FCB Dunkles kicked off Group D against Cheesecake FC. FCB Dunkles were the second of the two FC Biermeisters squad in the 2011 Algarve Open. The FCB Dunkles team made the Cup semi-finals of the 2010 Krakow Cup and bowed out on Golden Goal. FC Biermeisters also reached Cup Semi-Finals at the 2009 Amsterdam Fives and 2010 Manchester Fives where they also lost by Golden Goal and on penalties. The Algarve is their 4 th eurofootballfives.com appearance and their results show they are not an easy team to beat.

Their opponents, Cheesecake FC, made their debut in the 2010 Prague Masters in a field which also featured 3 past winners – Lozenetz City (Bul), Kehar Club (Cze) and Olympic Phil Babb (Eng). They met the latter in the semi-finals and after a fine 3-3 draw went out on penalties. Incidentally, Olympic Phil Babb are the only team to have won 4 eurofootballfives.com tournaments in 4 attempts (2008 Amsterdam Fives, 2009 Algarve Open, 2010 Prague Masters, 2011 Budapest Fives) so this shows how well Cheesecake FC performed. Mark Hignett of Cheesecake FC was also the 2010 Prague Masters top goalscorer with 11 goals in 6 games.

Introductions over, on the pitch it was Cheesecake FC who scored the first goal of Group D as Chris McDaid opened their account. It was a lead they were to hold until the turnaround. In the second half they doubled their lead when Asa Brown made it 2-0 and the writing was on the wall for FCB Dunkles. Danny Griffiths had other ideas though and reduced arrears to 2-1 but alas, for them, it was not enough as they went down 2-1.

Eagles UnAthletic and Olhanense were scheduled to meet in Game 2 of Group D. Olhanense, the sister squad of Maritimo, were equally as lost as their other team and so they arrived late and missed this game. Eagles UnAthletic benefitted to the tune of a 3-0 walkover win. There was plenty of takers trying to claim the 3 goals on their personal tally!

So we moved quickly onto our third game which was Mysterious Dwarves against FCB Dunkles. Mysterious Dwarves were the second of two teams from the Dave Kinealy stables (the first being Misfits FC in Group B) and this was their first fixture against the already warmed up FCB Dunkles.

At half-time we were all square with two good goalkeepers on show and the score was 0-0. The deadlock was broken in the second half as Joe Carroll put Mysterious Dwarves ahead. It was to be a killer goal as there was no further scoring, final score 1-0.

Cheesecake FC were next in action in Game 4 when they met Eagles UnAthletic who were to get their first run out on pitch. Both teams found themselves on 3 points though and as such a win for either team here would see them take control of Group D. From early on it looked apparent that Cheesecake FC would be the team to walk away with the victory. Phil Shaw opened the scoring for them before Wes Armstrong made it 2-0 before half-time. In the second half there were further goals from Mark Hignett and Chris McDaid. There was something to cheer for Eagles UnAthletic as Shaun Miller scored their opening goal of the tournament as the game ended 4-1 to Cheesecake FC.

Cheesecake FC looked very much like they had brought their Prague form to Portugal and were looking good on top of Group D. Despite the defeat Eagles UnAthletic were well placed.

Olhanense had arrived in time to fulfill their fixture against Mysterious Dwarves in Game 5. The English team were looking to make it 2 wins out of 2 whereas Olhanense were looking to make up for ‘lost' time (quite literally) and get their first points on the board.

Olhanense FC had a slow start on their 2009 Algarve Open debut when they finished 4th in their group qualifying for the Plate where they went on the final before losing to CSF Porto. This was amazingly the first of 3 Plate victories for the CSF in 2009 as they followed this up in Amsterdam and Valencia. Twelve months on they finished 2 nd in their group to qualify for the Cup where they came up against Athletico Do Hollande and lost 6-0. Maybe their greater experience would show in this game?

Olhanense got the start they needed when Albertino Paulos's first half strike put them in the lead and ultimately it was a goal that put them on the road to victory. Paulos scored again in the second half and whilst the man they call Chazza reduced the deficit to 2-1 for the Mysterious Dwarves it was in vain as Olhanense secured a 2-1 victory. The win meant there was a congested look to mid-table Group D with Cheesecake FC out in front.