Results
 

FC Yol (Eng)

2

V

1

AFC Blue Boys (Pol)

Norfolk N Chance (Eng)

3

v

2

EMC French Nuts (Fra)

 

We were at the 2022 Barcelona Fives Cup Semi-Final stage and from the 18 teams who signed up we were down to the final 4 – already an achievement for those who were still in the hunt for glory. We had three different nations represented –England, France and Poland. The first Cup Semi-Final would see FC Yol meet AFC Blue Boys.

In a tournament that is characterized by so many returning teams it was noticeable that 3 of our 4 Semi-Finalists were on debut. The exception to that was AFC Blue Boys who were breaking new ground in our tournaments. Today represented their best performance in our tournaments to date with an unbeaten run of 6 games (4 wins, 2 draws) and a first Cup Semi-Final. This eclipsed their performance at the 2022 Mallorca Fives where they went out on penalties in the Quarters.

The Polish team were up against one of the form teams in the tournament. Following a 3-1 defeat in their opening match, FC Yol were unbeaten in 5 games with 4 victories. Since they were 3-0 down in that first game they had scored 13 goals and conceded just 2 and that included 2 games against the Group A winners.

It was FC Yol who took the lead here too thanks to a strike from Henry Rodrigues. It was his second goal in as many games at the business end of the tournament. AFC Blue Boys celebrated an equalizer before half-time though with Daniel Kuty's second goal of the tournament.

The second half started with the teams locked together at 1-1. The game would not end level though. Cometh the hour, cometh the man and that man was Dan Gleeson for FC Yol. His goal was the difference between the two teams and the difference between reaching a Cup Final and retiring to the bar for beers. Congratulations to FC Yol for pprogressing. Commiserations to AFC Blue Boys who are getting closer to that first Cup Final. They will be playing in the 2023 Mallorca Fives and we look forward to seeing them all then.

 
 
 

So, who would take their place in the Final from the second Semi-Final? The two teams set to do battle were Norfolk N Chance (Eng) against EMC French Nuts (Fra).

This would be a tough call as we had two of the top performing teams in the tournament both in terms of ability with the naked eye and in terms of the statistics. EMC French Nuts were the top scoring team in the tournament with 15 goals and they had the best goal difference in the tournament at +12. Norfolk N Chance weren't too far behind with 11 goals (3rd top scorers) and the second best goal difference at +9. The two teams shared third place for the best defence but had the best defence of the teams still in the competition.

With the game kicked-off it was Norfolk N Chance who took the early initiative as Calum Yelland put his side ahead with his first of the tournament and what a time to get it! Joe Sames had been prolific throughout the tournament and he bagged goal #7 to make it 2-0. EMC French Nuts had a mountain to climb to get back into this but they halved the deficit before half-time as Bruno Abjean's 6th of the event made it 2-1.

The game was perfectly poised as we kicked off the second half. All games had been tight so far in the Cup either going to pens or being won by the odd goal and this game was no different. EMC French Nuts completed their comeback to 2-2 with Alexis Bellec claiming his fifth goal of the day. There was still time to go but momentum was with EMC French Nuts. It's to Norfolk N Chance's great credit that they swung the game back in their favour as Joe Sames second goal of the game put his team back in front at 3-2. It proved to be the goal that clinched his side a place in the Cup Final on debut as Norfolk N Chance claimed a superb victory.

It was disappointment for EMC French Nuts but they had played superbly debut and it was an impressive debut performance.

 
 
 
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