The Story of NZ Futsal National League 2017
If you’d asked NFF at the outset if they’d be happy with second place, they’d have said “YES PLEASE!!!” But in this topsy turvy league which saw them seesaw up and down the table, they’d worked themselves into a position where finishing anything other than first seemed unthinkable.
North and South is a very apt describer of the four series, and 56 games which made up the 2017 Futsal National League table. Although Capital had wedged themselves firmly in top spot on the table from their first game, the minor rankings changed game by game as teams jostled for points. Teams were taking points off eachother to the point where there was no clear contender – Five teams were separated by four points, and even below that teams were still vying for a place in the playoffs. So anything could happen, and certainly the table took a few unlikely turns.
In the opening game of series 4 NFF met Capital, whom they’d upset in Wellington. But Capital were out to prove a point. Despite an evenly balanced opening stanza, Capital always looked more composed and ran out comfortable 2-0 winners. Although they might not have thought it, this was a good result for NFF, as it gave Wellington back their sense of infallibility – something NFF would need to leverage if they were to beat them for the championship.
What was not so good for NFF was losing the second match to last placed Canterbury, in an untidy display. Trailing 2-3 with 8 minutes left to play, NFF had tried playing fifth man to force an equaliser. It backfired terribly, and NFF conceded three unanswered goals before returning to regular play. It wasn’t NFF’s finest moment, but an analysis of what went wrong would serve them well the later in the campaign when they’d be called on to use it again.
In two rounds NFF had fallen from 2nd to 5th and were languishing outside the cut for the playoffs. To assure themselves of a spot in the playoffs, they’d need to win both matches on Saturday. They wouldn’t need to rely on any other results, as in winning twice they’d rob South of their points and put them out of contention.
First they had to put away Manawatu which was no easy feat. Manawatu went up 2-0 in the first half, as they had done in Wellington two weeks beforehand. And just like then, NFF answered with three in the second, topped off by a smash from Sam which went straight through the keepers legs.
But the last match of the 2017 league pool play is the game people will talk about for a long time to come. On it were riding the playoff hopes of two teams – NFF (obviously) who needed to climb into the top four. Due to earlier results, South were safe from relegation, since the potent WaiBOP team had dropped points and having played all their matches were equal on points with NFF, and only ahead on goal difference. So NFF just needed a single point to advance.
NFF and South took the court in match #56, late Saturday night, with a relatively packed arena of mostly WaiBOP players and supporters anxiously betting against their good friends on the NFF team. It was going to be bittersweet no matter what the outcome was.
The match itself was typical of the league. Patches of ascendancy from both teams, and plenty of scoring opportunities. But South were much more incisive on the ball, especially on counter-attack, and they went into the break leading by two goals.
To stay in contention NFF desperately wanted to score first in the second half, but a trademark counterstrike goal left NFF reeling, and in the chaos that followed, South ran in two more quick goals for a 5-0 lead.
With three quarters of the match gone, and such a lop-sided result, most people had written off the NFF boys. But all it took to get them back on track was a clever move from a couple of the statesmen in the team. A back-heel by Naji sent Nikola in on goal, and the small contingent of NFF supporters into a roar.
NFF were still 1-5 down, with the seemingly-impossible task of breaching the South defence four more times in around 600 seconds, but there was a glimmer of hope on the NFF bench.
Sadly nothing much happened for another 2:30, until with just 7:30 still on the clock, NFF made a routine change, bringing on their youth squad of Art, Sam and Denny along with Oban Hawkins. Off the tap-in Sam found Denny up the sideline, and Denny dribbled the ball within inches of almost every Southern player as he jinked his way through untouched for a tap-in from close range.
South were rattled. NFF, ecstatic.
NFF pressed on the ensuing kick-off, forcing South to spill the ball. And when GK Mo Sabri found Art at pivot with his goal throw, Art turned his defender and slotted the ball in the back of the net.
In 30 seconds, the score had gone from 1-5 to 3-5, and now the boys could smell victory.
They thrust and they parried, and South seemed to have stalled. But they did manage to arrest the scoring. And the clock ticked down another four minutes,
Coach Ouadhah usually played three rotations, and it was time for the young boys to come off. But sensing this foursome had rattled the Southern team, he left them on a little longer than usual, and instead injected another youth player Eden Caudwell as fifth man. After the Canterbury debacle, you’d have to say this was a huge risk, but as I mentioned, the boys had learned and adapted. They played fast and hard from side to side, and up and down the court, immediately unsettling South. And seeing an opening Denny smashed the ball through to Art at pivot who laid off for Flying Keeper Eden Caudwell to slam it into the net.
South seemed intent to force their way upfield on the ensuing kickoff, but Art intercepted a pass and sprinted to the lone defender, who had little choice but to bring him down drawing a foul, giving NFF a direct free kick about 10 meters out.
Both Art (right foot) and Denny (left foot) lined up behind the ball, forcing South to spread their defense. Denny later said he could see a lane clear to the goal, and when Art over-stepped the ball, he smashed it with all his might. The kick was a bullet, straight into the back corner.
The scores were now tied, and the NFF comeback complete. All that remained to be done was see out the next minute and a half without conceding.
Although the foursome had been on the court well over six minutes, the coach could see that not only had the measure of the South team, but they also had energy to burn, so he left them to their devices. It was an agonising 90 seconds as North looked to control possession, and wind the clock down. Each side had an occasional parry, but both knew there was more at stake the following day, and when the buzzer rang, NFF erupted from the bench like they’d just won the final.
It was almost midnight when the boys finally departed, to prepare for a 9:30 semi-final match the next morning.
Having placed fourth, NFF were pitted against Capital, who cruised through to the semis without another defeat. But NFF had beaten them once, and after their previous night’s performance, NFF were anything but afraid.
This game pitted the precision of the Capital team against the mercurial flare of the NFF team. For both sides the key was going to be limiting mistakes. And to their credit, both sides played incredibly tight. Capital eventually found a chink in the NFF armour, but NFF replied almost immediately, and the scores were locked at 1-1 as the clock ticked down.
It was Denny who eventually broke the stalemate in the last minute, latching onto a cross from Oban Hawkins, which he sent into the top right corner. Capital went to 5th man, but NFF held them at bay, and assured themselves of a medal – the question was would it be gold or silver?
South had dashed AFF’s hopes in similar fashion in the other semi-final, with a late go-ahead goal, setting up a repeat of the previous night’s match. But this time there was a championship on the line.
The game was scoreless through the first four minutes, until the Youth team took to the court. Art opened the account for NFF with a trademark turn from pivot, as the youth squad peppered the keeper. But during the next rotation South fought back to level the score, and over the next couple of quarters the game took a familiar look, as South used the back-post runner to perfection capitalising on poor defense. By the end of the third quarter South had added 3 more goals to lead 4-1 with 10 minutes to play. Then it was time for the youth squad to apply some pressure to what must have been a tiring South defense. Oban was the first to draw blood, when he ran deep around the defenders and shot a ball across the face of the goal catching the inside of the back post. Then Art, who was really enjoying his battle against South’s key defender, turned him again for a shot and his second goal of the match. South now lead by 4-3 but NFF were pressing, and had plenty of time to strike.
With three and a half minutes remaining the coach took the young boys off for a breather and 90 seconds later injected them back in the game with Eden as flying keeper. They camped on South’s goal line peppering the keeper with shots. There were dozens of opportunities to draw the scores level. But this time around their aim was off, and the game fizzled out with NFF coming despairingly close in the dying seconds.
So although the 2017 championship eluded them, the NFF team were pretty excited by the campaign they had executed. After all, this team of relative unknowns had battled and beaten most of the best players in NZ, and come agonisingly close to lifting the coveted title. And possibly more important, they had restored confidence in the NFF brand, which has been languishing near the bottom of the table for several years.
So what’s next for NFF? There’s a very clear precedent in recent history pointing to what we hope for. In 2015 NFF climbed from obscurity to reach the finals of the Youth National Championships. And although they fell at the last hurdle, they did come back hungrier and won it the following year. So maybe, 2018 is going to be NFF’s day in the sun?
We certainly hope so!
For full video highlights, keep checking back to this site, or look for updates at: https://www.facebook.com/TwiggsSoccerPage
