Plate Semi-Final time and things were getting interesting. We were now just 6 games from the conclusion of the inaugural 2022 Amsterdam Sevens with 4 teams in contention for the Plate and 4 teams for the Cup. We began with the Plate Semi-Finals and up first was Turn Down For Watford against Dnipro.

Turn Down For Watford were the highest ranked team in the Plate competition after the group phase. They had the most points (9), most goals (12) and the best goal difference (+6) of the 4 teams in the Plate. Dnipro were one of the form teams at the moment though as they came into the game on the back of two successive wins (both 2-1) in order to qualify for this stage.

It started off well for the team from England as they hit the front with a Rich Lyons goal in the first half. Ben Gregory added a second before half-time and they were in control at the break. In the second half it was the Jase Opoku-Afriyie show as he was on target not once, not twice but three times to bag a quickfire hat-trick and make it 5-0.

Dnipro had the final say as David Ribeiro scored his third of the tournament but unfortunately for him the goal could not prevent his team departing the competition. Dnipro were out for this year as Turn Down For Watford marched on.

Turn Down For Watford had booked their space in the Plate Final. The two teams set to do battle for the second berth in the final were Milner Street and FC Tpaktop.

FC Tpaktop were appearing in a semi-final for the second time in as many tournaments at our events. At the 2021 Barcelona Fives, they finished in second place in the league table to qualify for the elite Cup competition. They were the only travelling team amongst three Spanish teams in the Cup Semi-Finals. That's where their challenge ended as they narrowly missed out on the Cup Final, 3-2, to Sharks.

They were up against a Milner Street team who had proved to be very competitive in Group B – 2 wins, 2 draws and just the 1 defeat (against the group winners). They also had the best defensive record of all the teams in the Plate competition with just 4 conceded (3 of those came in the same game against the group winners).

It was Milner Street who forged ahead in this game with James Gallagher scoring his third goal in the tournament. At half-time the English side lead 1-0 and with their defensive record it was going to be tough for FC Tpaktop to get back into the game. When Daniel De Vos, a loan signing completed on the day before the tournament, proved his worth with a second goal that task got even tougher for FC Tpaktop.

If FC Tpaktop had an uphill task at 2-0 down then they had a mountain to climb when they fell further behind to James Gallagher's second of the game to make it 3-0 to Milner Street. It was their biggest win of the day and were they peaking at just the right time?

It was another semi-final defeat to FC Tpaktop and we said farewell to them. Third time lucky perhaps on their next eurofootballfives.com visit.