Group C continued as Round 5 begin with John Laing on Pitch A for the fourth game in a row (purely coincidence from an organisational perspective). Their next opponents would be Skackney FC. Four teams had previously tried to take John Laing down, four teams had failed. The John Laing 100% record was still going strong.

No doubt Skackney FC would fancy their chances though. They came into the game on the back of a sensational 7-0 win over French team Argon'ze. If they could repeat that performance here John Laing would have their work cut out.

After the fireworks of that 7-0 it was back to a more typical Group C game – tight and evenly contested. There was very little between the sides as they matched each other blow for blow. It was the defences who were on top and the strikers left scratching their heads. The referee blew for full-time and we finished as we started at 0-0.

After 12 points from 12 before this, John Laing could afford the luxury of settling for a draw and still lead Group C going into Round 6. Skackney FC didn't have that luxury but we are sure they would see this as a point gained in the overall context of the group. They finished Round 5 in fourth position.

Match 18 of Group C was Leave It FC versus Elcombe Old Boys. The two teams were in 4th and 5th positions and thereby occupying the Plate and Trophy qualification positions in mid-table. This was a cross-roads for their hopes in the knock-out phase. A win would see them surge up the table and possibly move them into contention for the Cup qualification places. A defeat would see them scrapping for the Plate and Trophy.

Based upon their previous Barcelona Fives experiences you felt that Elcombe Old Boys should be aiming for the Cup. Given the strength of Me Toca Tirar and John Laing so far this was almost a must win game for them.

Leave It FC had just tasted defeat for the first time today and if they could bounce back with a win would move above their opponents. If they were to win they would need to do it from behind as a Martin Puttick goal put Elcombe Old Boys ahead.

It got better for Elcombe Old Boys as Andrew Hampshire made it 2-0 and then 3-0. It was his second and third goals of the day and his 17th and 18th in Barcelona Fives football.

The 3-0 win saw Elcombe Old Boys climb to third position, Leave It FC remained in fifth.

The next game was a massive game for Argon'ze. They came into the game on the back of that shock 7-0 defeat to Skackney FC – how would they respond? They were currently in sixth position so were in need of all three points. They would have a tough task against a Me Toca Tirar team who were still unbeaten.

Me Toca Tirar had 10 points from a possible 12 so far as they entered the game in second position. They fell behind in this one though and it was to Argon'ze's great credit that the French team responded to their last result by taking the lead. It was Julien Hermant with the goal.

Me Toca Tirar showed their quality by fighting back to make it 1-1 and then claim the lead at 2-1 with both goals from Alejandro Del Hierro that took his tally to 8 for the tournament – he was the current leader in the top goalscorer charts.

Argon'ze were showing great resilience and they pegged Me Toca Tirar back to 2-2 when Hermant scored his second of the game. Me Toca Tirar's extra quality came to the fore at the end as Ignacio “Nacho” Monales and David Novoa put the finishing touches on a 4-2 win.

Me Toca Tirar moved joint top of the table on 13 points with John Laing. Argon'ze slipped to seventh.

The game that would complete Round 5 was what we have called, “The Battle of the Puns” as Farcelona took on Beercalona. Let's call it a score draw on the team names and look at the action on the pitch.

The two teams sat in seventh and eighth position at kick-off. If they remained in these positions at the end of Group C they would be eliminated from the tournament. The teams needed to reach fifth or sixth to qualify for the Trophy at least. You felt a win was a must for either of these teams to have a chance of avoiding elimination. In the context of the group a draw would be ok as Argon'ze were still in trouble too but leave a lot of work to do. A win would make these teams's tasks much easier going into the final couple of rounds.

Beercalona (Ire) it was who made the initial breakthrough. The goal came from Paul Sherlock – it was his third of the tournament and he had scored all of his team's goals to date. That was to change when Jim Stephenson doubled the lead for the Irish squad.

At 2-0 down Farcelona were up against it, at 3-0 there appeared to be no way back. Paul Sherlock bagged his fourth of the tournament as Beercalona collected all 3 points. It was a result that moved them on to 4 points and up to sixth position – the table was looking better for them.