We were at the 2017 Mallorca Veterans Tournament Cup Semi-Finals stage and from the 12 teams who signed up for the tournament we were down to the final 4.

The first Cup Semi-Final would be contested by FC Mahou and Crabtree Amblers. FC Mahou were the stand out team in the group phase with a 100% record, 20 goals scored and just 1 conceded. In fact it was the best group phase performance by any team in the history of our Veterans Tournament. They surpassed Sao Marcos's performance in Lisbon 2013 who also had a 100% record but with an 18-1 goal difference. Unsurprisingly Sao Marcos went on to win that tournament in Lisbon and FC Mahou were favourites to do so here in Mallorca.

Walking into the Lions' den to face them were Crabtree Amblers. They'd had a good day so far with 3 wins and 1 draw with just the 1 defeat so far. They had a goal difference of 7-3 so far. Looking purely at the numbers it looked like that extra firepower in attack may be the difference between the two teams. Crabtree Amblers got to the Plate Final at the 2016 event in Lisbon and a second successive European final awaited them if they could perform heroics here. In the Plate competition both 4 th placed teams had overturned the 3 rd placed teams in the Semi-Finals. So, could 2 nd placed in their group Crabtree Amblers upset the apple cart here?

Sadly if you're an Amblers fan it was not to be. FC Mahou were ruthless in their pursuit of a third eurofootballfives.com title. Pete Cox started us with a double before Mike Brandon made it 3-0. Pete Cox then completed his hat-trick which took him to double figures for the day. Mike Brandon added another for 5-0 before the half-time whistle came to Crabtree Amblers rescue.

In the second half Crabtree Amblers recovered a little and/or FC Mahou eased off. Crabtree Amblers restricted FC Mahou to the one further goal – it went to Mike Brandon who completed his hat-trick. Final score, 6-0.

FC Mahou marched on to the Cup Final…..

So, who would take their place in the Final from the second Semi-Final? The two teams set to do battle were Southgate County Vets against Stilton Rovers.

If you'd have looked at the Group A league table from the 2016 Lisbon Veterans Tournament you'd have never believed these two teams would meet in a Cup Semi-Final. Southgate County Vets finished 6 th with 1 point last year. Today, they finished 1 st with 15 points.

Southgate County Vets emerged from the group phase as the #2 ranked team in the tournament and with only the fourth 100% record in our Veterans tournaments group stage. Their group performance ranked #3 in the all-time group performance list with a goal difference of 11-2.

Stilton Rovers had been remarkably consistent from Lisbon 2016 to Mallorca 2017. In Lisbon they finished on 10 points from 5 games with a goal difference of 10-3. Here in Mallorca they finished with 12 points and a goal difference of 15-8. Both times they finished second in their group.

This time last year Stilton Rovers went out at the Cup Semi-Final stage 5-1 to Tanagra of Portugal. This year the Semi-Final was a much closer affair.

The two teams met last year and on that occasion Stilton Rovers were victorious 2-0. It was revenge for Southgate County Vets here in Mallorca as goals from Declan O'Leary and Jason Pugh meant they won it 2-1. Toby Larman scored what was ultimately to be a consolation for Stilton Rovers.

We had to say farewell to Stilton Rovers – 2 Cup Semi-Finals in a row is a great achievement. Maybe it will be third time lucky next year to reach that debut European final.