Two groups down, two to go as we turn our attentions to Group C. 5 minutes before kick-off Group C was rocked by the news that Bayer Neverlosen would not be participating. It was understandably too late to find a replacement so we quickly re-jigged the fixtures and lengthened the games so that the 4 remaining teams in Group C would still get the same amount of game-time.

Due to the longer nature of the games we expected some higher scoring games in Group C…which was exactly what we got!

The first fixture to take place in Group C would be Spider Mans 1s versus Riga United.

Spider Mans were making their 9th eurofootballfives.com experience. Their most recent appearance was at the 2017 Barcelona Fives where they stormed the group phase. 6 wins and 1 draw saw them take 19 points from a possible 21 with a +17 goal difference. A narrow 1-0 defeat to Valencia's Naranjitos saw them exit at the Cup Quarter-Final phase.

They had a tough baptism to life in Riga as Riga United made a very fast start to the tournament. In particular, Victor Lopez Garcia who had scored four goals before most travelling players had even begun to sober up. The highlight of the first half though was a Sam A'Court wonder strike which was pinged into the top corner. Further goals from Sergey Vozdoyov and Ritvaldis Ancans though meant that Riga United has a 6-1 lead at half-time.

The fun didn't stop for Riga United in the second half as Victor Lopez Garcia took his personal tally to 6. Sergey Vozdoyov and Ritvaldis Ancans both added a second of the game plus there were goals for Marius Bews and Niels Krause (2). Ryan Stevens got on the score-sheet for Spider Mans 1s but it was a drop in the ocean as Riga United ran out 13-2 winners.

Steve Park Rangers were on the field next in their opening fixture against Deddington Sea Badgers. Steve Park Rangers were technically on debut but did feature Steve Kettle who toured with Spider Mans to Budapest last year.

Deddington Sea Badgers arrived in Latvia for their second eurofootballfives.com tour. This time last year they were in Poland for the 2017 Krakow Trophy playing as the Sea Eagles and Sea Otters. The Eagles squad won 2, drew 2 and lost 1 on their way to 3rd place in Group A. The Otters won 3, drew 1 and lost 1 on their way to 3rd place in Group B. Both teams would qualify for the Plate Semi-Finals.

The Sea Eagles won their Semi-Final 4-1 over Belgium's Trinacria. The Sea Otters were hoping to set-up an all-Deddington final but Fylde FC A had other ideas with a 7-1 victory. The Sea Eagles fared better against Fylde as they played out a 2-2 draw in the Plate Final. Penalties would decide the Plate and it was Deddington Sea Eagles who were victorious to pick-up silverware on debut.

Their quest for further silverware started well as they lead 2-1 at the break. Goals from Joe Thornton and Robbie Dwyer outgunned Michael O'Brien's strike for Steve Park Rangers.

In the second half Deddington Sea Badgers pulled away from their opponents with Joe Thornton going on to bag a hat-trick and Mike Large scoring a brace. There was a goal for Steve Park Rangers' Simon Shaw as the men in QPR kits fell to a 6-2 defeat.

After a brief break to take a breather Steve Park Rangers were back in action looking to avenge defeat as they took on Spider Mans 1s. Spider Mans were also looking to bounce back from an opening defeat as they aimed to put the 13-2 loss to Riga United behind them.

As mentioned in the previous game, Steve Kettle of Steve Park Rangers played for Spider Mans in Budapest last year. He was part of the Spider Mans & Great Hawk squad – 1 of whom he was facing today in the form of Sam A'Court. Team mates in Budapest, (friendly) rivals in Riga. Who would come out on top?

It was Spider Mans 1s who hit the front with Ryan Stevens putting them ahead to make it 1-0 with the aforementioned Sam A'Court making it 2-0 at half-time. Steve Park Rangers fell off the pace in the second half against Deddington Sea Badgers and they were to do so again. Ryan Stevens went on to score four in the game. He was the Spider Mans record goal scorer and he took his eurofootballfives career tally to 38. Barney Wilde was also on target with his first Spider Mans goal.

For Steve Park Rangers there was a consolation goal for Danny Foy but it was now 2 defeats in 2 for his team. Spider Mans 1 took the 3 points and meant it was 3 teams on 3 points at the mid-way stage of Group C.