Records have been broken and an intense new rivalry has been formed after a breakout day of Series Futsal Victoria at the Thomastown Futsal Oz Stadium yesterday.
A healthy crowd (the biggest attendance since the opening of the new Thomastown grandstand), plus a huge online livestream audience (the largest-ever viewers for a regular SFV round) made for a great evening of futsal.
The debut of international futsal star Rico Zulkarnain coincided with his new club Fitzroy taking on long-time rival Pascoe Vale.
The two long-standing clubs fought an epic battle, resulting in a 4-all draw, eventually decided in favour of Pascoe Vale thanks to the competitions new ‘no draws’ policy.
CLICK HERE for the game report.
Despite the loss, Fitzroy’s new man Zulkarnain was the star of the show, scoring all four of Fitzroy’s goals, including a couple of his trademark flick kicks.
But in typical Pascoe Vale style, the reigning champs gave away little, fighting back from 3-1, led by captain and leading figure Andre Caro.
And some of the battles between Zulkarnain and Caro on the field were intense, to say the least.
Series Futsal Victoria chief Peter Parthimos says that he was pleased with the landmark evening.
“I’m very pleased with the crowd, the livestream viewers and the games that we witnessed,” Parthimos told SeriesFutsal.com.
“Three of the games were very close – two of them went to penalty shoot-outs, so no one can say that they didn’t get their money’s worth.
“But that game between Fitzroy and Pascoe Vale was a cracker. It was hard-fought, it was intense, and it was not decided until the last kick. I’m glad there was lots of people there to see it.
“But we’re not getting carried away with the results just yet. We have more big announcements to come. This show is only going to get bigger.”
Yesterday’s round was also supported by local entertainment group Beat Dance Studio who performed two acts between games.
You can join in the fun at Thomastown next week. Gates open at 2pm, with the opening game kicking off at 3pm.