We began Round 5 with the group perfectly set-up – we began with 5th versus 6th, would then have 3rd versus 4th and would finish with 1st versus 2nd as we approached the climax of the group phase.

So, first up it was Naranjitos versus Team Koopman. In theory, Naranjitos could still qualify for the Cup but it was a remote possibility. They needed to win by at least 2 goals, hope the FC Potsdam v JK Silvertown group ended in a draw to finish third, then hope that 7 points would qualify as one of the two best third place finishers. Things started well as Javier Sanchez Flores put Naranjitos 1-0 up in the first half.

The second half kicked off with Naranjitos still 1-0 up. However, it would all go wrong in the second half as Team Koopman equalised through their #7 to make it 1-1. That's how the game finished. It didn't really do either team much good in the context of the group table. For Team Koopman, it confirmed they would finish sixth. For Naranjitos, it moved them up to fourth although FC Potsdam could still re-claim that position. Either way, Naranjitos would be playing in the Plate competition this afternoon.

To conclude Group A then was the not-so-small matter of Vieze Vu against FC Tiote. The top two teams would battle it out for the Group A title.

FC Tiote were in the driving seat as they currently resided on 9 points with 3 wins from their first 4 games. They only needed a draw to go through to the Cup as Group A winners whereas a win would do it in style. They could afford a 3 goal loss to finish second but a 4 goal loss (or more) would see them finish third. It would then come down to if this would be enough to qualify as one of the best two third placed finishers. At kick-off, this was unclear subject to results on Pitch B and Pitch C.

The task for Vieze Vu was to win and be crowned Group A champions or to draw and finish second to qualify for the Cup. If the Dutch were to lose then they would finish third on 8 points which might be enough to qualify for the Cup although usually 9 points is required to be in the mix. If they could avoid defeat then obviously their fate would be in their own hands.

When we reached half-time defeat didn't really look part of the equation as Vieze Vu forged a 3-1 lead thanks to goals from Gijs Kok and Tim Van Gelder (2). FC Tiote had only conceded twice all day before this but had now conceded three in one half. Joe Housham's goal kept the English team in the hunt.

The second half went very much the same way as the first with three goals for the Dutch (Gijs Kok, Tim Van Gelder, Sam Van Rogen) and one for the English (Karl Shaw).

It was a sensational result for Vieze Vu who qualified as Group A champions. As it turned out, FC Tiote had also done enough to go through to the elite Cup competition with them.