Welcome
to the eurofootballfives.com Veterans Tournament
Post-Tournament Report – Algarve 2015. The annual
Veterans Tournament was now in its 3rd edition
after a 2013 debut in Lisbon and last year's sojourn
to Mallorca. It was now time for the tour to roll
into Portugal's stunning Algarve.
First
up in Group A was Old Bromleians versus Belfast
Space Monkeys. The former were making their second
eurofootballfives.com appearance following their
debut at the 2014 Mallorca Veterans Tournament.
They had a tough morning but finished 4 th in
Group B to qualify for the Plate competition.
At the Semi-Final stage they missed out to Dickie
Dogs.
Their
opponents, Belfast Space Monkeys, were making
their debut and the first team to represent Northern
Ireland in our Veterans competition.
The
first half was quite tight with just one goal
separating the two sides and it was Belfast Space
Monkeys' Richard McConkey who scored the first
goal in Group A. In the second half the Belfast
side eased away from their opponents as Sean Mullan
scored not once but twice to double then triple
the lead for 3-0 and wrap up all 3 points.
Next
up was Mini FC versus Norton Old Boys. Mini FC
made their eurofootballfives.com debut at the
2014 Algarve Open and it was an impressive debut.
Four wins and 1 draw later they had finished on
top of Group B to qualify for the Cup competition.
A 2-1 defeat in the Cup Semi-Finals to Stand Cristina
meant their progress would go no further.
They
would play Norton Old Boys who were experienced
in our tournaments both at Open Age and Veterans
level, both here in the Algarve and elsewhere
on our European circuit.
The
game proved to be another tight contest in the
early stages and we reached the half-time interval
with Mini FC 1-0 to the good thanks to Binlo.
The two teams continued to battle hard in the
second half although Norton Old Boys were unable
to find a way through the Mini FC defence. Binlo
added a second for the Portuguese team who began
the day with a 2-0 win.
The
final fixture in the opening round of Group A
was Ashtead Vets versus RTAlgarve. It was England
versus Portugal between two teams who were playing
for the first time in our tournaments.
At
least that is what was supposed to have happened
– the game was a non-starter as local side RTAlgarve
had cancelled moments before the tournament. With
no time to find a replacement there was no option
but to hand a 3-0 walkover win to Ashtead Vets
– the easiest 3 points they'll ever get. It would
mean a longer wait to make their debut and we
can only apologise for this.
