With
7 teams in each group, 1 team would sit out
each round. In Round 1 it was Tom's Mum Is A
Tramp FC but they would kick us off in the second
round of fixtures having had a chance to evaluate
their opposition from Round 1. They were up
against Meglepetes.
In
their first game, Meglepetes had looked in superb
form having picked up a sensational 5-1 victory.
This was Meglepetes' sixth consecutive appearance
at the tournament with the highlight being the
2016 campaign that saw them crowned champions.
They started off of fire with a 4-0 win over
Two Balls One Touch and never looked back. 4-1,
3-0 and 2-0 victories followed over Vilag Valogatott,
Wandsworth Athletic and FC Broxelona A respectively.
A 1-1 draw over Budapest Celtic Greens saw them
win Group A on goal difference over their opponents
in that fixture. A 3-0 win over fellow Hungarians,
Fejlodes, followed in the Semi-Finals before
a second meeting with Budapest Celtic Greens
in the Cup Final. This time there was to be
no draw as they won the game and the tournament,
3-1.
In
contrast, Tom's Mum Is A Tramp FC were inexperienced
and on debut. It was a tough baptism of fire
for the English side. Tibor Zambo was the chief
thorn in their side as the Meglepetes #10 bagged
a hattrick to set them on their way. Gabor Joos
put the icing on a 4-0 cake as he scored his
third goal in two games.
In
the next game we had Skidmarks versus Deportivo
Dooradoyle. These two teams met all the way back
in the 2015 Algarve Open. They met in Group C
in a tournament that was a bit of a struggle for
both teams. Skidmarks have qualified for the Cup
in 8 of their 9 tournaments – the Algarve was
the one exception. Deportivo Dooradoyle have reached
a Cup Final before but they finished bottom of
Group C that day.
In
that 2015 meeting, Skidmarks won 2-1 as Ashley
Britten & Luke Hatfield both scored for the
English, Johnny Gray pulled one back for The Depo
Originals as they were called that day.
Here
in Budapest in 2019 it looked plain-sailing for
Skidmarks as they opened up a 2-0 lead thanks
to Ricki Keeley and Ashley Britten. Deportivo
Dooradoyle then staged a remarkable comeback.
Kevin Shine, Tom Kelleher and Pa O'Brien all scored
for the Irish who claimed a stunning win.
The
final scheduled game of Round 2 was New Wave Funk
against Expats FC Paris. Both of these teams made
their debut at the 2018 Barcelona Fives and both
were making their second eurofootballfives.com
appearance here at the 2019 Budapest Fives.
Both
teams reached the Quarter-Finals in Barcelona
although they did meet in direct competition.
New Wave Funk had reached the Plate competition,
Expats FC Paris had reached the Cup so you may
expect that the French team would start off favourites
in this game. They certainly lived up to that
billing early on as Josh Earnshaw and Aleks Kostov
gave their side a 2-0 lead.
Alex
Jones pulled a goal back for New Wave Funk but
it proved only to be a consolation as Expats FC
Paris completed a 2-1 victory.