A warm welcome to Mallorca (and it was warm!) and the seventh annual edition of the Mallorca Tournament and our ninth tournament on this wonderful island in total. As well as our seven Mallorca Tournaments we have also run the Mallorca Fives in 2013 and 2017. It is easy to see why the events are so popular - 5-a-side football next to the beach, with a BBQ and bar under the rays of the Spanish sun. What a setting and what a day we had in store with 30-teams signed up in the Open Age (18) and Veterans (12) categories.

From our 8 previous events we have so far had winners from England (x2), France, Ireland and Spain (x4). We've had competitors from Argentina, Belgium, Ecuador, England, France, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Wales.

The first two challengers to get us underway in Group A on Pitch A this year would be Abertawe (Wal) versus Whiteley FC (Eng). Both teams had graced this tournament before and we will preview their past experience in more detail as we progress with this post-tour report.

On the day here in 2017 though, it was Whiteley FC who got off to a winning start. After a close and goal-less first half the English team won it thanks to second half strikes from Scott Pearson and Simon Stones.

Game 2 of Group A was Lilchicago (Lit) versus Finn's Chins (Eng).

Lilchicago were on debut but we would like to make special reference to the team for making the journey from Lithuania. They become only the second team to represent Lithuania from our tournaments after FK Prienai became the first at the 2016 Riga Tournament. FK Prienai did pretty well in Riga winning their group and reaching the Cup Quarter-Finals before a 2-0 exit to CAP FC in the knock-out phase. Could Lilchicago surpass their achievement?

They certainly started off well as they raced into a 3-1 half-time lead. Marijus Rankele scored their first in Europe before a Danas Kulisauskas double put them in a commanding position. A Ben Fillingham goal meant Finn's Chins were still in the hunt.

In the second half Finn's Chins reduced the deficit to 3-2 courtesy of a Joe Wallis strike but Lilchicago had done enough in the first half and collected all 3 points.

The final two teams in Group A were Brioche FS of Spain and Mavericks of England.

Brioche FS played only 3 weeks ago in eurofootballfives.com action when they competed at the recent 2017 Mallorca Fives (20th May). It was a much changed squad from previous campaigns but they still competed well with 9 points from a possible 15 in the group phase to qualify for the Cup. They suffered defeat in the Quarter-Finals to French team Blue Collar Revolution.

Mavericks were competing in eurofootballfives action for the third season in a row but for the first time here in Mallorca. They got off to a great start scoring the opening goal of the game as Mark Adamson gave them a 1-0 lead at the break.

Jack Salisbury doubled the lead in the second half before a Stephen Powl secured victory with the third. It was 3 goals, 3 points and a clean sheet for the English team – a perfect way to start their campaign.