January 20, 2013
Kingaroy’s Rustixs 16s futsal team has ended up in third place in the national championships played in Sydney earlier this month.
Coach Debbie Ovens said it was a massive feat as they were narrowly beaten 2-1 in a very intense semi-final against Queensland City.
“Our guys dominated this game but just could not finish, hitting the woodwork on three occasions and barely missing the net with a heap of shots,” she said.
The Rustix won all three games on the first day of the competition, setting them up for a possible finals berth.
“We used the rest of the competition games to set up a strong finals opportunity, coming in third on the table,” Debbie said.
“Our best game was our win against a very strong Victorian team, beating them 4-0. We played a very strong fast counter game of futsal which exposed the Victorian’s defence.”
Debbie said player fatigue was an issue. The bus trip to Sydney took about 18 hours and travel to and from the venue was 90 minutes each day.
“Sydney experienced a number of extremely hot days around 42 degrees, with court temps much higher. As a result players suffered a number of cramps and heat exhaustion,” she said.
“Our Rustixs Qld 16s Country Boys, as a result of unbelievable play, attracted supporters from all over the country to watch their style of playing.”
Leading goal scorers were Sam Gray 9, Bailey Raines 6 and Zac Strauss 5.
Game Statistics:
| Game | Team | Score |
| 1 | Qld Country West | 5–1 |
| 2 | NSW Central Coast | 9–3 |
| 3 | Victoria | 4–0 |
| 4 | NSW Southern | 3–7 |
| 5 | NSW City | 0–8 |
| 6 | Qld City | 2–9 |
| Semi | Qld City | 1-2 |
- Related article: A Team Full Of Country Talent
