JNJ Riga Tournament 5-a-side Football Tour Report Group A Round 2

Results

DePuy Blackpool (Eng)	0	V	6	JNJ Turkey (Tur)
Nordic Vikings (Scand)	2	V	6	Klopp ‘N Co (Bel)
Beeston Operation Leeds (Eng)	8	V	1	Baltic Team (Lat)

Group A continued with DePuy Blackpool versus JNJ Turkey .

JNJ Turkey arrived into Riga as the defending champions! At the 2018 edition of the tournament they were solid in the group phase. They collected 4 wins and 1 draw from their 6 group games as they finished in second position behind JNJ Poland. In the knock-out phase they produced fine wins in the Quarter-Finals (4-1 v DePuy Synthes Switzerland) and Semi-Finals (2-1 v Beeston Operation Leeds). A closely contested Cup Final saw them draw 0-0 with 2014 champions JNJ High Wycombe. JNJ Turkey triumphed 3-1 on penalties.

Previously, they competed for the first time at the Prague 2015 event. They enjoyed an impressive debut. In Group A they finished third on 9 points behind De Puy Synthes 1 (13 points) and Belgium's GTSC (12 points). They qualified for the Cup competition where they defeated Slavoj Consumer, 4-1. In the Semi-Finals they met JNJ Russia where a 2-1 defeat prevented them reaching a debut Cup Final.

JNJ Turkey's second performance in the tournament was even more impressive. In the group phase they won all four of their games to collect a maximum 12 points. They won their Cup Quarter-Final 7-0 (vs Leeds One United) and their Semi-Final 5-4 (vs JNJ Poland). They met Cilag Team 1 in a high quality final but finished runners-up to the Swiss (2-1). Then came their 2018 triumph in Budapest.

These two teams met in the group phase of the 2018 edition of this tournament in Budapest. It was a 3-0 win to JNJ Turkey 12 months ago. It was another win for JNJ Turkey in 2019 and more emphatic – 6-0. There was a hat-trick for each of Edip Efe and Serkan Kardesler.

Klopp ‘N Co (Bel) had a very successful debut at the 2017 JNJ Euro Soccer Tournament in Bratislava. They finished with 3 wins out 4 and secured second place in Group C. Their only defeat came against the eventual winners, Cilag Team 1. They won their Cup Quarter-Final 5-3 versus JNJ Pinewood before coming across Cilag Team 1 again in the Semi-Finals. The Swiss proved their nemesis as they lost to them for a second time.

Their appearance at the 2018 Budapest tournament saw them finish just 3 points off the top of Group A. However, because it was such a tight group this meant they finished in fifth position of 7 teams. It meant they progressed to the Plate competition where they excelled at penalties. They drew both the Semi-Final and the Final 1-1 – both against English opposition and won penalty shoot-outs on each occasion, both 3-2. They are our reigning Plate champions.

Their next game in Riga was against Nordic Vikings. Klopp ‘N Co would have happy memories of this game from last year, Nordic Vikings – not so much. It finished 6-0 to the Belgian team last time out.

It looked like a familiar story as Klopp ‘N Co opened up a 2-0 lead thanks to Jeroen Vosand Guy Hoskens. Nordic Vikings hit back to level at 2-2 with a goal either side of half-time from Markus Johansson. Jeroen Vos put Klopp ‘N Co back in front before Sam Kennis made it 4-2. The Nordic Vikings resistance was broken as Jeroen Vos went on to complete his hat-trick and seal a 6-2 win.

To complete Round 2, we had Beeston Operation Leeds versus Baltic Team.

Budapest 2018 was Beeston Operation Leeds best performance to date. They were superb in the group phase as they won Group A with 13 points from 6 games. They continued their good form into the knock-out phase defeating Actelion FC 2-0 in the Quarter-Finals. Their run ended after a narrow 2-1 defeat to JNJ Turkey in the Semi-Finals.

Today they looked like they would continue that form. They had a 5-3 win under their belts already. Here in Round 2 they were to record their biggest ever win in this tournament – 8-1. Lewis Butler hit 4 in the previous game and he gave his side the lead here. Will Bedford made it 2-0 before Lewis Butler made it 3. Alex Lockley made it 4-0 and at half-time Beeston Operation Leeds were in command. Oliver Johnson scored to make it 5-0 before Baltic Team had a goal to cheer. Raivis Pastars scored his team's first of the tournament. Edward Patnelli, Lewis Butler (hat-trick) and Harry Jones went on to seal the victory.

Table

Team	Pld	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Agst	Pts
JNJ Turkey (Tur)	2	2	0	0	19	0	6
Klopp ‘N Co (Bel)	2	2	0	0	15	2	6
Beeston Operation Leeds (Eng)	2	2	0	0	13	4	6
Nordic Vikings (Scand)	2	0	0	2	5	11	0
DePuy Blackpool (Eng)	2	0	0	2	0	15	0
Baltic Team (Lat)	2	0	0	2	1	21	0

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