The University of Sheffield retained the futsal bragging rights of the Steel City after a comprehensive 5-1 success over Hallam at the English Institute of Sport on Monday.
Goals from Will Allen, Luke Macartney and Charlie Stewart ensured the victory was secured in emphatic fashion in front of a healthy crowd.
The black and gold men took the lead in the 6th minute when a defensive mishap allowed Matt Lowe to square the ball across for Will Allen to convert an easy tap in.
Five minutes before the break, Allen doubled the UoS lead. Captain Euan McDonald saw his effort charged down by the Hallam number four. Unfortunately for the trailing side, the ball squirmed away right to talisman Allen who made no mistake at the near post with his right foot.
The University of Sheffield were a touch fortunate to not have their lead slashed soon after when Lowe passed the ball into a Hallam midfielder who bore down on goal. Unfortunately for the maroon outfit, Lowe was adjudged to have been impeded in the build up.
The dominant UoS looked to have sealed victory on the cusp of half time through a sumptuous passage of play. Goalkeeper Mitch Brown bowled the ball out to Lowe, who fired a powerful pass into the feet of striker Will Allen. Under two challenges, Allen unleashed a pirouette before sliding the ball in to Luke Macartney. Unfazed by the onrushing goalkeeper, Macartney slotted the ball past the Hallam stopper to leave his side with a seemingly unassailable 3-0 advantage approaching the break.
However, Uni Of were not finished there. McDonald fed Allen with a driven instep pass. Controlling the ball deftly, the striker tried to shift the ball onto his favoured right foot but was fouled in the process, resulting in the awarding of a penalty. Fresh from opening his account for the day, Macartney grabbed the ball and smashed it right-footed to seal a 4-0 lead at the interval.
Hallam started the second 20 minutes brightly and were unlucky not to reduce the arrears when Noah Ntimpirangeza saw his effort flash wide of Brown’s right-hand post.
Despite steadying themselves after half-time defensively, Hallam had no real answer to the effective high press of UoS during the open exchanges of the second period, with Mitch Brown a regular recipient of attempted through balls from the Hallam rearguard.
Woeful Hallam marking allowed the University of Sheffield to score their fifth of the day with 10 minutes remaining. A real training ground move saw Lowe slide the ball to Chilli Nelmes from a set-piece. Nelmes’ saved effort duly fell to Charlie Stewart who couldn’t miss from five yards out with the goal gaping.
The UoS were denied their clean sheet with minutes remaining when Chris Sharp’s effort found the bottom-right hand corner with the assistance of the post.
The full-time whistle sounded soon after, confirming the black and gold men as this year’s varsity first team futsal winners by a scoreline of 5-1.
