After
their game in Round 4 (a resounding 3-0 win
and arguably their best win of the day), the
Hungarian Journalists NT advised the referee
they had to leave – we don't know the full reason
why. It was strange as they were well placed
to challenge for the title. They were due to
play Old York Cosmos who received a 3-0 walkover.
So,
at the start of Round 5, we had a slight change
in format. At the start of the day we had 8
teams qualifying for the Cup, 4 for the Plate.
With the loss of the Hungarian Journalists NT
and Peebles needing to merge their All Stars
and Nae Stars this would have left us with a
top heavy 8 teams for the Cup, 2 for the Plate.
So, to balance things out we changed it so that
the top two in each group would qualify for
the Cup. Third and fourth would qualify for
the Plate and then we'd have a Wooden Spoon
game for the two fifth placed teams. This seemed
to make more sense.
With
Hungarian Journalists NT out of the picture it
meant all other teams moved up a place. Elcombe
Old Boys lead the way on 10, Budapest Celtic Legends
next on 7, Old York Cosmos third on 6 points and
then came Bure Park Seniors on 4 points with Peebles
All Stars on 2.
Game
14 of Group B was Budapest Celtic Legends at home
to Bure Park Seniors. The former needed only a
draw to reach the Cup competition. Bure Park Seniors
needed a win to go level with their opponents
on points and a 3 goal win to move into second
on goal difference and qualify for the Cup. Looking
over their shoulders, Bure Park Seniors had to
equal or better the result of Peebles All Stars
to secure a place in the Plate.
It
was Budapest Celtic Legends who took a first half
lead with Adrian Courage scoring his third of
the tournament. When we reached half-time at 1-0
it looked like they had done enough. Bure Park
Seniors needed to score at least 4 without reply
to climb above their opponents. Whilst the Seniors
had come from behind in their previous two games
the margin of victory needed and the quality of
opponents faced deemed this unlikely. Bure Park
Seniors did pull level through Chris Weedon and
a 1-1 draw in its own right was a good result.
In
the context of the group it meant Elcombe Old
Boys and Budapest Celtic Legends would qualify
for the Cup. Old York Cosmos and (probably) Bure
Park Seniors would go into the Plate.
The
15th and final game of Group B was Peebles All
Stars versus Elcombe Old Boys. Peebles All Stars
could still make the Plate at the expense of Bure
Park Seniors. They needed a two goal win to be
sure. Sounds simple enough on paper but they were
up against a team unbeaten and yet to concede,
Elcombe Old Boys.
However,
it was possible. You only had to look at the Open
Age tournament where Budapest Vikings (5 wins
out of 5) then lost to the fifth placed team in
the final group game. Elcombe Old Boys could relax
in this game – they had already qualified for
the Cup and already won the group. This was the
third time they had claimed a group win in our
tournaments.
We
reached half-time and Peebles All Stars were still
in this, level at 0-0. Bure Park Seniors were
not safe just yet. They could relax a little bit
when Jonathan Warth, who flew in from Dubai for
his eurofootballfives.com debut, scored to make
it 1-0 to Elcombe Old Boys. With Andy Gartshore
hunting down a fifth straight clean sheet it looked
like it was game up for Peebles All Stars. Final
score, 1-0.
Peebles
All Stars would finish fifth in the table and
go on to compete in the Wooden Spoon game. Bure
Park Seniors had their place in the Plate rubber
stamped.
