SATURDAY 22ND & SUNDAY 23RD JUNE 2019
We were delighted to host first ever Deaf Futsal Championship for men and women teams at University of Oxford – with 7 men clubs and 3 women teams participating.
Men formation covered 2 days on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June – with Women format covering Sunday. Standard Futsal format was played – 40 minutes per game with two halves of 20 minutes straight clock.
Men teams:
- Barnet DFC
- Birmingham DFC
- Charlton Athletic DFC
- Derby DFC
- Farsley Celtic DFC
- Peterborough DFC
- St John’s DFC
Women teams:
- Barnet DLFC
- Birmingham DLFC
- Doncaster DLFC
Saturday saw 9 league games being played with top 2 qualifying for the Semi-Final on the Sunday.
After the draw on Saturday morning before the start –
Group A
Birmingham DFC
Derby DFC
St John’s DFC
Barnet DFC
Group B
Charlton Athletic DFC
Peterborough DFC
Farsley Celtic DFC
Semi-Final & Final
Semi-Final 2
St John’s secured the first spot in the final after overpowering young Peterborough team in the semi-final winning 6-3
Semi-Final 1
whilst the other Semi-Final between Barnet and Charlton Athletic drawn a huge crowd when Charlton looked to win before Barnet levelled and the game went onto penalties. Barnet won the shoot-out 3-2 scratching the Final spot under Charlton noses.
Final
The final match between St John’s and Barnet was the one to watch. Both team came prepared to give all they could. St John’s ran away with 2-0 lead with Barnet refusing to give up and saw them playing with 4 men for 2 minutes after a deliberate handball. Barnet scored with 1 minutes 45 seconds left to play and after a tense finish / Barnet equalised with half minutes left to play and the game went onto penalties.
After powerful penalties – St John’s saw their 3rd penalty blast over – giving Barnet the victory and the winner of first ever EDF Futsal trophy – presented by Football Association Vice-President, Brian Adshead.
Player of the Championship went to Tommy Hobson of Charlton Athletic – who produced sterling performances in front of goal for Charlton, making vital saves and helping Charlton secure 3rd place.
The Golden Boot award went to Matthew McQueeney of St John’s who slotted in 12 goals during the Championship.
Sunday also saw the Women Championship taking place with three teams – competing for the EDF Futsal trophy.
Birmingham Women started the day securing a strong win over Barnet Women with the game finishing 4-1 to Birmingham whilst Barnet was able to grab a consolation goal at the final second of the game.
Doncaster Women was up against Barnet Women in the next game – and it was Barnet who secure the lead going into half time. Second half – Doncaster grew stronger with confidence and ran away with 3-1 victory – leaving Barnet in the bottom of the table.
Doncaster Women showed they were too strong for a determined Birmingham Women side – cruising away to a 6-0 victory in the final league game. Both clubs qualified for the final.
With both clubs rested and ready for the final – Doncaster Women jumped ahead in the lead in the first half – and it was Birmingham Women resilience which prevented further goals –
but they were not able to find the net and the game finished with 3-0 victory to Doncaster – who collected their winning trophy.
Player of the Championship went to April Malin of Birmingham Women who put in solid performances in her game, controlling the possession of the court.
Golden Boot winner went to Rebekah Grant of Doncaster Women – who saw her putting away 6 goals during the championship and helping Doncaster securing the championship.
Oliver Eadsforth of England Deaf Football express his warm congratulations to the two winners, Barnet and Doncaster Women, as well as all the clubs, officials and referees who participated in making the championship a successful for all involved. Not forgetting all the supporters and families who supported the teams throughout the 2 days. We are grateful for the support of EDF volunteers, Sean Noone and Matthew Durant in their presence during the championship, particularly with the media and live streaming of games.
We were also grateful that Brian Adshead of the Football Association could join us with his wife on the concluding phase of the Championship and presenting the winners trophies/medals.
We are also most grateful of Marcus Boswell from Oxford University Sport for the support and provision of excellent facilities at Oxford.
For full details of the results in Mens and Womens are as shown below: –
