From the 25 original teams we were down to the final four with teams from England, Ireland and Spain remaining.

The first Cup Semi-Final would be contested by North London and Club Esportiu Llefia. The two teams had enjoyed a successful day so far and if they could grab one more victory they had a European Cup Final to look forward to. North London 4 victories in 5 games, Club Esportiu Llefia were still unbeaten with three wins and two draws to their name.

North London had surged into the Quarter-Finals with a 4-0 win whilst Club Esportiu Llefia looked like they would do likewise having been 3-0 up before being pegged back to 3-2. Sometimes a hard fought win can concentrate the mind and it was Club Esportiu Llefia who drew first blood in this contest as Jordi Lopez Andres put his team ahead. It was Jordi's first goal of the day and the perfect time to get it. It was a lead they were to maintain until half-time.

In the second half Alfred Jimenez De Andres scored his 7th of the tournament to make it 2-0 and the Spanish were in control. North London admitted that having gone behind in the latter stages that heads dropped a little and with time running out Club Esportiu Llefia added a third (Daniel Martinez Montes) and fourth (Sergio Rodriguez Viejo) for good measure.

It was time to bid farewell on the day to North London – a sensational debut. The youngest team in the tournament showing they had the skill levels, the temperament and the maturity to mix it on the European stage. Could they go one step further next time?

The second Semi-Final promised to be an intriguing clash between Alabama Hotpockets and Elcombe Old Boys. We had the two best goal differences in the tournament (+18 Elcombe, +11 Alabama Hotpockets), the two best defences in the tournamrnt (0 conceded by Elcombe, 3 by Alambama Hotpockets) and two of the three top goalscoring teams (18 Elcombe, 14 Alabama Hoptpockets). Elcombe Old Boys had 5 wins out of 5, Alabama Hotpockets had 4 wins and 1 draw of 5 games.

This was the furthest Alabama Hotpockets had gone in our tournaments. For Elcombe Old Boys this was the second time they had reached this stage – they were in the Cup Semi-Finals in 2013 where Northern Ireland's Low Swallacticos accounted for them 3-1.

Elcombe Old Boys were imposing opposition – since their first game at the 2013 Barcelona Fives they had played 18 games with 12 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats. They had scored 44 goals and conceded just 10 with 11 clean sheets. They were on a run of 9 games unbeaten, 8 clean sheets in a row with 31 goals scored on this unbeaten run without reply since Peter Werff scored for ADP Netherlands in Group A of the 2014 Barcelona Fives. It was a formidable record!

So, just as we put our mortgage on Elcombe Old Boys to score the next goal it was Alabama Hotpockets who struck the first blow. Patrick O'Brien's 7 th goal of the tournament ended Andrew Gartshore's record of going over 2 hours of playing time without conceding in goal for Elcombe Old Boys which is a superb achievement in small sided fooball. Elcombe Old Boy's did hit back through Marcus Faure to make it 1-1 but neither team were able to find the winning goal and so a penalty shoot-out would decide this one.

Matthew Hall had the honour of taking the first penalty for Elcombe Old Boys and he duly scored. Francis Gray quickly equalized for the Alabama Hotpockets. Andrew Hampshire was the unlucky man to see his penalty not find the net and Kevin Shine capitalized in full to make it 2-1. Alan Ritchie had to score to keep his side in it and he did as he powered it through the goalkeeper for 2-2. John Gray stepped forward to take what could be the final penalty. He stepped up and placed it under the goalkeeper and sent Alabama Hotpockets into the Cup Final, 3-2.

Elcombe Old Boys were out and they may wonder what might have been! They ended the tournament unbeaten in normal time, the best defence in the tournament, the best goal difference in the tournament and at this stage were the top scorers in the tournament – but they were out. Football can be a cruel game.

The Alabama Hotpockets had a Cup Final to prepare for…