The
first Final of the day would see Tommie's Guns
versus Rayford Athletic. With seven games of football
already under their belt the two teams would need
to summon one last burst of energy to ensure they
would be picking up winners and not runners-up
medals in the presentation.
Rayford
Athletic had reached a Final on debut and Tommie's
Guns at the second attempt so both had made an
impressive start to eurofootballfives.com life
and could duly be proud of their performance.
No-one wanted to lose a Final though and to go
home with the trophy and winners medals would
crown a fine day.
We
witnessed a great Plate Final which was befitting
of a great Plate competition in general so far.
Of the six games so far three had gone to penalties
and the others had all been decided by just one
goal (one being a penalty in normal time). It
couldn't have got much tighter. It was Tommie's
Guns who forged ahead through Pat Vernall – his
third goal of the tournament putting his team
in the box seat. Those Rayford Athletic legs would
surely feel heavier now as they tried to get back
on level terms. Andrew Key's fourth of the tournament
would have given them a lift and we were back
level again at 1-1. That's how it stayed as we
reached half-time.
Ross
Bennett who had been successful with his penalties
to help Rayford Athletic reach this Plate Final
then scored his second of the day in normal time
to put his team 2-1 up. They had come from behind
and were, for the moment, on their way to victory.
Tommie's Guns had other ideas though and we shouldn't
be surprised that another Plate fixture was levelled
up again as Pat Vernall's fourth of the day made
it 2-2. It was a goal in the final stages of the
game that looked like it was taking us to yet
another penalty shoot-out. Both teams had been
successful from the spot today so we're sure both
would have fancied their chances in a shoot-out.
Penalties were not needed though.
Tommie's
Guns equalizer came late but there was still time
for them to stun Rayford Athletic with a late
late winner. Alex Meecham was the man that sent
Tommie's Guns wild. He'd flown in from China to
make the tournament and that commitment was rewarded
with him popping up to claim the winning goal
right at the death.
We'd
like to thank Rayford Athletic for attending the
tournament and offer our commiserations for the
Final. It had ultimately proved not even one game
too far this time but a couple of minutes too
far right at the end. Maybe they could go one
step further next time – they certainly showed
they were capable.
For
today though, we present you the 2015 Berlin Fives
Plate Winners – Tommie's Guns! Very many congratulations.
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