Genesis FC 6 – 6 Helvecia FC
Sunday 13th February 2011
FA Futsal League South
Written by Matthew Baldwin, Newham Leisure Centre
A late wonder goal by Israel Toko saved the blushes of Genesis goalkeeper Trevor Tamatave as Genesis came twice from behind to draw with 3-time defending champions Helvecia. In a thrilling game at Newham Leisure Centre, which saw Helvecia striker Bruno Vitorino grab a 4-goal haul as Genesis ended up rueing a host of missed chances in a game they easily dominated and which both sides missed countless opportunities.
Genesis started of the game positively with plenty of possession with Manuel Sarmento hitting the post after just 2 minutes following nice build up play down the right hand side. Indeed it took the best part of 10 minutes until Helvecia managed to work a decent opening when Paulo Flausino Jr had his well hit 15 yard strike saved by Tamatave.
It was the visitors however who took the lead against the run of play. Following a shot by Toko, Vitorino broke down the left hand side and hit a sweet right foot shot across goal past the reach of the goalkeeper. Two minutes later though the game was back on level terms as Michael Wilson’s free kick was struck into the net from just outside the area. Helvecia hit back immediately however as Vitorino is a near carbon copy of his first goal picked up the ball down the left hand side and struck.
His next goal however would be more special as he picked up a kick-in and swivelled on a sixpence before hitting a rocket into the roof of the net from near the touchline. Genesis’ response was swift as Byron Andrew was on hand at the back post to turn in a cross from Toko. Genesis had the chance to pull level with a penalty after the visitors had reached their 5 foul limit, but Toko’s effort was well saved by Alberton. The first half ended with a flourish as Byron Andrew had his shot saved by keeper which fell into the path of Frederic Agodio who calmly dispatched it into the net to give Genesis the momentum going into half time.
That momentum carried over into the 2nd half as Charles Konadu Yiadom scored with a breakaway goal following a good save by Tamatave to give them their first lead of the game. Helvecia then had the chance to strike back but Andrew was at hand to clear the ball off the line. Their defence did not hold out for much longer though as Vitorino took the ball from a cross before neatly slotting the ball into the net. Genesis then re-took the lead when Andrew danced past Claudio Almeida before nutmegging the Helvecia goalkeeper to make the score 5-4.
Then came the moment that Tamatave will wish never happened, a cross from the right wing by Hugo Andrade seemed to be easily claimed by the goalkeeper but was somehow dropped into his own net to level the game for the visitors. Their next goal however was more straight forward, following a handball by Donovan De Maudave; Hugo Moreira struck his free kick with venom and into the far corner of the net to give Helvecia a 6-5 lead.
They then had a chance to put the game to bed. After Genesis had reached their 5 foul limit, Tamatave made up for his earlier mistake by saving Marconi Deus’ penalty. This seemed to give Genesis a second wind as they piled on the pressure in search of a late equaliser which came from Israel Toko as, with great composure he took a pass and took the ball around the goalkeeper before blasting into the net whilst at the same time losing his footing 30 seconds before the referee blew the final whistle.
After the game, Genesis manager Joe Toko said that his team had the opportunity to win today but missed chances cost them dearly. ‘The main thing for us is to make sure we take away our chances, because we had so many and we could have had this game wrapped up by half time.’
