Barcelona Veterans 2023 Tour Report Group B Round 1

Results

Mitre Vets FC (Eng)	1	V	Bure Park Old Boys (Eng)
Dickie Dogs (Eng)	0	V	Cheesecake FC (Eng)
FC Miracle (Hun)	1	V	FC Poloboc (Mda)

Group B of the 2023 Barcelona Veterans kicked off with two teams whose experience in these events could not have been more contrasting. We had Mitre Vets FC making their debut in eurofootballfives.com competition and they would be up against Bure Park Old Boys. For Bure Park it was an impressive 13th tour with us and we were delighted to welcome the guys to Barcelona for the first time. Their travels previously had encompassed Prague, Valencia (x3), Krakow (x2), Bratislava, Lisbon (x2), Riga, Mallorca and Budapest. Catalunya would be their home for the next 6 games (at least) of their footballing journey.

This experience counted for nothing on the pitch though as it was Mitre Vets FC who struck the first blow. Kieran Ahern was the first player to find the net for the men in black and it proved to be a valuable goal. Solid defence at the other end meant that one goal would win this tie and Mitre FC Vets had taken to European competition like the proverbial duck to water.

A 1-0 win and 3 points in the bag.

Match 2 in Group B saw Dickie Dogs versus Cheesecake FC. It was two very familiar clubs on our circuit making their debuts in our tournaments way back in 2010. For Dickie Dogs it was Valencia and for Cheesecake FC it was Prague and we have been very pleased to see both teams across Europe on multiple occasions since. In fact, Dickie Dogs featured in our very first Veterans tournament all the way back in 2013 which was staged in Lisbon.

Cheesecake FC were making their second appearance of the season having also played at the 2023 Amsterdam Sevens just 3 months ago. It was tough going for the guys with a much-changed squad as they were a hybrid Anglo-Dutch team. They opened up with 4-0 defeats to Foot 130 of France and Abington Stanley. A 3-0 defeat to Denmark's Uden Filter followed before narrower defeats to Bullets FC (2-0) and home team El Cholo, 2-1. Cheesecake FC will be stepping up to the Veterans tournament for the first time in Barcelona.

There was little to choose between the two teams on the pitch and when the referee blew the final whistle to bring the game to a close we were still locked together at 0-0. Only time would tell if this was 1 point gained or 2 points lost. For now though, it was a steady opening point and a platform to build on going forward.

The next two teams to get underway in Round 1 were FC Miracle and FC Poloboc. Although early in the group phase this promised to be a hugely entertaining and potentially pivotal game for later in the group phase. These two teams were expected to feature prominently in the latter stages and arguably were the two teams most likely to qualify for the Cup competition.

Why would we suggest this? Well, we only had to turn the clock back to May 2023 when these two teams met at the 2023 Mallorca Veterans Tournament. They met in the penultimate game of Group C which proved to be the group decider. Both teams went into that game with 3 wins out of 3. Both had qualified for the Cup and would need the win to take the group victory. The match finished 1-1 as Janos Gal's opener for FC Miracle was cancelled out by Andriau Cucovei's goal for FC Poloboc as FC Miracle won the group on goal difference.

We had an equally tough contest here in Barcelona and it was FC Miracle who took the lead just as they had in Mallorca. This time it was Janos Molnar with the goal. Unfortunately for Moldovan fans there was no way back for FC Poloboc this time as they slipped to opening game defeat. They still had plenty of time to get their campaign back on track. For FC Miracle it was the perfect start – a quality win and dangerous opponents out of the way.

Table

Team	Pld	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Agst	Pts
FC Miracle (Hun)	1	1	0	0	1	0	3
Mitre Vets FC (Eng)	1	1	0	0	1	0	3
Cheesecake FC (Eng)	1	0	1	0	0	0	1
Dickie Dogs (Eng)	1	0	1	0	0	0	1
AFC Shooters (Eng)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bure Park Old Boys (Eng)	1	0	0	1	0	1	0
FC Poloboc (Mda)	1	0	0	1	0	1	0

Click on links below to proceed to

For the Open Age 2023 Barcelona Fives report click here.

site disclaimer | contact us