St. Mary’s Men’s Futsal team reach BUCS Trophy final
The St. Mary’s Men’s Futsal team have reached the final of the BUCS Men’s Trophy for the first time in their history.
With this exciting feat comes the honour of playing at St. George’s Park, the home of English football.
It used to be the home of English Futsal too, but I am sure you have heard that long old tale.
For most of St. Mary’s players this will be the first time they get to play at a venue of such a magnitude. But for some it is a familiar environment.
Adam Barr and Eduardo Costa are both stand out players who have played at the venue numerous times.
Adam is the Northern Ireland Men’s captain while Eduardo has had a break-through season with National Futsal Series Tier One side Bloomsbury Futsal, which appeared on BT Sport this year.
Some of the other names to watch out for also included, Ahmed El Hana, Edson Dombele and Gui Barradas.
This is a testament of the quality, strength, and potential this St. Mary’s squad has.
St. Mary’s journey into this final has been a tough but equally, an exciting one.
In the first round, St. Mary’s dismantled local rivals and West London Varsity opponents Brunel with an 8-7 win.
This has added to a St. Mary’s unbeaten record against Brunel this year. Having played four matches and winning all four, undoubtably the dominant University between the two.
In the second round, St. Mary’s faced Exeter. The two sides met two years ago in the cup and Exeter were the ones to go through.
This was going to be a challenge the boys were going to be up for. In the end, St. Mary’s came out comfortably with a 7-4 win to reach the quarter-final.
In the quarter-final, the St. Mary’s team were able to confidently overcome the familiar University, UEL.
Having beaten the east London team more often than not in recent years, St. Mary’s expectations were met with a 10-7 win.
Perhaps the biggest and most important win of this campaign came at the semi-final stage, against South Eastern league winners City, University of London.
In a very competitive match, St. Mary’s were able to come out victorious with a 7-6 win.
St. Mary’s will face a reputable team and most probably favourites in Loughborough University.
The St. Mary’s boys are confident that if they stick together, do their jobs and do not get phased by the occasion, they will come back down to London with the trophy.
The Sports Gazette was able to attend one of the training sessions and speak to some of the players on how they are feeling about the big day.
Follow the link below where you can watch the full video report to find out how the team has been preparing for the final.
Also, tune into the Sports Gazette Instagram account this morning where we will be speaking to some of the players live as they make their way up to St. George’s Park.
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