Results
 

Frankie's Footballing Fantasy (Eng)

0

V

0*

Shrewsbury Townsend (Eng)

GSF Drunkerz (Svk)

4

v

0

Saga Louts (Eng)

Budapest Celtic Lions (Hun)

3

V

1

#Burst It (Eng)

Murder on Zidanes Floor (Eng)

0*

V

0

Budapest Celtic Tigers (Hun)

* Shrewsbury Townsend won 3-1 on penalties.

* Murder on Zidanes Floor won 5-4 on penalties. 
 

We arrived at the Plate Quarter-Final stage and we would shortly see eight teams reduced to four teams. To begin it was Frankie's Footballing Fantasy versus Shrewsbury Townsend. It was 3rd placed in Group A versus 4th Placed in Group B and as such you would imagine Frankie's Footballing Fantasy given the higher league placing. This wasn't going to be straightforward though as Shrewsbury Townsend had only lost once to Frankie's Footballing Fantasy's two defeats.

On the pitch it was a tough one to call and the teams proved to be evenly matched. Half-time came and went with the scores locked at 0-0. Full-time came and went with the scores still locked at 0-0……we needed penalties to decide this one.

Shrewsbury Townsend goalkeeper was involved in the first penalty but as penalty-taker rather than shot-stopper and he duly gave his team the lead. Ian Mansley quickly levelled it up at 1-1 for Frankie's Footballing Fantasy.

Pat Staunton converted his spot-kick for 2-1 to Shrewsbury Townsend. Joe Croft then turned from goal-scoring hero to penalty-saving hero as he parried Dave Tyrell's effort to safety. It was left up to Tom Penn to win the game for Shrewsbury Townsend and he duly obliged.

Sadly, it was the end of the day for Frankie's Footballing Fantasy – let's see how their sister squad were doing over on Pitch B.

 
 
 

The second Quarter-Final saw GSF Drunkerz take on Saga Louts. GSF Drunkerz had experienced an intriguing morning having lost at the start and at the end of their campaign but in the middle of that had rattled off three resounding victories.

Saga Louts had plenty of experience at Plate level and none more recently than at the 2013 Krakow Trophy when they went all the way to the Final and were so close to clinching the title. On that occasion they defeated Budapest Celtic Tigers 3-0 in the Quarter-Finals.

Sadly for the Saga Louts the boot was on the other foot here in Bratislava as it was GSF Drunkerz won with a victory to nil. There was two goals in each half for the home team as Drunkerz rediscovered the form that put them on a golden streak earlier in the day.

Jahub Mihalik (2), Martin Volek and Michal Casnocha scored the goals that saw GSF Drunkerz through to a Semi-Final where they would meet Shrewsbury Townsend.

 
 
 

In the lower half of the Quarter-Final draw there was a potential Budapest Celtic derby in the offing for the Semi-Finals. In the third Quarter-Final the Lions would meet #Burst It whilst in the fourth Quarter-Final the Tigers would meet Murder on Zidanes Floor.

Budapest Celtic, whilst successful at Cup level, had mixed fortunes when at the Plate level. They have played 5 Plate Quarter-Finals and lost 3 of them (Tigers lost 2-1 to Meglepetes Budapest Fives 2012, Tigers lost 3-0 to Saga Louts Krakow Trophy 2013 and Lions lost 2-1 to Boca Seniors Valencia Fives 2014). Of the two they won one was for the Pumas against Aston Carter in the 2012 Budapest Fives and the other was when the Panthers beat the Pumas in the 2014 Budapest Fives in a Budapest Celtic derby.

Conversely, #Burst It had an excellent record with 5 victories out of 5 at this stage. On debut at the 2011 Budapest Fives two of their teams Real So So Bad and Deportivo Lack of Talent both won. This was followed up by wins at the 2011 Barca Fives, 2012 Berlin Fives and 2013 Algarve Open. Could it be Plate QF win #6 in Bratislava?

It was honours even at half-time as goals from Lewis Kelly and Joes Rees cancelled each other out. After the break, the Lions dented #Burst It's excellent record with goals from Lewis Kelly again and Yogi Agustadwi.

The game finished Budapest Celtic Lions 3-1 #Burst It and the Budapest Celtic Semi-Final derby was still on the cards.

 
 
 

The final Quarter-Final saw England versus Hungary as Murder on Zidane Floor met Budapest Celtic Tigers. Murder on Zidane Floor had played pretty well in the morning group phase. They were very good defensively but had struggled to score at the other end and three draws in their five games is testimony to that.

Budapest Celtic Tigers had avoided draws completely with three wins and two defeats and game into this game on the back of a 5-1 win versus Rat Goblins. The Tigers were to find the Murder on Zidanes Floor defence a harder nut to crack though and it was a defence that stood firm.

At the other end, Murder on Zidanes Floor were still finding it hard to convert chances and put the ball in the net. It was perhaps no surprise then that we ended up at 0-0 both at half-time and then again at full-time. We had our second penalty shoot-out of the round to enjoy.

We saw some exemplary penalty taking from both teams and after the regulation three penalties it was 3-3. So, into sudden death and the next round was successful too at 4-4. With such quality penalty taking the pressure was building on those yet to take a penalty. That pressure told as Murder on Zidane Floor were the first to crack. It looked for all the world that they were out but the Tigers returned the favour and so we remained at 4-4.

It was normal service resumed as Murder on Zidane Floor went 5-4 ahead. The next penalty was a left foot effort sailing high and wide (think Chris Waddle Italia 90) and with that the Tigers were out! Murder on Zidane Floor must have thought they were out a few minutes ago but instead they had a Plate Semi-Final to prepare for.

 
 
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