Lincoln’s Men’s Futsal 1sts have sealed their fate as their 6-2 loss to East Anglia 1sts has led them into relegation.
The team are currently in the Premier Midlands League but will play next season in the Midlands 1B league.
Straight from the off East Anglia looked the more offensive team and looked comfortable in possession at the back. Lincoln sat back inviting the opposition onto them and for the first five minutes they looked capable of defending shots in the final third but incapable of making use out of their counter attacks. However, after the 7th minute, East Anglia opened up the scoring and the goals didn’t stop coming.
After an uneventful seven minutes of Lincoln’s defence countering out East Anglia’s attack the visitors were rewarded for their consistent drive towards goal. Both teams found themselves scrambling for the ball in the penalty area but it was the Anglian foot of Brandon Maysey that eventually got the better of the situation and knocked the ball over the line to make the score 1-0 to the visitors.
Despite sitting back and defending, the home side were struggling to finish the ball in the penalty area and resorted to taking long shots and ambitious passes. Lincoln’s Tom Hughes was the hero of the hour as he regularly made slide tackles of excellent precision in the vital areas.
However, even he couldn’t stop the visitors’ second goal which was from a corner. The ball was played straight to Sean Rayland who was waiting on the edge of the penalty area. He hit it first time at the goal and left the Lincoln Goalkeeper with no chance of saving it.
Only a minute of play later, East Anglia added another goal to their tally as a failed clearance from Lincoln’s defence fell at the feet of Oscar Santos who got his first goal of the day. He hit it hard at the centre of goal and made the score 3-0 to the home side but Lincoln still came back fighting. Isaac Timson saw an opportunity just past the half way line and curled the ball into the top right of the East Anglia goal.
Passion took over with a minute remaining in the first half as a poor challenge from East Anglia’s Mark Elms saw a series of issues rise before the half time whistle.
Despite being two goals down Lincoln came out into the second half defensive minded and East Anglia punished them immediately. In the 22nd minute Rayland hit the post with enough power for it to rebound to Josh Bothe who was able to hit the target and make it 4-1 to the visitors.
Height became a key factor as East Anglia seemed more confident battling in the air and cutting out any lobs sent into the box.
The next two goals came in the space of a minute of play and used the exact same tactic. For the first, Santos was played in on the left wing and he passed the ball square across the penalty area for Bothe to drive into the net. A minute later, Jason Lines was played in on the left and passed it across the box for Santos to get his second goal. The game looked to be over but with 7 minutes to go Dom Middlehurst played a long ball from the right wing to Tom Hughes who instinctively passed the ball into the net and made it 6-2 to the visitors.
However, it wasn’t enough as East Anglia fought off late pressure from the home side to secure three points. The final score was 6-2 to East Anglia.