We arrived at the Plate Quarter-Final stage and we would shortly see eight teams reduced to four teams. To begin it was Club Esportiu Llefia versus Bruton Black Cats. It was 3rd placed in Group A versus 4th Placed in Group B and as such you would imagine Club Esportiu Llefia would be the favourites given the higher league placing.

The case for Club Esportiu Llefia was aided by the fact they returned 13 points in the group phase compared to 9 by Bruton Black Cats. The Spanish team was also the defending champions who won the overall tournament 12 months ago – how would they respond? We've seen it with former winners who have missed out on the Cup not be able to get over the disappointment and have a dismal Plate campaign (for example, Olympic Phil Babb won their first four tournaments and in the 5th missed out on the Cup. They were then dismissed in the Plate Quarter-Final by a team who had previously won a Wooden Spoon in our tournaments).

It was maybe bad news for Bruton Black Cats that Club Esportiu Llefia seemed to embrace the Plate challenge and discover some of the form that won them the Cup title in 2015. From the moment they took the lead in this one they never looked back. Club Esportiu Llefia were the third top scoring team out of all 32 contenders in the group phase and you could see why.

Daniel Martin Montes made it 1-0 before a brace from Alberto Martin Montes made it 3-0. Sergio Rodriguez Viejo made it 4-0 before Daniel Martin Montes added to his earlier goal to make it 5-0. They were not done there as Alfred Jimenez de Andres claimed the sixth. The 7-0 result was complete when Sergio Rodriguez Viejo scored his second of the game.

Sadly, it was the end of the day for Bruton Black Cats – it was great to see them join the eurofootballfives.com party and a welcome addition to our tournaments. They had performed well until this knock-out game and we hope to see them again in the future. They arguably ran out of steam with just 5 fit players for most of the day whilst Club Esportiu Llefia had the full squad of 10 to choose from and rotate.

The second Quarter-Final saw John Laing take on Drunk Perfect. John Laing had a fantastic start to the day as they won their first four games but 1 point from their final three games is what saw them miss out on the main Cup competition. Could they rediscover that early tournament form in the knock-out phase?

Drunk Perfect had a good morning too with 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats to record 11 points from their fixtures. Drunk Perfect had played in 4 previous Quarter-Finals at the Barcelona Fives – they reached the Semi-Final on 2 occasions and crashed out on the other 2. The two times they reached the Semi-Final had been in their two most recent appearances so they were looking for 3 on the bounce. In fact, Drunk Perfect had reached the final on both previous appearances.

There was little to choose between the two teams in normal time and the game ultimately finished 0-0. We would need a penalty shoot-out to decide who would progress. As John Laing were on debut this would be our first glimpse of them under the spotlight of a penalty shoot-out. This would be Drunk Perfect's third shoot-out. They lost the Trophy Final in 2013 to Ireland's Deportivo Dooradoyle (1-2) but redeemed themselves in last year's Plate Quarter-Final versus Naranjitos (3-2).

Drunk Perfect would take the first penalty in the shoot-out and they would score through Miguel Camacho. David Goodwin quickly levelled it up at 1-1. Billy Mills in goal would then give John Laing the initiative as he saved Alex Girogini's spot kick. John Laing were unable to hammer the advantage when Tony Cahill (sorry) failed to convert.

Carlos Pacheco Alfonso had 7 tournament goals to his name today and he was up next. Billy Mills save was his second in a row and meant the last three penalties had been saved/missed. Billy Mills himself had the chance to step up and win it but his heroics between the sticks were not matched by his dead ball skills. It remained 1-1 and we went into sudden death.

Billy Mills quickly became the hero again saving his third successive penalty – this time to prevent Inacia Julien. John Laing had a third chance to go ahead in the shoot-out. If they scored they were through. Step forward Henry Otti who successfully put his spot-kick away and earned his team a place in the Semi-Finals!

Farewell to Drunk Perfect – it was great to see you again and thank you for your support. We hope to see you next year for your 6th appearance.

We now knew the teams to compete in the first Semi-Final. In the lower half of the Quarter-Final draw it was Prospe FC versus Leek High Boys. Of all the teams in the Plate competition, Prospe FC can consider themselves the most unlucky for not playing in the higher Cup competition. They had amassed the most points out of all the teams in the Plate with 15 points. They missed out on the Cup due to goal difference but only had themselves to blame after losing to the bottom side in their penultimate group game. They were certainly amongst the favourites to win the Plate.

Leek High Boys had a decent morning themselves with 4 wins from their 7 games and a haul of 12 points. They kept 4 clean sheets along the way. It was fair to say they were slight underdogs for this one when you looked at the tables from the group phase but it's always difficult to know the relative strength of each group until the teams come face to face.

On the field here the two teams looked to be very evenly matched and defensively both teams were very strong. In fact, there was a fifth clean sheet for Leek High Boys and a fourth of the day for Prospe FC. Neither attack could find a successful path to goal. The game finished 0-0 in normal time and we would need a penalty shoot-out to decide this one.

It was ominous for Leek High Boys as they were wearing the England national team shirt and we all know how good the England national team is at penalty shoot-outs! They have lost 6 and won just 1 in international tournaments. However, that one win was against Spain in Euro '96 so against Prospe FC (Spa) maybe that was an omen.

After the first round of penalties it was advantage Leek High Boys. Tommy Coates scored his for the English team whilst Prospe FC missed theirs. Richard Law then scored his for Leek High Boys in the second round of penalties and Prospe FC missed again so Leek High Boys were through. We hoped the FA was watching – Leek High Boys were through.

The final Quarter-Final saw Los Swallacticos take on Skackney FC. Los Swallacticos came into the game as the 3 rd placed team in Group D with a haul of 12 points. Skackney FC Belgrade came into the game as the 4 th placed team in Group C just a point behind with a haul of 11 points.

We mentioned in the report of the first Plate Quarter-Final that it was often difficult for former champions to lift themselves when dropping down into the Plate competition. The 2015 winners Club Esportiu Llefia found a stunning response with a 7-0 win. I am sure 2013 winners Los Swallacticos would certainly take that.

It was Los Swallacticos who got off to the brighter start when Paul Finnegan found the perfect moment to score his first of the day. Skackney FC were not to be denied though as Sam Harris bagged his fifth of the tournament for 1-1.

Los Swallacticos were back in front through Conor Taylor – his eighth of the tournament and a man riding high for the top goalscorer award. Skackney FC were to hit back again and restore parity at 2-2 through Nikora Walters. The game finished in a draw and for the third time in four Quarter-Finals we would need penalties to decide things.

Skackney FC were on debut so we were yet to see their prowess from the penalty spot but Los Swallacticos had been involved in one before. At the 2014 Barcelona Fives their Cup Semi-Final with Tinniedad & Tobacco ended 1-1 and they went through to their second Cup Final courtesy of a 3-2 win on penalties.

Los Swallacticos would shoot first – miss. Skackney FC scored to take the initiative. Both penalties were missed in the second round of penalties and it remained 0-1 to the NZ team. Another Los Swallacticos miss should have meant Skackney FC were through but our referee played 5 penalties each instead of 3 penalties each as prescribed in the tournament rules. Fortunately, it didn't change the result. Skackney FC scored their third to go 2-0 up. Los Swallacticos pulled it back to 2-1 but Skackney FC won it by scoring their next one for a 3-1 shoot-out win.

It was farewell to Los Swallacticos for today. There was chatter about a return to eurofootballfives.com action at the 2017 Budapest Fives – it would be our pleasure to see you again if you can make the trip to Hungary.