The 2010 Krakow Cup Plate Final was to be contested by FCB Helles and Over Crusaders. On a tough day of competition the teams had played 7 and 8 games respectively to reach this stage and they would need to muster the energy for one last push to make sure they would go home with a trophy and winners medals.

The FCB Biermeisters were making their first eurofootballfives.com Final having come so close on 3 previous occasions in the 2009 Amsterdam Fives, 2010 Manchester Fives and also here in the 2010 Krakow Cup. All those appearances were in the Cup so FCB Helles may well fancy their chances in the Plate. However, Over Crusaders were no strangers to a Plate Final and would hope their previous experience would stand them in good stead for this final. In their previous Plate Final they narrowly lost out, 1-0, to Northern Ireland's Jordans Town in the 2008 Amsterdam Fives Final.

If we look towards the Group Phase for an indication of form going into this final you would probably make FCB Helles favourites as they finished one place and four points above their opponents in the group table. However, when the teams came face to face in direct competition way back in Round 3 there was just a narrow 1-0 victory for FCB Helles so this was not going to be an easy game for either side. Let the games begin…..

Once the game got underway it was Over Crusaders who flew out of the blocks and stunned FCB Helles with a sensational opening flurry. Perhaps the semi-final against Spasowskiego had meant they had found their rhythm compared to FCB Helles who had waited a little longer and were a bit cold or maybe Over Crusaders had just cranked it up a notch. Either way, they could not have hoped for a better start and in particular for Pete Rushmer who bagged a hat-trick with goals number 7, 8 and 9 in the tournament from him.

Where did FCB Helles go from here? The one thing in there favour was there was still plenty of time in this game to comeback but somehow they had to wrestle the momentum back from the team from Cambridge. They got a foothold back in the match when Ben Littlefield reduced the arrears to 3-1. Within a minute it was 3-2 thanks to a misunderstanding between the Over Crusaders defender and goalkeeper and Over Crusaders were wobbling. The pressure was really on now and it was FCB Helles who were pouring forward.

Already in this tournament we had seen two great comebacks from Biermeisters teams against the Over Crusaders. The first was FCB Helles winning 2-1 against Over Crusaders after being 1-0 down with 2 minutes to go in the group stage. The second was FCB Dunkles bagging a last minute equalizer, also against Over Crusaders II in the Cup Semi-Final although as know Over Crusaders II won that game by Golden Goal. Could there be a 3 rd epic comeback? Well, not before half-time as the referee blew for half-time. The score was 3-2 in a fantastic opening period.

The half-time whistle was just what Over Crusaders needed to steady the ship and in the second half things had calmed down considerably and with time running out FCB Helles could not find the crucial equalizer. At the same time though, whilst the Over Crusaders were defending much better they were unable to find a crucial 4th goal and kill the game off. Then, with shades of the Cup Semi-Final (mentioned above), FC Biermeisters had a corner in the dying seconds. Even goalkeeper Van Den Broek came up from the back – it was do or die. If they couldn't score then surely Over Crusaders would break and wrap this up. Cometh the hour, cometh the man and that man was Jon Warman who bundled the corner in at the back post and FCB Helles had their equalizer.

It was unbelievable stuff – the Biermeisters were ecstatic and the Over Crusaders looked crestfallen. They needed to pick themselves up as they had Golden Goal extra time to look forward to. In the 1966 World Cup Final before extra time Alf Ramsey famously said, “You've won it once. Now you'll have to go out there and win it again.” Over Crusaders would need a similar battle cry to pick themselves up.

In the extra time period, FCB Helles looked the stronger with the benefit of 3 subs to preserve fresh legs. Over Crusaders had the minimum 5 players and were looking tired. Mid-way through the first period of extra time Neil Donovan was put through one on one with the keeper and he coolly finished into the back of the net to score the Golden Goal that would give his team victory. He then embarked on a crazy run with a host of team-mates chasing after him before bundling him to the ground in celebration. It was a superb comeback and a truly great final.

You had to feel sorry for Over Crusaders who had put a great deal of effort into their challenge all day and could not have come closer to success in this final. Unfortunately it was to no avail but they had runners-up medals to cushion the blow a little.

This year though, the glory, the trophy and the winners medals go to FCB Helles. Well done lads.