We arrived at the Plate Quarter-Final stage and we would shortly see the eight qualifying teams reduced to four. The teams had put a great effort into their group campaigns but now we were at the business end of the tournament.

The group campaign had taken its toll on a couple of teams. We lost Policia Local and Inter Balear to injuries. Neither team could fulfil their afternoon fixtures so it meant Deddington Sea Rats would get promotion into the knock-out phase as one of the remaining sixth placed teams.

In a curious twist of fate, it meant the draw would throw together The Midlanders and Deddington Sea Rats. They had played in their final group game in Group C. The Midlanders won that game 3-0 and finished in third place compared to the Sea Rats sixth place. Having said that, only 3 points separated them.

That was largely due to the number of draws halting The Midlanders' progress up the table. The Midlanders had a +2 goal difference and lost just once in the group. Deddington Sea Rats had a -10 goal difference and had lost 4 games so would start as underdogs.

It is not often sixth placed finishers defeat third placed teams in the knock-out stages of our tournaments. A first half goal from Joe Morris was enough to see the Sea Rats through. We thought The Midlanders would probably be favourites to lift the Plate but they were out.

In the lower half of the Quarter-Final draw it was AFC Basemen versus Red Cow Belgrade. AFC Basemen were on debut in the Plate competition having played in the Cup at the 2018 Lisbon Tournament.

Red Cow Belgrade were experienced at this level having reached the Plate Final on two previous occasions (2014 Barcelona Fives, 2016 Riga Tournament). In Plate Quarter-Finals they had so far won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1

This game was pretty even after the early exchanges with both teams looking equally capable of progressing to the next round. The opening goal looked like it could be pivotal and as we approached half-time we witnessed the initial breakthrough. Anthony Lenihan struck the post but Patrick Gildersleve was on hand to put in the rebound.

Could Red Cow Belgrade recover in the second half? With the extended games in the knock-out phase time was on their side but the difficulty of their task doubled when Adam Speake increased AFC Basemen's lead to 2-0. It was not over yet though as Tom Goyski made it 2-1 with his third of the day.

Time eventually ran out on Red Cow Belgrade though as AFC Basemen qualified for the Semi-Finals.

The final Quarter-Final was to be Policia Local versus Gosham Rangers. Gosham Rangers had scared off their opponents though as Policia Local withdrew due to injuries. Gosham Rangers would therefore earn a 3-0 walkover and progress to the Semi-Finals.