U13 Academy Lions Futsal Team

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Shame there is zero coverage of this official or otherwise but it seems the Lions U13 academy squad under the guidance of EG and futsal first team captain Pepe are making waves, not just in England but abroad.

Having made an impression before Christmas in a youth futsal tournament in Spain, They came home to play in the Oxfordshire U14 FA Youth Futsal Festival in January which they won and will now play in the South East Regional Finals.

Its seems the 1st team made a great impression in Andorra during their UEFA Futsal Cup heroics last year and Oxford City got invited to send their Under 13s over to play in the International Blaugrana Cup....an invitational tournament for U14 academy teams from all over Europe.

The young Lions, maybe unexpectedly won all their games to make it through to the final, which was broadcast live on Andorran TV and played in front of over 500 spectators (Remind me how often we get 500+ for the first team?)....unfortunately they lost the final 2- 0 but can certainly be proud of their achievements and what an experience for the lads!

Hopefully it seems something good might come of the whole Berinsfield/Futsal fiasco after all!

The Lions (1st team) play Bristol City FC Futsal on Sunday at Berinsfield, a win will decide if they get that last play-off spot and for EG to pull off the incredible, given he started the season with a scratch team that didn't know the rules of futsal to get to the playoff's is really quite something!

(Photos by Samantha Day from Lions Facebook Page)

[ChrisB]

Yes indeed, a remarkable achievement for the Boys. And, as you say, the City Lions must also be congratulated on performing wonders in starting from Ground-Zero at the start of the season and managing to get within touching distance of a play-off place.

It can be a pity sometimes that reporting on the many (other) teams that come under the City umbrella can be a little 'thin', when they have all done remarkably well given the shockingly difficult background to the season.

Perhaps a good moment to mention how well the Ladies' teams have been doing? 1st XI sit on top of the SRWFL having only drawn one and lost one of their 12 games so far. And they've reached the Final of the Oxfordshire Womens' Cup.

[ChrisB]

...and the Ladies beat Southampton Ladies (previously the only unbeaten side in the league) 3-2 yesterday to go seven points clear at the top of the SRWFL.

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Indeed a wonderful achievement!

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So Yesterday saw the conclusion of the Superleague South futsal Season....pretty much every question has been answered going into this round of fixtures with Helvecia unbeaten and the run away leaders confirming their position several weeks ago...2nd and 3rd have been sealed and the relegation slots (which maybe redundant due to yet another restructuring next season)....the only question remaining was Who would take the last play-off spot, Bristol City Football Club Futsal or Oxford City Lion....the cup final.

Only a win will do for Oxford as they started the weekend behind Bristol on Points, but they beat Bristol in the reverse fixture three weeks ago 6-4 to keep Enrique’s unlikely play-off ambitions alive. City were also missing Talisman Captain/Coach Pepe who was suspended.

The two teams of equal quality, young academy players for their respective clubs peppered with several continental Futsal Specialists would mean on a paper an even but exciting encounter and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Both teams went blow for blow as one team attacked only to be dispossessed and the other team charged forward, it was open,it was frantic and at times even skillful, but damn it was entertaining.

Ultimately Oxford came out 6-5 Victors…..the 3rd 6-5 victory in a row that ive seen….The final goal coming with about 1.30 left on the clock as Oxford threw everything at Bristol with Fly keeper and it was indeed the fly keeper that scored the decisive goal, a thunderbolt from 10 yards which went in off the underside of the bar.

Given that oxford at one point found themselves 2 goals behind and looking dead and buried having gifted Bristol possession twice and were duly punished…it was a superb effort all round and Oxford will now feature in the play-offs against Birmingham Futsal Club of the Northern section.

ONE FOR THE FUTURE – Pepe being suspended sat next to me for the second half and acted as a cheerleader, But as the drama unfolded on the field I did ask about a young futusal player who has caught my eye this season and has been a stalwart for the Lions. Benji a deceivingly strong lad who also apparently plays in the Nomads/Nomad Dev as an attacking midfielder and is nicknamed at least by Pepe “Pogba” is just 16 years old and loves getting stuck in and certainly has a fair amount of technical ability, pace as well as a hell of a shot (Other than Pepe himself I think Benji is the Lions top scorer this season) ….Pepe (so presumably EG and others at the club) reckon if he sticks at his game he could go a long way in the 11 a side game……Another youngster for City fans to look out for in the future.

[ChrisB]

What a great result! Well done to all concerned.
Don't know who 'Benji' might be: the only Benjamin for Nomads/NomDev is Benjamin Barrett, so maybe him? Anyone else know one way or another?