At
the start of Round 2 we had Pass To Russ FC
versus Club Esportiu Llefia. Both teams kicked
off with 3 points to their name.
Pass
To Russ FC had already accounted for one Spanish
team in Round 1 and were looking to make it
2 out of 2 against teams from the host nation.
This could well be a tougher prospect though.
Club Esportiu Llefia were our Cup winners here
in 2015 and Plate winners in 2016. They had
a tournament to forget in 2017 as they really
struggled with injuries and a difficult group.
They surprisingly finished bottom with just
4 points from 7 fixtures to miss out on the
knock-out phase. Their opening result and an
8-player strong squad appeared to suggest we
would see some more of that 2015/6 form today.
Indeed,
it was the Spanish who struck first in this
one as Dani Martin Montes followed up his hat-trick
in game #1 with another goal here. Pass To Russ
FC were not behind for too long though as Russell
Dyer scored his third goal of the morning's
play to level the game up at 1-1.
The
match would not finish 1-1 though as we were
to witness a winner. The man to score it was
Mario Lozano Mautiues – his goal earned the
full 3 points for Club Esportiu Llefia. It was
6 points from 6 for them.
TomTom
United were back in action as they looked to avenge
a 3-1 first round defeat. They were up against
Black Magic AFC who were now present and correct,
in body and hopefully in spirit.
TomTom
United, as the name would suggest, were a corporate
team representing the Barcelona office of the
navigational and mapping company. It is not the
first time TomTom have featured in our events
– the Dutch office featured in our Amsterdam Fives
event between 2009 and 2012 inclusive under the
various names of TomTom One, TomTom Go and RFM.
Their top 3 achievements in the group phase were
1 x second place and 2 x third placed finishes
which lead to a Cup SF, a Plate SF and a Plate
Final. The TomTom United team today, it should
be said, were not connected with that team in
terms of playing personnel on the pitch. Could
the Barcelona office though exceed the efforts
of their Dutch counterparts?
It
started off well for them here as they took the
lead through Sergio Villamizar – his second goal
in as many games. Black Magic AFC pulled level
though thanks to Ivan Da Cruz who scored his team's
first goal in Europe. He also scored their second
as Black Magic AFC staged a great comeback to
win the game 2-1.
Pass
To Russ FC and Retainers Academy were both on
the field of play for their third game of the
tournament as we brought Round 2 to a climax.
Retainers
Academy last took to the field at our 2017 Lisbon
Tournament. They struggled in Lisbon win 1 win
from 7 in the group phase and then lost to AAK
S&S (eventual Plate winners) in the Plate
Quarter-Finals. Their first two results this morning
were in keeping with that form. This therefore
represented a great chance for Pass To Russ FC
to get back to winning ways after their narrow
2-1 loss to Club Esportiu Llefia last time out.
This
game was all about one man and that man was Russell
Dyer. He had already scored 3 goals in his opening
2 games but he was about to boost that tally substantially.
Not only did Russell Dyer earn the match-ball
in this contest but he earned the reserve match
ball too. He struck a sensational double hat-trick
to blow the opposition out of the water. The six
goal salvo pretty much explains the team name
of “Pass To Russ”.
The
match finished 6-0 and, with 9 goals in 3 games,
Russell Dyer was a clear contender for today's
golden boot award.
