2011 Amsterdam 5-a-side Tournament Tour Report Group A Round 1

Results

GBS Reds (Cze)	1	v	2	AAK S&S (Eng)
Brighton & Hove Rockets (Eng)	2	V	3	CEPL (Hol)
Goals Aloud (Wal)	2	v	0	Rigford Seahawks Alpha (Eng)

The eagerly anticipated 2011 Amsterdam Fives kicked off with Group A and some familiar faces to eurofootballfives.com were in action in the opening round of fixtures.

First up on Pitch A was Czech side GBS Reds (formally playing as JNJ Global Services) who make it eurofootballfives.com appearance number 6 in Amsterdam following four Prague appearances and one in the 2010 Krakow Trophy. Having reached 3 successive Plate Semi-Finals, they finally conquered this hurdle last time out in the 2010 Prague Trophy when they claimed the Plate Trophy. They started out their Amsterdam campaign against debutants AAK S&S.

It was a solid start for both clubs and after the opening period the teams were locked at 1-1 thanks to goals from Wilco Veldhuizen for the Czechs and Richard Clubley for the English. In the second half there was a second goal for Clubley and it was a goal that was to secure all three points for AAK S&S. It was a perfect start for AAK but GBS Reds had the comfort of 5 more group games to get their challenger off and running.

On Pitch B we began with Brighton & Hove Rockets against Dutch side CEPL who had travelled to Amsterdam from Tilburg for the competition.

Brighton & Hove Rockets played in the 2009 Krakow Trophy where they made steady progress in the Plate and picked up the Runners-Up medals. In the 2010 Prague Trophy they progressed to the Cup competition where they finished 4th overall. They had a tough opening against CEPL who were playing their 2nd eurofootballfives.com tournament. On their debut in the 2011 Krakow Trophy they finished a very respectable second and boasted the tournament's top goalscorer amongst their ranks although he was unable to make the squad this time round.

It didn't seem to matter for the Dutch though as they continued their Krakow form by surging into a 2-0 lead as Arkadiusz Piontek opened the scoring before Rakesh Dewoe doubled the advantage. In the second period it was to get even better for CEPL when Przemek Krawczyk extended the lead to 3-0.

It was not the start Brighton & Hove Rockets would have wanted but they should be given a lot of credit for staging a great comeback. Mackenzie Page got the ball rolling to make it 3-1 and when Chris McEntee reduced arrears to 2-1 it was game on. Sadly for the Rockets time was not on their side and the final whistle went with the score 3-2 to CEPL.

The final two teams in the opening round of fixtures began their campaign on Pitch C as Goals Aloud met Rigford Seahawks Alpha. Goals Aloud, by making their debut, became the first team to represent Wales in our tournaments. They were dealt a tough opening game against the Seahawks.

The Rigford Seahawks, always tough contenders, make their 3rd eurofootballfives.com appearance when they take to the field in Amsterdam. They have good form having lifted the 2009 Krakow Trophy. Later that season in the Prague Trophy they missed out on the Cup by goal difference in their group but made the most of the setback by winning the Plate competition. This is the first time they had entered two squads though so how would this affect them?

With the game underway it was Goals Aloud who drew first blood courtesy of a first-half Sion Williams goal. In the second period Chris Mellett extended the lead to 2-0 and Goals Aloud were well on their way to their first victory. Rigford Seahawks Alpha were unable to get on the scoresheet themselves as goalkeeper Kel Ross kept a clean sheet on debut. Final score, 2-0.

Table

Team	Pld	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Agst	Pts
Goals Aloud (Wal)	1	1	0	0	2	0	3
CEPL (Hol)	1	1	0	0	3	2	3
AAK S&S (Eng)	1	1	0	0	2	1	3
Inter Women (Eng)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brighton & Hove Rockets (Eng)	1	0	0	1	2	3	0
GBS Reds (Cze)	1	0	0	1	1	2	0
Rigford Seahawks Alpha (Eng)	1	0	0	1	0	2	0

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