Round
5 and the final games in Group B. At this stage
we like to sit back, take stock and see what's
up for grabs as the teams enter the final straight.
So, who needed to do what?
Wola:
Avoid defeat to Group B. Defeat would
mean 2nd place but still with Cup qualification.
Rigford
Seahawks: With
three walkover points to come, a win in the game
against Wola would mean the Group B title. A draw
or defeat would mean 2nd place and Cup qualification.
Borussia
Dorchmen: Avoid
defeat by 4 goals or more and Plate qualification
was guaranteed.
Radio
Taxi Barbakan: Out of their hands
but a Dorchmen win or a draw would ensure 4 th
place. If DHL Prague Red win they would be out
on goal difference.
DHL
Prague Red: Only one option to
reach the Plate – WIN.
First
of all let's get the walkover game out of the
way for Rigford Seahawks as they collected the
3 points putting them level with Wola. Only goal
difference separated the sides going into the
final game. Wola had the better of the goal difference
meaning a draw would be good enough for them when
the two teams met to win the group.
There
was more than pride at stake when Wola and the
Rigford Seahawks met. Not only was the Group B
title at stake but by winning the group you would
ensure, in theory, an easier Cup semi-final fixture.
The game proved to be a close game although there
was only ever going to be one winner. The Polish
team proving the stronger of the two side. Much
of this was down to the leading marksmen in the
tournament, Tomasz Gorowski, who scored his third
hat-trick in the competition and took his personal
tally for the tournament to an incredible 14.
If you take the walkover into the equation – this
was an average of 3.5 goals per game. How do you
stop that? Well, you can't was the answer in this
game.
The
Seahawks did manage to score through Chris Howard
but the Gorowski hat-trick meant the Group B title
was staying in Poland and going to Wola. Congratulations
to them. Rigford Seahawks were also assured of
a Cup semi-final place.
Attention
then turned to the battle for Plate qualification.
Three teams were chasing two places and one of
DHL Prague Red, Radio Taxi Barbakan and Borussia
Dorchmen would have to miss out. For Barbakan
it was all out of their hands and they had to
watch on as DHL Prague Red and the Dorchmen went
head-to-head in battle.
A
Dorchmen win or draw would make the equation quite
simple but if DHL Prague Red were to claim all
three points then everything was going to get
very complicated. All three teams with a claim
would for the Plate would finish on six points
and goal difference, goals scored and head-to-head
results all still a possibility to decide who
would go through.
First
blood went to the Dorchmen who struck through
Adam Hughes before Dan Finley drew the Czechs
level. Adam Hughes put the Dorchmen ahead again
but DHL Prague Red were not to be shaken off.
They drew level once again through Jan Hornak
to reach half-time at 2-2. All the questions at
the start of the game were still waiting to be
answered.
The
2nd half was a different story though. Steve Wilson
put the Dorchmen ahead 3-2 meaning DHL needed
to score twice now. This task became even harder
when Adam Hughes secured his hat-trick to secure
a lead of 4-2. Surely, this match was over now
– there was still time for Steve Wilson to grab
a second of the game as Borussia Dorchmen ended
up 5-2 victors to claim a place in the Plate and
eliminate the Czech side.
The
result meant that Radio Taxi Barbakan, much to
their surprise, would also have a place in the
Plate Semi-Finals.
|