Despite a disappointing defense of their 2016 NZF Futsal Youth title, NFF did have something to smile about at the 2017 Futsal Youth Nationals, as Sam Twigg picked up the tournament MVP title.
But that’s little consolation for the boys who went down to bring back the trophy.
This year’s “round robin” format meant NFF needed to be on form from the moment they stepped onto the court. But NFF are traditionally slow starters, chronically suffering from lack of preparation relative to other teams (and this year, a change in coach). In the past two years they’ve gone from 4th in pool to finalists, and 2nd in pool to champions, as the team grows in confidence throughout the tournament.
And even though NFF dominated most of their games in 2017, they took too much time to play themselves in, failing to find the back of the net on too many occasions, and paid dearly for it.
On the first day we won one and lost one, which was a little bit of a wake-up call for the boys, but our tournament was still on track. The train derailed on Day 2 when they lost two games we did not even expect to be competitive. By Day 3 we’d found our form, and the goals came thick and fast as NFF cruised past last years finalists South, setting up an ultimate clash against Central, who mathematically had already won the 2017 tournament. NFF played a textbook match, coming from 2-0 down to earn a draw. Having pulled back one goal at the start of the second half, NFF controlled the court, peppering the Central net, and denying their opposition any meaningful possession, and scored with enough time on the clock to find a winner.
If you’d like to see how the boys did, check out this video:
