We
began Round 4 with each team having played 3
games. They now had just two games each to stake
their claim for the Cup or the Plate competition
in the knock-out phase.
We
kicked off Round 4 with a top of the table clash.
Our league leaders were Black Sheep who had
been quite simply brilliant so far today. 3
games, 3 wins, 9 goals scored and 0 conceded.
Could they be on their way to lifting their
second Barcelona Fives title, 7 years after
their 2012 title win?
In
the way of Black Sheep's 100% record continuing
was Patagonia. They had taken 2 wins from 3
games. Their goal difference was similar with
1 less scored and just 1 conceded. This could
be the Black Sheep's biggest challenge yet today.
It
certainly looked that way as it was Patagonia
who broke the deadlock. Matias was the man with
the goal. He doubled his tally and his team's
lead to make it 2-0. How could Black Sheep respond?
They pulled back a goal from Sam Margetts to
2-1 but an equalizer ultimately proved to be
elusive. Patagonia had won it and were joint
top both teams had an identical record of
9 points, 10 goals scored and 2 conceded.
The
11th game in Group C was PVDC Eindhoven versus
RAF Fylingdales. With the result in the game above,
the top two teams now had a 5 point lead over
the chasing pack. It looked like it would be the
two Spanish teams qualifying for the Cup. However,
PVDC Eindhoven still had a chance if they could
win their last two games their final fixture
was against Patagonia. A win here against Fylingdales
was a must.
On
paper it looked like PVDC should win this game
as RAF Fylingdales were on a run of 3 successive
defeats and their most recent defeat was a heavy
one so it was quite conceivable that morale would
be low.
However,
RAF Fylingdales battled hard in this one and the
two teams found themselves level at 0-0 at half-time.
The game would not finish goalless though. Just
the one goal would separate the two teams. The
man with the goal was Philip Bright of RAF Fylingdales
who helped his team record their first win of
the day. It was a big blow for PVDC Eindhoven.
The
12th game in Group C was Paralytic Athletic U23s
versus FK Aliance. The top two teams still had
a 5 point lead over the chasing pack. Latvia's
FK Aliance were now the only team that could prevent
a Spanish one-two at the top. They needed to win
both their final games (against the teams in 5th
and 6th at the start of Round 4) and then hope
that one (or both) of Black Sheep or Patagonia
slipped up in their final game. It was certainly
on ..on paper at least.
Paralytic
Athletic U23s were only one point behind FK Aliance
in the table and could go third with a victory
of their own. Fifth position could be considered
a false position for them. They showed they were
well matched with their opponents as we reached
half-time still tied at 0-0.
In
these games, the first goal often proves crucial.
It was Jonathan Clark of Paralytic Athletic U23s
who broke the deadlock. Bruce Helsey was in the
goals in Round 3 and he was back on the scoresheet
in Round 4 as he doubled the lead for his team.
The match finished 2-0 as the English team jumped
above their opponents in the table and moved up
to third.
The
defeat for FK Aliance meant Cup qualification
was now beyond them.