JNJ Corporate 5-a-side Football Tournament Krakow 2016 Tour Report Group A Round 1

Results

J&J GBS Reds (Cze)	1	V	5	JNJ Medical Russia (Rus)
JNJ High Wycombe (Eng)	1	V	2	The Rodallega Bombs (Eng)
Maidenhead A (Eng)	4	V	0	Synthes UK 2 (Eng)

The 16th July 2016 was the date that saw the fifth annual JNJ Euro Soccer 5-a-side Tournament kick off in the stunning city of Krakow. It was great to see so many familiar faces and also welcome some new teams to the event. We had 14 teams from 6 nations assembled to do battle, who would emerge victorious and claim the coveted title?

The first two challengers to get us underway in Group A on Pitch A this year would be GBS Reds (Cze) versus JNJ Russia (Rus). Both teams were experienced in the JNJ Euro Soccer Tournament and had played in every edition of the event since its inception in 2012.

The two teams had met on 5 occasions in the past and it was JNJ Russia who had the upper hand in the fixture with 4 wins and 1 draw in those five contests. History was against GBS Reds and the game went with the form book as JNJ Russia established an early 2-0 lead by half time. Goals from Vladimir Doroshenkov and Andriy Sheremetyev set them on their way.

After the break JNJ Russia eased away from their opponents with further strikes from Vladimir Doroshenkov, Gaspar Arutyunov and Stanislav Martynov. David Alonso provided something to cheer for the Czech team but it was merely to be a consolation.

At the very first tournament in Prague 2012, JNJ Russia A beat GBS Reds 5-1 in the very first game of Group A. History had repeated itself in Krakow 2016.

Game 2 of Group A was the all England contest of JNJ High Wycombe versus The Rodallega Bombs.

JNJ High Wycombe were another ever-present side at the JNJ Euro Soccer Tournament and the zenith of their achievements to date had been winning the event in Bratislava 2014. They had also reached the Cup Final in 3 of the 4 previous tournaments.

Things did not start well for them here in Krakow 2016 as The Rodallege Bombs got off to a flyer. Two early Byron Kinder goals put the team, who previously played as S&OP FC and Leeds One/Two, in the driving seat after the early exchanges. JNJ High Wycombe reduced the deficit to 2-1 thanks to an Alex Parkinson strike and set up a potentially thrilling contest in the second half.

In Prague last year, Leeds Two defeated JNJ High Wycombe B 2-1 in Group C but in Bratislava they lost to the JNJ High Wycombe A Team. It was to be a second consecutive win for the men from Leeds as The Rodallega Bombs held on to their lead and ran out 2-1 winners.

The final two teams to play in Group A, Round 1 were Maidenhead A and De Puy Synthes 2. Maidenhead A were on debut so we would very soon get our first glimpse of them in action.

De Puy Synthes 2 had traditionally played a supporting role to their first team over the last couple of years. On debut at the Bratislava 2014 tournament they struggled and finished 6th in their group. They were much improved in Prague 2015 and finished fourth in their group having won 2 of their 5 games before bowing out to JNJ Middle East in the Plate Quarter-Final. Could they continue their upward trajectory of form in Krakow?

If it was they would need to come from behind in this game as Vincent Tavernier struck the first blow and scored his team's first in the competition. It was not long before he doubled the dose and Maidenhead A were in command at the break, 2-0.

The second half was to get even better as Joshua Goodman opened his personal account to make it 3-0. Mauricio Correa put the icing on the cake as he made it 4-0. It was a great start to the tournament for Maidenhead A.

Table

Team	Pld	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Agst	Pts
JNJ Medical Russia (Rus)	1	1	0	0	5	1	3
Maidenhead A (Eng)	1	1	0	0	4	0	3
The Rodallega Bombs (Eng)	1	1	0	0	2	1	3
JNJ Poland (Pol)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
JNJ High Wycombe (Eng)	1	0	0	1	1	2	0
GBS Reds (Cze)	1	0	0	1	1	5	0
Synthes UK 2 (Eng)	1	0	0	1	0	4	0

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