Welcome to the eurofootballfives.com Veterans Tournament Post-Tournament Report – Lisbon 2016. The annual Veterans Tournament was now in its 4th edition after a 2013 debut in Lisbon, a 2014 sojourn to Mallorca, a visit to the Algarve in 2015 and now a return to the Portuguese capital in 2016.

First up in Group A was Stilton Rovers versus Dickie Dogs. The former were making their debut eurofootballfives.com appearance whereas Dickie Dogs were highly experienced in these tournaments. Dickie Dogs were part of the inaugural Lisbon Veterans Tournament in 2013 and finished joint 5 th in the group table. A year later in the 2014 Mallorca Tournament they finished 3rd in Group A and went through to the Plate Final missing out on the victory narrowly (2-1) to Eagles 3:36. Last year in the Algarve they finished sixth in their group despite picking up a great win over Water Boy who have 1 Runners-Up and 2 Cup Semi-Final appearances in our Open Age Algarve Open. When they take to the field in Lisbon they will remain an ever-present of our Veterans Tournament.

After a goal-less first half in this one it was Dickie Dogs who emerged victorious when Adam Dewhirst struck the only goal of the game in the second half. It was Adam Dewhirts's European debut for Dickie Dogs and he made quite an impact.

Next up was Sago versus Southgate County Vets. Sago were the first Portuguese team in action in Group A and were making their eurofootballfives.com debut.

Southgate County debuted in @eurofootball competition last year at the 2015 Berlin Fives. They had a tough start losing 3-0 to 2 x Semi-Finalists Tinniedad & Tobacco and then 4-1 to eventual runners-up Hurting Berlin. They turned things around with a 3-0 win over Scandittack FC, 3-2 win over Fail Madrid and 4-1 win over Rayford Athletic. They qualified for the Cup competition where they went out 2-1 to the eventual winners Pink Flamingos A. That was an Open Age tournament and this would be their first appearance in the Veterans section.

It was the Portuguese team who hit the front when Rui Gomes opened the scoring before Pedro Ribeiro doubled the advantage before the break. After the interval Marcus Martinho made it 3-0. Then, the game was wrapped up as Pedro Ribeiro scored his second of the game to complete a 4-0 win.

The final fixture in the opening round of Group A was NJV7 versus Crabtree Amblers. It was two teams on debut so both teams had a blank canvas on which to paint their footballing artistry. Who would rise to the occasion?

The two teams looked pretty evenly matched in the opening period and there was very little to choose between the two teams. There was nothing to separate the two teams in terms of the score and we reached half-time level at 0-0.

The game was there to be won by either side and we would see one team collecting all three points in the second half. A solitary goal would win it and the hero of the hour was Ade Chester. His goal got Crabtree Amblers off to the perfect start – a winning start. Easy this European lark eh?