Futsal

Sporting Fingal EID 7-3 Kaghsi Yerevan (Armenia)

FAI National Futsal Coordinator hailed Sporting Fingals' progression to the next stage of the UEFA Futsal Cup as a watershed for Irish club Futsal. The Dublin side made it two wins in a row on Tuesday by defeating Kaghsi Yerevan in Lithuania to become the first Irish team to advance from the preliminary phase of a UEFA Futsal competition.

Said O'Neill; "This is the fourth season where Ireland has been represented in the UEFA Futsal Cup. Previous participants have had mixed fortunes but the difference this time was in preparation. Fingal have been competing in the Leinster Emerald Futsal league and have trained regularly as a futsal team. Previous Irish participants have tended to be 11 a side players dabbling in Futsal but now we have a situation where players can play futsal on a more regular basis."

Fingal now progress to Group Three of the main qualifying round alongside last year's UEFA semi-finalists Araz Nexcivan (Azerbaijan), FK Nikars Riga (Latvia) and hosts US Targu Mures of Romania.

Following a stunning 5-3 victory over host club Nautara Kaunas in Monday's opener, the Irish side knew another win against Armenian Champions Kaghsi Yerevan 24 hours later would finish them top of the group.

The Irish side raced into a two-goal lead inside eight minutes through goals by Rodrigo de Melo and Anderson Nunes.

Despite Yerevan pulling one back before the break, Ross Zambra made Fingal's dominance count with a cracking third goal before Nunes bagged his second of the game.

The Armenians then scored two goals in quick succession to narrow the gap but Hygo Cesar's impressive brace in the last five minutes followed by de Melo's second of the game in the dying moments sealed the outcome.

"Sporting's qualification for the next stage is an historic moment for Irish futsal and everybody involved in the game in Ireland is very proud of what they have achieved," said O'Neill.

"The performances also show that our own Emerald Futsal League is a worthy competition that can hopefully develop further on the back of this fantastic set of results.

"Futsal was only introduced to Ireland relatively recently but it has made great strides in recent years. Sporting was the fourth winner of the FAI Futsal Cup and currently lead the Emerald Futsal League, which is only in its second season. The formation of similar leagues countrywide is a priority for us now and it will give players new opportunities to follow Fingal's notable achievements "

Sporting Fingal EID squad: Marcin Fornal; Anderson Nunes, Rodrigo De Melo, Hygo Cezar, Isaias Lima; Ian Carry, Ross Zambra, Paul Fetherston, Helio Neto, Leandro Maia, Sergiu Musteata, Junior Da Silva (Player-coach).