We arrived at the Plate Quarter-Final stage and we would shortly see eight teams reduced to four teams. The first Quarter-Final was a false start though.

We were due to see PMPCAR (Por) versus Tommie's Guns (Eng) but Tommie's Guns were forced to withdraw after the group phase. They had signed up for the tour with 6 players and 4 supporters but due to various reasons had to start the campaign with 3 players and 2 of their supporters pressed into action. The group phase had taken its toll and with further injury Tommie's Guns had to call it a day.

PMPCAR therefore progressed directly to the Semi-Final.

To begin the Plate Quarter-Finals in earnest we had AAK S&S versus Retainers Academy. It was 6th placed in Group B versus 7th Placed in Group A and as such you would imagine AAK S&S would be the favourites given the higher league placing.

The case for AAK S&S was aided by the fact they returned 9 points in the group phase compared to 3 by Retainers Academy. AAK S&S's form had been up and down throughout the day and read WLLWWLL – they had some great wins for example over Cruz Del Sur but also missed out on a result we didn't expect them to.

Retainers Academy had struggled this morning but this was a new start and we've seen on many occasions teams not get the results in the group phase but then put a string of results together in the knockout phase and walk away with a trophy.

The games had switched from 1 period to slightly longer games with 2 halves to maximize the playing time for teams. In the first half here it was a Gary Bartley double that put his team in the ascendency. AAK S&S were in control at the change of ends.

In the second half AAK S&S strengthened their grip on the game as a double from Daniel Flower ensured AAK S&S would sail into the Plate Semi-Finals. Retainers Academy were out but they still had involvement in the tournament with their Jackson's 5 team to come in the Cup competition.

We now knew the teams to compete in the first Semi-Final. In the lower half of the Quarter-Final draw it was Brewin Dolphin versus Lun-don FC. Of all the teams in the Plate competition, Brewin Dolphin was perhaps the biggest surprise to be competing here rather than in the Cup. They got off to a flyer today with 2 wins out of 2 and then 3 in their first 4 with only a narrow 1-0 defeat to the Group A champions in between. They then seemed to run out of steam as they finished the group phase with 3 defeats to slip down to sixth.

Lun-don FC were competitive throughout the morning but didn't quite have enough to quite get the results from games their general play deserved. They were strong defensively and had a better record at the back than their opponents but they had struggled with goals. Just 3 in the group phase was their Achilles heel and the difference between 7th and a higher placed finish.

With the match under starter's orders it was Brewin Dolphin who hit the front – they had failed to score in their last two matches so will have been relieved to be on target again when David Stephenson made it 1-0. Brewin Dolphin built on this lead with Geoffrey Hanratty's second strike of the tournament making it 2-0.

Brewin Dolphin were in control but the game wasn't quite put to bed yet. Vivek Deva pulled one back for Lun-don FC but sadly for him and his team-mates it was to be Lun-don FC's last goal of the day. Brewin Dolphin were through.

The final Quarter-Final saw FC Seagrave take on Cruz Del Sur B. FC Seagrave came into the game as the 5th placed team in Group B with a haul of 9 points. Cruz Del Sur B came into the game as the 8th placed team in Group A having lost all of their morning fixtures.

The form book suggested a home win with FC Seagrave outscoring their opponents 11-2 in the morning. There was a smaller gap in defence with FC Seagrave conceding 13 to Cruz Del Sur B's 16. FC Seagrave came into the game on the back of two successive victories and seemed to be a team at the top of their game.

It was FC Seagrave who got off to the brighter start when Matt Allard scored his sixth of the day. Denis Moran added a couple to make it 3-0 before half-time provided Cruz Del Sur B with some respite.

It was more of the same in the second half as Denis Moran completed his hat-trick and Matt Allard scored his seventh of the tournament. There was some joy for Cruz Del Sur B when they bagged a consolation through Adam McMinn. Mark Allard had the final say though with the goal that put the icing on the cake of a 6-1 win.