The
start of Round 3 saw a battle between two of
the three teams locked together at the top of
the table on 4 points. Elcombe Old Boys were
currently third on goal difference and they
were up against Hungarian Journalists NT who
were first on goal difference.
Elcombe
Old Boys are synonymous with our Barcelona Fives
tournament with 5 consecutive appearances between
2013 and 2017. In that time they picked up the
2016 title but they generally had a superb record
overall. In that period they played 38 games
with 25 wins (66% win ratio), 8 draws and 5
defeats. They scored 72 goals conceding just
21 with clean sheets in 22 of those games. This
was in Open Age competition so we anticipated
they would be one of the favourites for the
Veterans title in Budapest.
They
already had 2 clean sheets today and looked
to be their usual solid selves in defence. Goals
were proving trickier to come by and they reached
half-time at 0-0 in this one.
If
either team could find a winner in the second
half they would open up a 3 point lead. Step
forward Darron Kerins – on debut for Elcombe
Old Boys in Europe – and he announced himself
with a vital goal in a 1-0 win.
Next
up on Pitch B was a game between Budapest Celtic
Legends and Peebles All Stars.
Budapest
Celtic were becoming the third most prolific team
in eurofootballfives.com history with their 12th
appearance in our tournaments. Only DHL Prague
(16) and GBS Reds (14) both of the Czech Republic
had appeared more often. In their history they
had two titles to their name – the 2013 Krakow
Trophy and the 2017 Budapest Fives. They were
looking to add a Veterans title to their CV. A
win here would see them on course and go joint
top of Group B.
Peebles
All Stars had begun with 1 win and 1 draw to date.
This was a tough ask to get their first win under
their belts in this game but they put in a valiant
effort. Adrian Courage was the match winner in
Round 1 for Budapest Celtic Legends and he was
on hand to put his team 1-0 up in the first half
here.
In
the second half Budapest Celtic Legends doubled
the lead thanks to Jani (Brazilian style, one
name) as the game finished 2-0. Budapest Celtic
Legends lead the table on goal difference.
Old
York Cosmos versus Bure Park Seniors was the final
game in Round 3. Old York Cosmos had just picked
up their first win of the day and if they could
make it two on the spin they would move up to
third in the table just a point off the leaders.
Our
Cup runners-up from last year had found it tough
going at the start of Group B. Admittedly they'd
had two tough fixtures but they were currently
Armstrong & Osman (Pointless).
That
trend looked like continuing as Kester Witt scored
for the second game running to give Old York Cosmos
a 1-0 lead at the break. Old York Cosmos were
then 2-0 up with the aid of an own goal. Things
weren't looking great for Bure Park Seniors at
this juncture but they were about to embark on
a remarkable comeback. Chris Weedon grabbed their
first goal of the day before Richard Holliday
produced an equalizing goal. Simon Dearing then
put Bure Park Seniors 3-2 up to cap a sensational
comeback. A great win for Bure Park Seniors, a
big blow for Old York Cosmos.
