The 2019 Mallorca Fives was our 12th tournament on the sunshine island of Mallorca. We kicked off on the 18th May with 19 teams ready for action (some more than others with hangovers fresh)…the big kick-off was upon us.

The first phase of the tournament would be decided on a group basis with two groups of 6 teams in each group & 1 group of 7 teams. The teams finishing 1st and 2nd in each group would progress to the Cup competition along with the best two third placed finishers. The other 3rd placed team and those finishing 4th and 5th in each group along with the best 6th placed team would progress to the Plate competition Both the Cup and Plate would be played as a knock-out with Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final.

The first two challengers to get us underway in Group A on Pitch A this year were Gosham Rangers and LMH FC. Both of these teams were regulars on the eurofootballfives.com circuit so we will preview them in more detail as we progress with this report.

We were treated to a thriller first off. Mark Sanders put Gosham Rangers 1-0 up before LMH FC's Billy Henson turned the game around to put them 2-1 ahead at half-time. In the second half Michael Burton equalised direct from a free-kick. Mark Sanders then finished the scoring to win the game 3-2 for Gosham Rangers.

The final two teams in Group A were Naranjitos of Spain and Mamamuu French Team of France, naturally.

The French team were on debut so we would shortly get our first glimpse of them in action. We were used to seeing Naranjitos in action though as this was tournament #9 for them. Their most recent eurofootballfives.com appearance saw them travel to the 2018 Lisbon Tournament. They drew their opening 3 games before a 1-0 loss put them in trouble in Group A. They won their final game 2-0 but had to settle for 5th (of 6 teams) in the table. They qualified for the Plate competition but went out on penalties to FC Broxelona A after a 2-2 draw.

It was the Spanish team who took the lead thanks to Mario Alvarez Garcia but the lead was not to last long. Jean Philippe Scarlata then became the first man to score for Mamamuu French Team in eurofootballfives.com competition. His goal ensured they would reach half-time level at 1-1.

In the second period it was Naranjitos who regained their lead. Javier Sanchez Flores was the man with the crucial goal. The next goal of the game proved to be decisive. Rafael Martin Exposito claimed it and Narnajitos had a 3-1 victory.