Group B began with Rapid Bosco Navas taking on Midshires FC. Rapid Bosco Navas are one of our most capped competing teams across our tour destinations. They made their debut in the 2008 Barca Fives where they completed a fine 2-1 Cup Final victory over Scotland's Red Light Runners. Since then they have not managed the same glory although came close in the 2011 Barcelona Fives this April. Their record reads;

November 2008: Winners.

June 2009: Won their group before losing on penalties in the Cup quarter-finals.

November 2009: Finished joint top of their group before going out in the Cup QF.

June 2010: Finished 2nd in their group before losing on penalties in the Cup Semi-Finals.

April 2011: Runners-Up.

They were looking to qualify for the Cup for the 6th successive occasion. Could their Group B opponents stop them – first up was Midshires FC.

Midshires FC were making their debut so we knew little about their on pitch ability. If we knew little beforehand then we had a fair idea by the end of this game – they were a top quality outfit. In the first-half they had opened up a 2-0 lead with both strikes coming from Laszlo Szucs. In the second half Romauldas Maciulevicius made it 3-0 and secure all three points in an impressive opening performance.

We had a real treat in Game 2 of Group B as we were to see our first ever team from Oman participate in our tournaments as CBD Boys met Breckland FC (also on debut). We had seen a team from Jordan appear in our 2008 Barcelona Fives so we would had gone a long time since seeing a brand of football from this part of the world. It was a competitive start for the team from Muscat but unfortunately for them they trailed at the break 2-0 thanks to goals from Daniel Tickle.

CBD Boys scored a first goal for Oman in the second half as Daley Mathias and then Majid Bastani got on the scoresheet. Ultimately though they were to be consolation goals as Breckland's Thomas Barber scored what proved to be the winner in an enthralling 3-2 win.

Kazakhstan FC began their challenge in Group B as they took on Rapid Bosco Navas in Game 3. The Spanish team, and 2008 winners, had suffered a 3-0 defeat in their first game and like great champions came back fighting in their second game.

You had to feel sorry for Kazakhstan FC who walked straight into the Rapid Bosco Navas backlash from that first game. The Spanish were hugely impressive and it was Jumanji who put them 1-0 up before Luinochio made it 2-0. Danilson Gomez made it 3-0, Juaninho hit numbers four and five before Sergio completed a stunning 6-0 victory.

Kazakhstan FC would have to look forward to their second fixture and produce a similar display to their opponents and inflict their own backlash on someone else.

Game 4 was the scheduled meeting of Midshires FC versus CBD Boys. Midshires FC had announced themselves in style in Game 1 and were looking to continue that form into this game. CBD Boys were hoping they could turn an encouraging performance into points following opening game defeat.

Just as in their first game it was Laszlo Szucs who opened the scoring to give Midshires FC a lead. When Antonio Rodrigues made it 2-0 the writing was on the wall for CBD Boys as Midshires were getting stronger and stronger. Rodrigues went on to make it 3-0 and then complete his hat-trick for 4-0. It was another clean sheet for keeper Henrique Araujo and another three points for his team. They sat on top of Group B and looked strong.

For CBD Boys, they were looking to register their first points of the tournament and had two more group games to open their account.

The game that would take us to the half-way stage of Group B was Breckland FC versus Kazakhstan FC. The former were looking to make it 2 wins from 2 and join Midshires FC at the top. The latter were looking to put an opening game defeat behind them and start their campaign in earnest.

What followed was a very close encounter. In the opening round of games Breckland FC had won a tight fixture by the odd goal but in this one they found themselves on the wrong end of the result as a Philip Beeston goal ensured all three need to inflict a Rapid Bosco Navas-style backlash on their next opponents and whilst it wasn't by six goals that didn't matter at all as they had a crucial three points.

Kazakhstan FC joined Breckland FC and Rapid Bosco Navas in joint 2nd in a congested Group B table. It was all to play for behind Midshires FC.