Rob Wheeler reports from the UEL Sports Dock, as Genesis show their qualities in defeat against elite opposition
Genesis Futsal Club’s impressive start to the season took a slip up as they lost 7-4 to league leaders London Helvecia at the SportsDock.
Genesis actually started the game the better, with captain Nelo Sarmento’s double putting the home side 2-0 up.
The game was in full flow with the typical futsal fast pace resulting in chances at either end. However Helvecia managed to level it up before the break.
Early in the second half Helvecia took advantage of a slip by Max Kilman to take the lead.
Despite this Genesis were not short of chances with good efforts from Claudio Ribeiro, Filipe Neves and Jamie Shawyer; Neves hitting the crossbar with a powerful strike.
Helvecia were well organised at the back and managed to go 4-2 up with another attack on the break. Soon they had a chance to make it five but the shot was blazed over the bar.
Effort
Genesis made a tactical change putting Nelo on for George White as an attacking goalkeeper, in an effort to get back into the game.
The home side were almost caught out by this tactical change as Helvecia tried a lobbed shot from inside their own half but it went just wide.
The skilful Shawyer was re-introduced and was given decent chance however his attempt was blocked by the keeper.
Two goals from Helvecia in quick succession put them 6-2 up and looked to seal them the victory.
Genesis pegged back a consolation goal that was bundled in before Helvecia made it seven.
Shawyer added a late goal in the final moments of the game to make it 7-4, with Helvecia inflicting Genesis with their first defeat of the season.
Positives
Despite the defeat Genesis coach Trevor Tamatave could take positives from his sides performance.
He told Rising East “(We) could match Helvecia with a weakened squad. Once we have key players back then we would have a strong unit. Also it was good to see the players giving their all during the game. Everyone gave 100% and battled on the pitch.”
Tamatave is confident they can respond in their next game against London United and added: “We are very confident we can bounce back. Helvecia are probably the best team in England and we showed we could match them, but we need to cut out the mistakes. This is a minor setback . . . we continue with our objective of qualifying for the Super League play-off stages and then aim to finish as high as possible in the league.”