SAMUEL Amini starred in St Columba Anglican School’s 4-2 win over Camden Haven High School at the Hastings School Futsal Titles on Tuesday.
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SCAS later progressed to the state finals.
They conceded an early goal in their round-robin clash at Port Macquarie Indoor Stadium, but hit back to level the scores at 2-all at the break.
The second half was largely played in the Camden Haven half.
Camden Haven could have hit the front early in the second half, but the shot on goal skimmed the top of the bar.
Amini then made them play, benefiting from a clever one-two to bury the ball in the back of the net with the outside of his left foot.
Coach Dane Dickson was happy with the way his side had played in their first three games where they won two.
“Last year we made the final and Camden Haven are always a school that has given us good competition,” he said.
“Taree are looking good in the 16 boys division as well so hopefully we’ve got something to build on.”
Dickson said a lot of his players had plenty of futsal experience.
“Sam is a really strong player,” he said.
“They’re all doing really well and a lot of them have played a lot outside of school, but not so much in the last 12 months so they’re coming together well.”
NSW development manager Mick Day said it was his third year in charge of the event and there were 70 teams from across the Mid-North Coast contesting the under 13 through to under 19 boys and girls divisions.
“The standard lifts every single year and it’s probably in correspondence with the social league we have here and the academies we run,” he said.
This year the talent here is unbelievable; there isn’t one single school that stands out as the absolute winner.
- Tournament director Mick Day
“This year the talent here is unbelievable; there isn’t one single school that stands out as the absolute winner.
“Yesterday we had a team go through unbeaten until the semi-final where they were beaten by fourth.”
Day said the tournament had provided an identification period to see stars of the future.
“If you look at our current New South Wales men’s and women’s teams, a lot of our players have been identified through this school program,” he said.
“Our women’s team are number one in Australia and I would say five or six of those girls are 17 or under and came from the schools program.”
The top two teams from each division go through to state level with the state championships to be held in Port Macquarie in August.
“All the schools will travel here and the winners of the state cup will then go through to Australasian championships in Brisbane,” Day said.
The tournament wraps up on Thursday.
If you look at our current New South Wales men’s and women’s teams, a lot of our players have been identified through this school program.
- Mick Day
