Bayer Own Beer (Eng)

3

V

4

 Rapid Bosco Navas (Spa)

Csabagyongye (Hun)

1

V

0

EX AFC-UEA (Eng)

Liverpool Central (Eng)

2

V

0

Rapid Bosco Navas (Spa)

Bayer Own Beer (Eng)

5

V

3

EX AFC-UEA (Eng)

Csabagyongye (Hun)

3

V

2

Liverpool Central (Eng)

 

Game 6 of Group D saw an encounter between two of the three teams at the foot of the table. Csabagyongye and Liverpool Central had opened up a gap on the other teams but this was a chance to reduce the deficit and get right back into the group. We had a terrific game to savour.

 

It was Rapid Bosco Navas who struck the opening blow in controversial style. Bayer Own Beer thought the ball had gone out of play on the right touchline but the referee didn't spot it and Rapid poured forward to go 1-0 up through Jose Manuel Barrios. Bayer Own Beer recovered well though and hit back with two quickfire goals from Ollie Clarke and then Aaron Turner to make it 2-1. There was then a contender for goal of the day as Aaron Turner on the right touchline by the half-way line produced a back-heel that took two defenders out of play. He galloped into the space behind and slotted the ball past Galego in the RBN goal. It was 3-1 and this game had been turned on its head.

 

There was still time for a sting in the tail before the break though as Alan Cabezas Amor reduced arrears to 3-2 and this was certainly not game over. After the break Rapid Bosco Navas launched a comeback of their own as Daniel Carreno Diaz equalized for 3-3. It was heartbreaking stuff for Bayer Own Beer.

 

Rapid Bosco Navas were then able to inflict defeat on their opponents as Alan Cabezas Amor put his team ahead for the second time in this game. This topsy-turvy game was over and Rapid Bosco Navas moved up to third.

 
 
 

Could Csabagyongye and EX AFC-UEA follow that? They were next on Pitch A and whilst they couldn't serve up a 7-goal rollercoaster of a game they served up a game equally as enthralling but much more tense.

 

Csabagyongye were one of the teams to beat in Group D and had been ruthlessly efficient to date with a 2-0 and 1-0 win. Their tournament clean sheet remained intact. Could EX AFC-UEA breach that rock solid defence?

 

Not in the first half they couldn't but they were blunted at the other end too as we reached the turnaround all square at 0-0. This would be no cause for alarm for Csabagyongye as they had been 0-0 at the break in all their encounters so far and on each occasion had pulled out a second half winner. That trend was to continue as Gergo Koczka scored for the second game in a row and helped maintain Csabagyongye's 100% record. Final score, 1-0.

 

EX AFC-UEA must have been scratching their heads as to how they only had one point to show for their efforts to date. They'd been competitive in all three games but goals were just that little bit elusive. They had one more game to go in Group D.

 
 
 

Game 8 was Liverpool Central versus Rapid Bosco Navas. Liverpool Central could reclaim top spot on goal difference if they could complete their third successive victory. For Rapid Bosco Navas, this was their last opportunity to put points on the board. They came into the game on the back of victory and another win would see them move into second position at the expense of their opponents (for now at least as Liverpool Central would still have a game in hand).

 

Liverpool Central boasted in their line-up Chris Williams who was part of the Goldsmith Williams squad that finished runners-up in the 2009 Barca Fives Cup Final to Luminy Wolves. It was Williams who proved to be the architect of victory #3 for Liverpool Central. He scored a goal in each half for a 2-0 win and ensured the last game of Group D was set-up to be a title decider between Csabagyongye and Liverpool Central.

 

For Rapid Bosco Navas it was disappointed as they would finish in 3rd position. The Spanish team had qualified for the Cup on their first 7 appearances but results today meant they missed out for the second time in a row. They would have Plate football to look forward to this afternoon.

 
 
 

The penultimate game of Group D was Bayer Own Beer versus EX AFC-UEA. From the earlier evidence in the group's fixtures, if you wanted to see goals go and watch Bayer Own Beer – they didn't disappoint us.

 

Bayer Own Beer had so far failed to pick-up a point which was largely due tailing off at the end of fixtures. At half-time today they'd been level (0-0 and 2-2) with Csabagyongye and Liverpool Central and they had lead Rapid Bosco Navas 3-2 at the break. They went on to lose all three games. Therefore, was it a good sign or a bad sign that they were 2-1 up at half-time in this game? If games ended at half-time they'd have 8 points in the bag. Bayer Own Beer had Ollie Clarke to thank for the lead here as his two strikes outgunned the solitary strike of Georgie Danby.

 

Could EX AFC-UEA recover and inflict more second half of pain on their opponents. If they could, a place in the Plate beckoned. If not, it looked like they would be playing Trophy football this afternoon.

 

The goals continued to fly in and at this rate the referee would need to take his boots off to count on his toes as well as fingers (unless he was inbred in which case he might have enough fingers). A second half hat-trick from Aaron Turner sealed the game in favour of Bayer Own Beer and they had broken their second-half hoodoo.

 

Georgie Danby grabbed a second for EX AFC-UEA and Oliver Kisbie got in on the act too but sadly for them the goals would be insufficient to earn them points from the game.

 
 
 

Finally in Group D we had Csabagyongye versus Liverpool Central. This was to be the final game played in the entire Group phase and it was set-up to be a cracker. The first thing to note was that it was a top of the table clash. Both teams brought a 100% record to the table. Liverpool Central were the higher scoring of the teams with 8 goals to the 5 of Csabagyongye. The Hungarians were stronger defensively though as they were yet to concede whereas Liverpool Central had let in four goals.

 

There was also a sub-plot to the game – the winners would win Group D and that would entail a Cup Quarter-Final against Group E winners Monexy of Ukraine who everyone was looking at as the team to beat (so went the whispers around the tournament). However, the teams could not afford to lose the game as, if so, Csabagyongye would miss out on the Cup on goal difference. The same fate could also befall Liverpool Central if they lost by three goals. A 1 goal defeat would see them go through on goal difference, a 2 goal deafeat would see them go through on goals scored.

 

So, what if the teams played out a draw. Then, both teams would qualify for the Cup finishing on 10 points with goal difference of +4. Liverpool Central would win the group on goal difference and face Monexy. Csabagyongye would be the best 2 nd placed finishers and face Tinniedad & Tobacco.

 

All clear? Clear as mud anyway. Whether the teams were aware of all the repercussions or not was unknown. The two teams both played to win the game and put in an almighty effort to do so. Once you step over that line all you want to do is win and that was clear for these two sides.

 

The first record to go was Csabagyongye's clean sheet for the tournament as David Peters scored in the first half for Liverpool Central. The half-time score was 1-1 though as Attila Sarosi had scored for the Hungarian team. In the second half there were additional goals for Peters and Sarosi but crucially one more goal and it was a decsive goal. Balint Szimler scored it and Csabagyongye had won Group E.

 

Congratulations though to both teams who had been superb throughout the morning phase.

 
 
 
Team
Pld
Won
Drawn
Lost
For
Agst
Pts

Csabagyongye (Hun)

4

4

0

0

7

2

12

Liverpool Central (Eng)

4

3

0

1

11

6

9

Rapid Bosco Navas (Spa)

4

1

1

2

4

6

4

Bayer Own Beer (Eng)

4

1

0

3

10

14

3

EX AFC-UEA (Eng)

4

0

1

3

4

8

1

 
 
 
Group Phase
 
 
Trophy
 
Plate Knock-out
 
Cup Knock-out
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
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