Group B was proving to be remarkably well-matched. Only Villa Roca had secured victory. All the other teams were dealing in draws. They weren't boring draws either as we'd had 2-2's and 3-3's to savour. With all the draws it meant if teams could eek out a win they would prove to be hugely valuable and rocket their team up the table. Could Telferscot FC or Bure Park Old Boys claim victory from Game #6 of Group B?

These two teams probably needed the win more than most as they had each suffered defeat to Villa Roca so currently share fourth position in the table. These teams both had two teams at the 2017 Lisbon Veterans Tournament and the respective results between the travelling groups were:

Saga Louts 1-2 Telferscot Athletic

Telferscot FC 0-4 Where's Dave?

So, 1 win each. Both groups had 1 squad eliminated after the group phase and 1 team qualify for the Plate Semi-Finals. Each group lost that Semi-Final 3-0. So, perhaps were in for another close encounter here in Mallorca?

It was Bure Park Old Boys who edged the first half despite Mark Titcombe opening the scoring for Telferscot FC. Matt Johnson and Roy McConnell both scored their second of the day for the men in blue and white stripes.

In the second half Telferscot FC pulled it back to 2-2. Dom Stober scored his third of the tournament. There was to be no further goals and we had our fourth draw in six games.

The next two teams on Campo D were Villa Roca (Spa) versus The Special Ones (Eng). Villa Roca had a 100% win record, The Special Ones had a 100% draw record.

The Special Ones were making their third eurofootballfives.com appearance in as many years following their appearance at the open age 2016 Barcelona Fives (as Farcelona). The lads found results difficult to come by as they lost seven out of seven in the group phase which saw them eliminated at the end of Group C. Group C was the proverbial group of death.

They made their debut at the Veterans level at the 2017 Lisbon Tournament. They finished sixth in their group which was not enough to reach the knock-out phase.

Today they were much improved and were still unbeaten. This would be their toughest test yet though. Tommy Hamilton gave the league leaders a 1-0 lead but The Special Ones quickly hit back through Jamie Barnett. Tommy Hamilton restored the lead to 2-1 before The Special Ones equalized for a second time courtesy of Rob Evans.

If you'd offered The Special Ones a point at kick-off they probably would have taken it. If you'd offered them a draw at 2-2 they probably would have also taken it. They were worth a point but Lee Baynes struck a winner for Villa Roca that saw them open up a 7 point lead at the top. It was a tough result for The Special Ones.

As we began to reach the final stages of Group B we had two of the three teams on 2 points meet head-to-head. With Villa Roca's win in the previous game it meant that the other four teams in Group B were playing for second position and the final Cup qualification place.

Epsom Ath had an advantage on the other teams as they had a game in hand over their rivals – this was it. Conversely, for Bure Park Old Boys this was their final chance to put some points on the board. This game was arguably more important for them.

The two teams played out a goal-less first half. After the change of ends could either team find a winner? The stage was set for someone to become a hero. Cometh the hour, cometh the man and that man was Matt Johnson. He scored 5 goals in the Lisbon 2017 campaign and he took his tally to 3 here in Mallorca. His goal earned all 3 points for his team. Final score, 1-0.

Telferscot FC and The Special Ones had followed similar paths in their eurofootballfives.com history. Both appeared at the 2016 Barcelona Fives open age tournament and both appeared at the 2017 Lisbon Veterans Tournament. They did not meet in Barcelona but did so in Lisbon. Telferscot Athletic won 3-1 in Portugal.

In the context of the group, this was at stake for these two teams.

Telferscot FC: Currently joint third but in fifth position on goal difference with 2 points. Their goal difference was 5-7 compared with Epson Ath 5-6 and Telferscot FC 5-6. To qualify for the Cup they needed a win to go level with Bure Park Old Boys whose goal difference was 5-6. So, any win would suit but they also needed Epsom Ath to fail to win their final game. Looking at the other end of the table they needed to avoid 5th to be eliminated. A draw would be ok if Epsom Ath lost their final game but otherwise a draw or defeat would see them knocked out (subject to goal difference if Epsom Ath also lost).

The Special Ones: Currently joint third but a draw would be ok to see them into the Plate as they had a superior goal difference compared to their opponents in this game.

At half-time, we were no closer to knowing what was going to happen. The teams were locked together at 0-0. In the second half we were to move towards clarity – a little bit. Marcus Landau scored a crucial goal for Telferscot FC to see them win the game 1-0.

It meant Telferscot FC moved up into second on “goals scored” over Bure Park Old Boys. They could yet be leapfrogged by Epsom Ath who had a game in hand. They would qualify for the knock out phase though.

For The Special Ones, they were currently in fifth place but if Epsom Ath lost by 2 or more then they would qualify for the Plate in fourth.

We had just one game left in this incredible group. It was Epsom Ath versus Villa Roca. Villa Roca had a free hit at this game – they had already won Group B but would no doubt love to keep their 100% win record going.

All eyes were on Epsom Ath though to see what they could do. Their fate was on a knife edge – they could finish as high as second place and qualify for the Cup, they could finish as low as fifth and be eliminated.

Any form of win would see them secure second place on goal difference. A draw or one goal defeat would see them finish in fourth position and progress to the Plate. A 2 goal (or greater) defeat would see them finish bottom.

To mix metaphors, they continued to walk a tightrope and remained on that knife edge as we kicked off the second half. The two teams entered half-time at 0-0. As with the previous fixture, it would be the second half that would settle matters. Lee Cliff scored his fourth and arguably most important goal yet as Epsom Ath won the game 1-0 and secured Cup qualification in the process.