A win and a draw for St. Andrews in UEFA Futsal Cup

St. Andrews Futsal ended their commitments in joint-second place in Group B of the UEFA Futsal Cup Preliminary Round after collecting four points in three matches. The mini-tournament was played at the Centre Esportiu Serradells in Andorra la Vella.

In their first outing on Wednesday, St. Andrews found the going tough, losing 0-9 to Italian champions Pescara who went on to win the tournament with maximum points. Mauro Canal, a brace by Rogerio Da Silva, Gréllo and an own goal by Frane Despotović put the Italians five goals ahead within the first ten minutes. Ricardo Caputo added another on the 13th. In the second half, Leandro Cuzzolino converted a penalty to increase the lead further before Mark Zammit committed an own goal and Rogerio Da Silva sealed the issue with a ninth goal. Player-coach Frane Despotović was sent off.

On Thursday, St. Andrews bounced back with a 5-3 win over hosts Encamp. Glenn Bonello put St. Andrews ahead but Moises Ferreira levelled matters. However in the second half, Luxol scored four to increase the lead to 5-1 through Glenn Bonello, Vanderlei Augusto, Florin Anton and a penalty by William Barbosa. Enamp reduced the gap with two goals by Alex Férriz.

On Saturday, St. Andrews and Danish side Gentofte shared the spoils in a 5-5 draw. Gentofte seemed heading towards a comfortable after taking a comfortable five-goal lead within the first twelve minutes thanks to a brace by Kevin Jørgensen, Ibrahim Kaled Badran, Mads Jensen and Zakaria El-Ouaz. By the end of the first half, St. Andrews reduced the gap with goals by Frane Despotović, Florin Anton and William Barbosa. William Barbosa scored twice in the second half to earn a point for St. Andrews.

Throughout the tournament, player-coach Despotović used the following players: Reuben Grech, Adrian Attard, Carlos Scicluna, Vanderlei Augusto, Glenn Bonello, Zvezdan Vuković, Florin Anton, William Barbosa, Matthew Attard, Mark Zammit, Karl Saliba and Celino Alves.