possession play, perhaps the occasion was showing slightly. However, slowly Durham established territorial dominance, and as the game progressed, enjoyed longer periods in possession. Kierra Krawec opened Durham’s account with a back-post tap-in early into the first half, capping off a textbook futsal play by calmly steering the ball home. However, despite their control, the Durham team struggled with accuracy in their final passes and finishing, allowing Hartpury to stay in the game. Despite showing attacking promise, thanks to the sheer strength from captain Freya Bailes, and the shot-stopping brilliance from Anna King at the back, Hartpury could not convert their brief opportunities into goals and this proved costly as the game progressed. A silky one-two combination between Emma Wallis and Faye Dale led to the second goal by means of a tap in, and from here Durham flourished. On the verge of half time, Durham produced a moment of brilliance – Anna King hurled the ball up-court, to find the head of Erin Nicholson, who expertly guided the ball towards the foot of Faye Dale, who rifled the ball into the bottom left corner. An excellent goal to cap off a decent half from Durham, but the best was yet to come...
HALF TIME: DURHAM 3 - 0 HARTPURY
While Durham were clearly dominating, it was obvious they were not yet at their best, however following their respective team talks, Durham came back out with a sense of ruthlessness and aggression that we hadn’t seen yet. Lucy Jamieson was making her first appearance back in action since her ankle injury months ago, and she put on a stellar display, showing us exactly what we had been missing. We were off to a quick start, but for the first five minutes of the second half, we could not convert – shots galore, but no goals. Until Freya Bailes won the ball back in the middle, and, following a brilliant passage of play, and a cheeky dummy from Kierra, Freya was handed a back-post tap in to take it to 4-0. This goal was shortly followed by what I would describe as ‘futsal magic’ – a scoop to Wallis, a pass down the line to Kierra, back inside to Wallis, across the court to Vicky, and squared to the back-post to Kierra for a tap-in. This goal epitomised the quality on display from Durham and the hard work all the girls have put in, in preparation for this game, and from this point, the game was Durham’s to lose.
A few short minutes later, Vicky Neuefind knocked in her first goal of the game via a ‘toe-poke’ to make it 6-0, while Erin Nicholson made a fool of a Hartpury defender as her fast feet enabled her to break away and nutmeg her opponent in a squared pass to Faye Dale who could tap it in for the 7th goal. Clarissa Jackson made an immediate impact when she was substituted on late on in the second half, and after winning the wall back in the middle, produced a moment of brilliance, setting Faye Dale up for her hat-trick. The final two of Durham’s goals came from Emma Wallis and Vicky Neuefind, both picking up their seconds of the game, and they really put the nail in the coffin for Hartpury’s chances at winning the coveted trophy. Amongst all the madness, Hartpury displayed real fight, grit and determination, never wavering in their efforts to score and in fact, managed to squeeze a consolation goal past Anna King in the last few minutes of the game, making the final score 10-1.
FULL TIME: DURHAM 10 - 1 HARTPURY
Overall, while Hartpury put in a strong effort, nothing could stop Durham’s sheer skill, talent, conviction and execution, and they cruised to a 10-1 victory, and the National Championship. Back-to-back champions! That has a nice ring to it!
Extremely proud of the girls for their efforts today, and throughout the season, and a special thank you to all our supporters who made the journey with us, and especially, to Coach Chris for his time and dedication in getting us here.
Everyone at Durham University AFC would also like to extend their sincerest thanks to Nancy Hughes for her brilliant commentary on BUCS TV's livestream throughout the final, with her in-depth knowledge and witty repartee giving a great insight on the game!
Photo gallery to follow...
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