Welcome to the 2014 Berlin Fives Post-Tournament Report – a great day was had by all we witnessed some cracking football and Berlin provided the perfect stage for a sensational tour weekend. It was

Grant Thornton arrived in Berlin on the back of eurofootballfives.com success as they won the 2013 Mallorca Fives title. The team from Paris made their debut in the 2012 Budapest Fives as L'Albiceleste. They made a superb debut winning their 6-team group without defeat before a Cup Quarter-Final exit to Hungary's Budapest Celtic Lions, 1-0. For their second tournament in Valencia they secured sponsorship and a name change. They also topped their group and won their Cup Quarter-Final 3-1 versus Team Extreme before a 1-0 defeat to Ireland's Mestallaban in the Semi-Final. Then came Mallorca glory, can they add the Berlin trophy to their collection?

They were sure to be contenders here today but they got off to slow start as Stefan Fricke-Liebig put home team SV Zoo ahead. When the second half kicked off Grant Thornton were staring defeat in the face but they showed the form of champions to come back through Cedric Castarede (2) and Cyrille Segaline to claim a 3-1 victory.

Grant Thornton were off and running with a win but they had to work hard for it!

Next up was Frank Hirth B versus Fred's Fairys. The two teams were making their eurofootballfives.com debut so had a blank canvas to paint their footballing artistry on. Judging by some of the hangovers it may have been piss-artistry but that's a debate for another day…..a hangover is almost part of the required kit for a eurofootballfives.com tournament.

Although making their eurofootballfives.com debut, Frank Hirth had competed in Europe before and this experience may well have held them in good stead. They certainly took no time in establishing the upper hand in this fixture and had opened up a 3-0 lead by half-time.

After the break Barry Cole scored Fred Fairys' first of the day but they were unable to stem the tide as Frank Hirth B continued to pile on the pressure and the goals and they ended up 7-1 victors.

It was a great start for Harry Klingenspoor in particular with four goals plus John Bull, Mark Funnell and Nick Wastell all opened their personal accounts.

The final team to get underway was Exeter Gently. Exeter Gently were making their fourth eurofootballfives.com appearance following a debut in Portugal's sunny 2010 Algarve Open and then the 2011 Barcelona Fives. They entered two teams on each occasion with the Your Mum's Athletic squad going furthest in Portugal losing in the Plate Semi-Finals to winners Vodafone FC. In Barcelona again the Your Mum's Athletic team was the more successful reaching the Cup Quarter-Finals. A name change in 2012 to Exeter Gently saw them travel to Budapest and finish joint 2nd in their group but in a dead heat with Mersey White Sox. A penalty shoot-out decided they would finish 3rd which meant they had to face ABC United in the QF where they lost 7-0. There is certainly no shame in that as ABC United went on to win that tournament and here in Berlin last year

They had a tough start to the 2014 Berlin Fives as they met Grant Thornton. Not just Grant Thornton but a Grant Thornton team that had already played a game, warmed up and bagged a win. The French team started off in fine form and continued that form into this game.

Grant Thornton won it 3-0 with goals from Cedric Castarede, Thibault Kerouredan and Antoine Loscul (according to his team-mates his first goal ever in history!).

SV Zoo's second game was against Frank Hirth B. SV Zoo were looking to avenge opening game defeat whereas Frank Hirth B were looking to build on a solid opening start to the competition and join Grant Thornton at the top of the table.

SV Zoo were playing their second eurofootballfives.com tournament on home soil having competed in the 2013 Berlin Fives following tours to the 2012 Krakow Trophy and 2013 Plate Champion of Champions in Budapest. In Krakow they were successful on debut winning the Plate competition. In May 2013 they finished 4th in the Plate Champion of Champions tournament in Budapest. In Berlin last year they finished 3rd in their 5-team group progressing to the Plate again. They secured a resounding 5-0 win in the Quarter-Finals before eventual Plate winners, Team Geek, arrested their progress at the Semi-Final stage.

SV Zoo opened the scoring in their first game and they did so again here through Stephan Schwarz but again they saw that lead disappear as Frank Hirth B turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 advantage by half-time. After the break, Frank Hirth B stretched that lead to 3-1 and secured their second win in as many games.

Mark Funnell, Harry Klingenspoor and Nick Wastell all scored for the second game in a row for the English team.

The game that took us to the halfway stage in Group A was Fred's Fairys versus Exeter Gently. Both teams had tasted defeat in their opening fixtures and would look to turn their fortunes around here. We were treated to a superb game.

It was ebb and flow in the first period and Exeter Gently shaded it 3-2. In the second half Exeter Gently pulled away from their opponents as they extended their cushion to 6-3 at the final whistle.

The key architect of the victory for Exeter Gently was Richard Sutton who scored four of his teams' goals. Ken Ross and Nathan Anderson also got their names on the scoresheet. For Fred's Fairys the goals were credited to Julian Clissold (2) and Mel Dickenson although the dubious goals panel may need to have a look at this.

It was a vital win for Exeter Gently that saw them move into 3rd place in the table. There was still time for Fred's Fairys to get a point on the board in this tournament.