JNJ Corporate 5-a-side Football Tournament Bratislava 2014 Tour Report Group B Round 1

Results

S & OP FC (Eng)	4	V	5	JNJ Zug (Swi)
JNJ High Wycombe A (Eng)	4	v	1	Gerri Hatricks (Eng)
JNJ Poland (Pol)	2	v	3	JNJ Russia B (Rus)

Group B began with S & OP FC (Eng) taking on JNJ Zug of Switzerland. S & OP FC were on debut in the JNJ Euro Soccer Tournament so we would shortly get our first glimpse of them in action.

JNJ Zug had some experience though as we were delighted to welcome them back to the tournament after they missed out on Budapest 2013. They started off in Prague 2012 in sensational style beating GTSC (Bel) 2-0 and GBS Reds B (Cze) 3-0 before defeat to JNJ Croatia derailed them and they were unable to pick-up further points in the 6-team group. They qualified for the Plate competition where GBS Reds A (Cze) accounted for them at the Quarter-Final stage.

That was then…what about today? In an entertaining first half JNJ Zug took a narrow lead into the turnaround as they lead by the odd goal in three, 2-1. Goals from Georg Poletikin and Alvaro Garcia had outgunned Jevan Laws first goal of the tournament.

In the second half the game matched the weather as goals rained in from everywhere as George Lazaro, Byron Kinder and Joshua Ward all scored in Europe. For JNJ Zug there was a second goal for Georg Poletikin and a strike from Marco Mader. The most important goal of the game was the one that separated the two teams at the final whistle. That goal was scored by Alvaro Garcia and earned JNJ Zug all three points in an epic contest. Final score, 5-4.

Match 2 saw JNJ High Wycombe A take on Gerri Hattricks. JNJ High Wycombe were aiming to make it third time lucky in 2014. They competed in the 2012 JNJ Euro Soccer Tournament and were very impressive. They finished 2 nd in their group before going on to reach the Cup Final. In the Cup Final they went so close to claiming glory as they took the Final into extra time after a 2-2 draw. Unfortunately for them JNJ Croatia claimed the Golden Goal and they had to settle for Runners-Up medals. Fast forward to 2013 and they go one better by winning their group before going on to reach the Cup Final again. They were Runners-Up for a second time as they succumbed to JNJ Russia. Could this be their year?

It was a tough start for Gerri Hatricks for whom we had no past records to judge as they were on their debut. We had seen Tekkers Lovakia (their sister squad) take a 2-2 draw against GBS Reds in Round 1 of Group A – would they be stronger or weaker than their other squad?

The early initiative in this game went to JNJ High Wycombe A as they took a 2-1 lead into half-time. Goals from Alex Woodger and Ben Causer put the High Wycombe team on their way. A goal from David Jobe kept Gerri Hatricks in the hunt. In the second period though JNJ High Wycombe A eased away from their opponents as two goals from Nicki Mills secured a 4-1 victory.

The final teams in Group B to start their challenge were JNJ Poland versus JNJ Russia B. JNJ Poland were the first time to compete in the JNJ Euro Soccer Tournament from Poland and we wished them luck in their campaign. Whilst JNJ Russia B were the “B” team from the Russian delegation they were still a very good squad. They had qualified for the Cup competition in both Prague 2012 and Budapest 2013.

For the third game in Round 1 of Group B we had a 2-1 score at half-time. On this occasion it was JNJ Russia B who lead with goals from Gaspar Arutyunov giving them the edge over Tomasz Gawlak's strike for JNJ Poland.

So far, both the teams that had lead 2-1 at half-time had gone on to claim victory and this pattern continued with JNJ Russia B going on to win here with Gaspar Arutyunov going on to complete a hat-trick – the first of the tournament. Tomasz Gawlak's scored a second for JNJ Poland but, alas for them, it proved only to be a consolation goal.

JNJ Russia B started the tournament with a win for the third year in a row. JNJ Poland still had plenty of time to get their tournament challenge going.

Table

Team	Pld	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Agst	Pts
JNJ High Wycombe A (Eng)	1	1	0	0	4	1	3
JNJ Zug (Swi)	1	1	0	0	5	4	3
JNJ Russia B (Rus)	1	1	0	0	3	2	3
JNJ Poland (Pol)	1	0	0	1	2	3	0
S & OP FC (Eng)	1	0	0	1	4	5	0
Gerri Hatricks (Eng)	1	0	0	1	1	4	0

Click on links below to proceed to

site disclaimer | contact us