2022 Barcelona Fives 5-a-side Football Tournament Tour Report Plate Semi Finals

Results

Club Esportiu Llefia (Spa)	2	V	1	RAF Boulmer (Eng)
Polonia Limerick (Pol)	2	V	1	BBA Veterans (Eng)

We were down to our final 4 teams in the Plate competition. The first Semi-Final would see Club Esportiu Llefia (Spa) meet RAF Boulmer (Eng).

Club Esportiu Llefia were gunning for a bit of history and used to success. They were Cup champions here in 2015 & 2021 and Plate champions in 2016. They were already 1 of 11 clubs to have won a Cup & Plate in our history. If they were to win the Plate today they would become the 13th team to win multiple Plate titles. They would also become only the 2 nd team to win multiple Cup and multiple Plate titles (after Rigford Seahawks) and the first team to achieve that at the same tournament (the Barcelona Fives) rather than multiple destinations.

RAF Boulmer were out to poop that particular party and had just broken their duck in terms of knock-out phase wins. In fact, after a slow start today they were beginning to find their groove with 5-0 and 2-1 wins in their last two games. They were getting on a roll at just the right time and continued that here as they took the lead through Jack Hodgkinson. Club Esportiu Llefia were a gritty team though and they hit back through Abel Mesas Cerrato before the break. Half-time, 1-1.

In the second half, Club Esportiu Llefia were to go ahead for the first time as Francisco Lopez Gonzalez or “Paco” to his friends put the Spanish 2-1 up. It was a lead they would not relinquish and qualified for their fourth final at the Barcelona Fives. It was farewell to RAF Boulmer for today but they have enquired about our 2023 Mallorca Fives tournament so it would be an honour to see them in action again then.

Who would join Club Esportiu Llefia in the Plate Final? The two teams set to do battle were BBA Veterans and Polonia Limerick

BBA Veterans have a rich history in the Plate. On debut at the 2015 Barcelona Fives they defeated Wealdstone Raiders 3-1 in the Quarter-Finals before a narrow 1-0 defeat to Drunk Perfect in the Semi-Finals. At the 2016 Prague Tournament they were Plate runners-up defeating CIS Committee Juniors of Belarus, 2-1, in the Semis before a 5-1 final defeat to Frank Hirth. The 2017 Amsterdam Fives saw a 9-4 Quarter-Final win over Purnell Youth (Eng) and a 5-1 win over Shaolin Soccer (Hol). They then drew 3-3 in the Plate Final before a 2-0 loss on spot kicks against SC Sylt of Germany. The 2018 Amsterdam Fives saw them reach the Plate Semi-Finals losing 3-0 to KPN Digital. Here in Barcelona in 2019 there was Plate Quarter Final success with victory on pens after a 2-2 draw with VNV of the Netherlands. They then met Latvia's FK Aliance in the Semis but would lose pens after a 1-1 draw.

So, this was their 6 th Plate Semi-Final – they had reached the final on 2 occasions and gone out 3 times. Could this be a third Plate Final and third time lucky in taking home the Plate trophy?

The omens were good as the two teams had already met today in the group phase and BBA Veterans had won 1-0 so a repeat would do them just fine. They were ahead again here as Joe Lazell struck his third goal in two games. It was going to be tough for Polonia Limerick to hit back as BBA Veterans statistically had the best defence of all the teams in the Plate competition and, at the time, the second best in the tournament as a whole.

We kicked off the second half with BBA Veterans still in control but then Polonia Limerick hit a purple patch. Maksymilian Cyran hit the bar from distance and we wondered if that might be it for Polonia. However, it proved to be the start of a stunning comeback. Edward Przekas scored his fifth goal of the tournament to level the scores at 1-1 and soon after Marek Zbroja struck a winning goal. The full-time whistle sparked wondrous celebrations for Polonia Limerick.

Spare a thought for BBA Veterans – they would end up with the third best defence in the tournament which is unusual for a team outside the Cup. Another good performance from them.

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