Group C was due to kick off with Alabama Hotpockets versus Equipo de Cristhian but we had a false start. Alabama Hotpockets were ready and waiting by Pitch C to kick-off but Equipo de Cristhian were delayed en route to the tournament venue.

To keep the tournament schedule on track we had to award Alabama Hotpockets a 3-0 walkover victory…..3 points witout breaking sweat.

In Game 2 of Group C it was FC Dad against debutants ABCDE FC.

FC Dad were making their fifth eurofootballfives appearance in Barcelona. The 2011 Prague Masters was the destination for their debut with us where they reached the Plate Quarter-Finals. They followed this up by playing in the 2012 Valencia Fives where they narrowly missed out on glory, losing 3-2 in the Trophy Final. In the 2013 Lisbon Tournament they had a great start with a 2-1 win over Hungary's Csabagyongye before they struggled with results but were not outclassed with two narrow defeats. They finished 5 th in their 6 th team group and missed out on the knock-out stage. FC Dad drew a tough group at the 2014 Budapest Fives that featured 2-times eurofootballfives.com winners FC Radbroke and eventual Runners-Up, Argentina. They finished the group phase on a high with a 1-0 win over Old Man Hortor's Revival. They continued their winning form into the Trophy Quarter-Finals with a 2-1 win over RS Ocean Village FC before an exit in the Semi-Finals, 1-0, to Cava Sundays.

The experience of FC Dad proved decisive in this game as they edged ahead in the first-half 2-1. After the break they extended their lead to win 4-1 with a Calum Jones hat-trick key to sending them on the path to victory. There was also an Andy Jones goal from the half-way line.

For ABCDE FC there was a first goal in Europe from Raashid Navlaki but alas no points as yet – there was still plenty of time in the tournament though.

The final team due to begin their campaign in Group C was Wealdstone Raiders. They met an Alabama Hotpockets team who had a 3-0 win on the board but were yet to kick a ball in anger due to a walkover in game #1. Both teams would now experience their first taste of action on the field of play.

The Alabama Hotpockets were from the stable of Deportivo Dooradoyle who made their debut at the 2011 Amsterdam Fives. They reached the Plate Quarter-Finals with success over Goals Aloud (Wal). In the Semi-Finals they were victorious 3-1 over CEPL of Holland (who'd later become 2012 Amsterdam Fives winners) before a narrow defeat in the final to Rigford Seahawks (also 2009 Krakow Trophy & 2012 Berlin Fives Cup winners and 2009 Prague Trophy Plate winners). In the 2012 Algarve Open they drew a tough group and finished 4 th to make the Plate again. Their day ended against French side CFC B at the Quarter-Final stage on this occasion. In 2013, Barcelona was their destination of choice where they had a very successful day – they entered two teams and won both the Plate and Trophy competitions. Berlin was the venue for 2014 and it was almost more success as they reached the Plate Final again. A tough fought 0-0 draw lead to a penalty shoot-out against Scandittack FC of Germany won the shoot-out 2-0. They have already competed this year at the 2015 Algarve Open where two injury ravaged squads finished 5 th and 6 th in their groups before a Wooden Spoon win and a Plate Quarter-Finals defeat. Can they repeat their Barcelona success of 2013?

It started well for them against a Wealdstone Raiders team who were making not only their first appearance of the day but also their debut in eurofootballfives.com competition. Patrick O'Brien scored a first half double for the Alabama Hotpockets to give them a 2-0 advantage at the break.

In the second half captain Kevin Shine turned 2-0 until 3-0 and the Irish team were our early pace-setters in Group C.

The good news for everyone in Group C was that Equipo de Cristhian had now arrived at the venue and were ready to take the field against FC Dad. They had conceded a 3-0 walkover due to their late arrival so were playing catch-up and had very little room for error.

FC Dad had started superbly with a 4-1 win (their biggest victory in eurofootballfives.com in terms of score) and were looking to build on that. This was the third time in five tournaments they had won their opening fixture but on the previous two occasions they had slipped to defeat second time out so would hope to put that right.

It didn't look good early on for FC Dad who fell behind early to a Jhouanx Morales goal. Ivan Mendez followed up to make it 2-0 before half-time and the Barcelona based team were in control. FC Dad tightened up after the break and prevented Equipo de Cristhian from adding to their tally but at the other end they could not penetrate their opponents defence and so we finished at 2-0.

ABCDE FC and Wealdstone Raiders came into game #5 of Group C in a similar situation – both teams were on debut, both teams were looking for their first points in the tournament. They now had some experience in the competition and were playing against a team in the same boat. Who would come out on top to kickstart their Barcelona Fives campaign?

After the early exchanges there was little to choose between the two teams and certainly in terms of the score. The two teams reached the interval all square at 1-1 with Matthew Berka finding the net for ABCDE FC and Philip Spratt scoring Wealdstone Raiders first goal in Europe.

In the second half we were to witness another tight half but we were to get a third goal to separate the two teams. Cometh the hour, cometh the man and that man was Matthew Berka to score his second of the game and propel ABCDE FC to their first win of the day. Final score, 2-1.