We were down to our final 4 teams in the Plate competition with 3 out of the 4 teams representing England and the other team representing Portugal. It was two English teams who kicked us off with Southgate County versus Shrewsbury Townsend.

We expected a close contest as the two teams posted very similar group records as both claimed two wins and 6 points. Both teams had conceded five goals but Southgate County boasted the greater firepower with 7 goals compared with the 4 scored by Shrewsbury Townsend. Could this be the difference between the teams in this Semi-Final?

There was no difference between the two teams in the first half as the teams changed ends with the score level at 0-0. This was the fourth successive game featuring Shrewsbury Townsend that had been goal-less at the break. They were yet to be involved in a game that would finish in a 0-0 draw though and this game would be no different.

Tony Sayers sixth goal of the tournament put Southgate County 1-0 up in the second half before Shrewsbury Townsend captain Joe Croft equalized for 1-1. If the game was to end in a draw we would need penalties to split the two teams but penalties would not be required as Neil Spackman struck the winning blow as Southgate County emerged victorious with a 2-1 win.

We had to bid farewell to Shrewsbury Townsend for this year and would like to thank them for joining us in Lisbon. Southgate County had a European final to prepare for.

The second Semi-Final was PPB versus Your Mum as third placed in Group B met 4th placed in Group A.

PPB had started the day well with two wins but two successive defeats had seen them slip out of the Cup qualification places in the final seconds of Group B. Could this dash their confidence and momentum coming into this game? They experienced a similar fate in 2015 when they won their first 2 games then failed to win any of their next three before being dumped out in the first knock-out phase by an English team. Ealing Expendables was that team in 2015, could it be Your Mum in 2016?

If it was to be Your Mum they would have to come from behind as Tomas Pereira put PPB ahead in the first half. Your Mum rose to the challenge and hit back in the second half when Daniel Lloyd Davies's third goal of the tournament meant they were level at 1-1. That proved to be the final scoring in normal time and a penalty shoot-out would be required to decide which team would meet Southgate County in the Plate Final.

The penalty shoot-out is always a great spectacle and the crowd swelled as teams from other pitches gathered to look on. It was PPB who would have the honour of shooting first as Joao Nabais put his team 1-0 up. Daniel Lloyd Davies scored in normal time and made no mistake from the spot as he made it 1-1.

Guilherme Pereira restored the lead for PPB at 2-1 before Alex Peters quickly levelled it up at 2-2. Tomas Pereira made it 3-2 piling the pressure on Alick Croft who made no mistake it making it 3-3 and taking us to sudden death.

The fourth round of penalties saw the heroes emerge. First of all it was Mike Cave saving a well struck penalty from Hugo Bastos. It was a save that meant he may never father children again but it gave Jack Croft the opportunity to send his team into the final. Captain Jack was up to the task as he fired the penalty home to spark wild celebrations. PPB were out.