The 2013 Barcelona Fives Final would see Los Swallacticos play Melee FC as Northern Ireland met England. Who was going to triumph? Let's have a look at their records;

Los Swallacticos

Played 6, Won 5, Drawn 0, Lost 1. They had scored 14 goals and conceded 9.

Melee FC

Melee FC had played 6, Won 5, Drawn 0, Lost 1. They had scored 13 goals and conceded just 2 goals.

Both teams were on debut so we had no previous results/experience to look back on and so we would have to purely base our preview on today's results – which is exactly how it should be. Interestingly, both teams had finished 2nd in their group and therefore shows everyone has a chance of glory once you get to the knock-out phase of our tournaments.

If you looked at the two records you would say that although the goalscoring records were very similar the extra defensive record of Melee FC might just swing it for them. It certainly looked as if defences were on top and this would be a close game. Although the game was tight it was very entertaining and it always looked like there was a goal in it.

Los Swallacticos were largely the reason for this with their “Sweeper Keeper” tactic that saw the goalkeeper playing high up when Los Swallacticos were in possession and often bombing forward. On occasion he was their most advance player. This was clearly a planned tactic and a well rehearsed one as when he went forward there were often a couple of outfield players dropping back to cover. It gave a thrilling dimension to the game.

Despite this we were still 0-0 at half-time and for much of the second half. It is often said that in tight games like this it takes a moment of brilliance or a mistake to settle the tie. In this final it was a mixture of good skill with a bit of luck. The good skill can be attributed to the move that lead to the goal and the finish from Macauley. The bit of luck may have been an injury to Jack Dell which caused a break in the game. It was just after we re-started that Duncan Macauly put Los Swallacticos ahead. Maybe it was the loss of Jack himself, a loss in concentration as a result or maybe it had nothing to do with it whatsoever. We will never know. Los Swallacticos kept the lead superbly afterwards and kept Melee FC out to secure the 1-0 win and with it the title of

Our commiserations go to Melee FC for coming so close to a maiden tournament win and playing a superbly on debut. We congratulate Los Swallacticos on a first Barcelona Fives title and we are sure it will not be their last!

On a personal note, we would like to congratulate our Top Goalscorer, Jan Van Rabenswaiij of ADP Netherlands 1, with a great return of 7 goals in 5 games.

We send our congratulations to all the teams who participated in what was a great day's competition. The tournament had everything and we look forward to seeing you all again very soon.