As the 2016 Barcelona Fives Cup Quarter-Finals were about to get underway we were down to the elite 8 teams in the tournament. We had three nationalities in with a chance of glory – England (4), Ireland (2) and Spain (2) were all gunning for tournament success.

We started on Pitch A with Naranjitos versus The Spice Boys. Naranjitos had enjoyed a superb morning and this was easily their best performance in a eurofootballfives.com competition to date. They qualified for the Cup on debut at the 2014 Valencia Fives but in their three subsequent performances (Barcelona Fives 2014 & 2015, Budapest Fives 2015) had qualified for the Plate on each occasion. This year they stormed into the Cup with 7 wins out of 7. They were one of two teams with a 100% record coming into the knock-out phase and were ranked #1 of all teams in the group phase due to their goal difference of +18. Were they in a week group? Not at all – their group featured the defending champions who were beaten down into third place.

This looked a formidable task for The Spice Boys on paper but they had done pretty well themselves. After their first five games they too had a 100% record with 5 wins on the bounce. The one concern for them would be they entered the business end of the tournament on the back of two successive defeats. Could they turn it around?

It was The Spice Boys who struck first as Michael Situ claimed a very important goal. They now had something to hold on to. Naranjitos came forward and through everything at The Spice Boys. Naranjitos had scored at an average of 3 per game but were thwarted by The Spice Boys defence – the game was realistically up when they saw a red card in their frustrations to get the all-important equalizer. What a win for The Spice Boys, 1-0.

It seemed unfair to say goodbye to Naranjitos after 7 perfect games they had one slip up and they were out. It was a particularly harsh exit but that is football. Naranjitos are hoping to join us at the Amsterdam Fives at 2017 so we look forward to seeing them then.

Up next on Pitch B was Me Toca Tirar versus Beercelona which promised to be an intriguing game. Me Toca Tirar had been almost perfect in the group phase. They had 6 wins out of 7 as they took the Group C title. They had 18 goals for and just 6 against. A surprise 1-1 draw against the team finishing 7th in Group C back in Round 2 was their only slight hiccup. They came into the game on the back of 5 wins and still unbeaten.

Beercelona started the tournament like the proverbial house on fire (whatever that means). They won their first four games and blitzed their opposition along the way – they banged in 14 goals and conceded just the one. They then found it tough going at the end with just 1 point from a possible 9 although they had done enough to qualify for the Cup. Could they get back to winning ways against the team from Madrid?

Me Toca Tirar were Spain's last hope in the tournament after Naranjitos had been eliminated on Pitch A and they looked to be carrying the torch forward as Ignacio Mochales put the home nation team ahead. 1-0 became 2-0 when David Novoa doubled the lead and it looked odds on they would be going through to the Semi-Finals.

The English team were back in it when Jay Lambert's third of the tournament gave them a lifeline. Sadly for Beercelona it proved to be too little too late and their participation in the 2016 Barcelona Fives was over in a playing sense. They had done superbly today to qualify from a group that featured two previous eurofootballfives.com winners – it was certainly a tough draw. You feel that on another day this Beercelona team could have gone further especially if they had been able to maintain that early momentum.

Quarter-Final three saw Skidmarks take on Smithfields OAPs. This would be a really tough one to call. A look at the group phase records of the two teams showed that both teams recorded 6 wins from 7 and 18 points. Skidmarks were the fourth top scoring team in the group phase with a goal difference of +15. Smithfields OAPs were the top scoring team in the group (24 goals) and had the best goal difference of all teams (+19). Skidmarks were the Group B winners, Smithfields OAPs were second in Group A.

Skidmarks had plenty experience of Quarter-Finals in our tournaments – they had lost just once in six previous tournaments at this stage. Smithfields OAPs were entering unchartered waters but their group performances had shown they were capable of going all the way today.

The game finished 0-0 in normal time and a penalty shoot-out would decide this one. This would be Skidmarks fourth eurofootballfives' penalty shoot-out and they had enjoyed success in 2 of their previous 3.

The first four penalties were scored by each of the two teams that would take us into what was effectively a sudden death third round of spot kicks. Ashley Britten scored his for Skidmarks and so Smithfields OAPs had to convert theirs to stay in it. Paul Mulvey who was the hero in two shoot-outs at the 2014 Bratislava Fives was the hero here in Barcelona as he saved the final penalty to help his team to a 3-2 win in the shoot-out. For the record, the other two successful scorers for Skidmarks were Richard Keeley and Iain Congdon.

We had to say farewell to Smithfields OAPs and we would like to thank them for making the journey to the tournament. Such was their prowess early in the tournament that although they left at this stage they were still second in the tournament overall in terms of goal difference and goals scored. If they had won the penalty shoot-out who knows what might have been?

The final Quarter-Final was Red Light Runners versus Elcombe Old Boys. Red Light Runners had the second best record of all the teams in the group phase. They won Group D with a 100% record and the joint third best goal difference of all teams with +15. They scored 17 goals and conceded just 2. Only Naranjitos with a 100% record and a +18 goal difference surpassed them. It would be a brave man to bet against Red Light Runners in this one.

Elcombe Old Boys had qualified for the Cup for the third time in four years at the Barcelona Fives. On the previous two occasions they had gone on to reach the Semi-Finals. Today, they had 5 wins and 1 draw from their group games. They were on a run of 3 wins in a row. Like Red Light Runners, they had conceded just two in the group phase. These were the best two defences on show so far in the tournament and we expected a tight low-scoring game – which is exactly what we got.

Elcombe Old Boys benefitted from an early goal as Andrew Hampshire claimed the crucial strike that would dictate the play for the rest of the game – they had something to cling onto and allowed them to play on the break. For much of the rest of the game it was attack versus defence as Red Light Runners put Elcombe Old Boys under the cosh. There was some valiant defending and inspired goalkeeping that preserved the clean sheet. Red Light Runners did everything but score although they came close. This could well be one of those games that could be filed under “winning ugly” but win they did and they were through to the Semi-Finals.

Red Light Runners were the best team at the 2008 Barcelona Fives and should have won it then and there was a good case to be had that they were arguably the best team here in 2016. It was not to be though as Elcombe Old Boys, as they said themselves, changed it up and found a way to win. Not many teams would have held out against Red Light Runners but Elcombe Old Boys have proved over the years they are a strong defensive unit.

As with Naranjitos on Pitch A, it seemed unfair to say goodbye to Red Light Runners after 7 perfect games they had one slip up and they were out. It was a particularly harsh exit but that is football. Red Light Runners are hoping to join us at the Budapest Fives in 2017 so we look forward to seeing them then.