West London Varsity: St Mary’s 8-4 Brunel in dominant women’s futsal win

A flurry of goals in the second half helped St Mary’s thrash Brunel 8-4 in their Women’s Futsal fixture at West London Varsity.

The game got off to a cagey start with both teams cautiously feeling each other out in the opening exchanges. St Mary’s took the lead in fortuitous fashion as a hopeful ball up from the defence evaded the Brunel defence and trickled into the net past a despairing goalkeeper.

With the two sides evenly matched and both defences standing firm, clear-cut opportunities were hard to come by. Neither goalkeeper was overly extended as one passing move after another broke down and the first-half minutes ticked by.

Just as St Mary’s were building momentum, forcing the Brunel goalkeeper into two smart saves, the visitors found themselves back on level terms through a fortunate goal of their own.

This was the spark that the match needed, as it sparked a flurry of goalmouth activity. The hosts re-took the lead within a minute of conceding, and both teams came within inches of adding to their tally soon after.

Brunel drew level once again as Carlotta Amatulli’s incredible defence-splitting pass set Emma Wright up to score her side’s second. However, St Mary’s refused to allow their opponents back into the match and struck back straight away with a quickfire double just before half-time.

Ellie Nitsche restored the hosts’ lead before captain Abby Delves added another. Both players took full advantage of a Brunel back-line that seemed to be in a charitable mood and sent their side into the half-time break 4-2 up.

Brunel started the second half with increased intensity and cut the deficit in half soon after the restart. The game was a more free-flowing affair in the second half, with more space opening up across the pitch.

Connie Chisholm was kept increasingly busy in the St Mary’s net as Brunel looked to draw level for a third time, but the Simmies’ shot stopper was equal to their efforts. In the other goal, Aaliah Javed was less secure in her handling, letting a long-range strike from Charlotte Close through her grasp as St Mary’s restored their two-goal advantage.

Despite a vociferous home crowd urging St Mary’s on, the visitors came straight back to make it 5-4 through a close-range finish from Amatulli.

In their efforts to claw their way back into the game once again, the visitors opted to deploy a flying goalkeeper, leaving their net unguarded. The ultra-aggressive tactic backfired horribly as the home side scored twice from their own half into an empty net to make it 7-4 in their favour.

Even bringing Javed back between the posts could not stop the now-rampant St Mary’s, who added an eighth through Delves to pull further away from their opponents. A late sending-off and three consecutive missed penalties rubbed more salt into the wounds for the visitors, who provided stiff competition for the St Mary’s side but ultimately fell short.

The final whistle was met with a huge cheer as enthusiastic fans joined the victorious St Mary’s team in the center circle to celebrate a well-deserved win.