What a Cup Final we had in prospect! Riga United were looking imperious with a 100% record on their way to the final. In their way stood Deddington Sea Badgers who were looking for their maiden title in their second tournament with us.

These two teams had already met today with Riga United 9-3 which made them big favourites going into this Cup Final. This was a David versus Goliath match-up, it was Wimbledon versus Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup Final – would Deddington Sea Badgers be the Crazy Gang or the Culture Club (to use John Motson's terminology).

If Riga United thought they were going to have it all their own way – they would be wrong. It was a promising start for Deddington Sea Badgers who hit the front as Mike Large put his team in pole position for an upset. Riga United would then hit back through Victor Lopez Garcia – his 20th of the tournament. Having restored parity you may have thought that Riga United would forge ahead and maybe Deddington heads would drop. This could not have been further from the truth as the Sea Badgers went toe-to-toe with their opponents. Joe Thornton's 8 th goal of the day restored the lead for the English team and it was fully deserved.

The partisan crowd were fully behind Deddington Sea Badgers cheering every touch, every tackle and encouraging every attack. The crowd would then be disappointed as Ron Wyndemik equalized for Riga United to make it 2-2. Ritvaldis Ancans then put Riga United 3-2 up and that looked as if it may be the winner. Deddington Sea Badgers did look demoralized but only for a short while.

They soon cranked it up and were back on the front foot in looking for an equalizer. Deddington (and the crowd) got what they craved as Joe Thornton made it 3-3. An important goal for Deddington and the 300 th goal of an incredible tournament.

The full-time whistle went and Deddington Sea Badgers had earned a very good draw. It was not ‘backs to the wall' or ‘park the bus' stuff but they matched their opponents stride for stride. A penalty shoot out would decide the 2018 Riga Tournament.

This would be Deddington Sea Badgers fourth penalty shoot-out in eurofootballfives.com action and they had won the previous three. This gave them a great shout at the title and they should be confident. This would be our first glimpse at how Riga United would cope with the spot kicks.

It would be Deddington Sea Badgers to kick us off here….

Deddington went with the tried and trusted order that saw them through the Quarters and the Semis. Joe Thornton strolled up and coolly passed the ball into the bottom right-hand corner. 1-0.

Niels Krause was the first man up for Riga United. He was up against a goalkeeper in Rob Hull who had saved his last three penalties! Krause shaped to put it in the same corner as Thornton but curled his foot round the ball at the last minute. He sent Rob Hull the wrong way and equalized for 1-1 .

Mike Large was second man up for the Badger. 5 goals in normal tournament play, 2 successful spot kicks and now the chance to put his team 2-1 up. He went for power and sent the ‘keeper the wrong way. So much power that he tweaked his hamstring in the process. Not quite Bert Trautmann but heroic none-the-less. 2-1.

Sergey Vozdoyov versus Rob Hull for the fourth penalty. It was number 9 versus number 9. Vozdoyov shaped to go right but then went left. He almost wrong-footed Rob Hull but the English goalkeeper saw it just in time, went the right way and palmed the ball onto the post and out. 4 saves in 5 penalties faced – amazing. The score stayed 2-1.

This all meant that John Bird had the chance to win it for Deddington Sea Badgers. Leonhard Schlichting had to save this to keep Riga United hopes alive. John Bird curled it towards the right corner, Schlichting went the right way – the strike had enough power and precision to sail past the outstretched glove of Schlichting. 3-1.

We offer our commiserations to Riga United – they could not have come much closer to winning the title. They would collect runners-up medals in the presentation. There was some personal consolation for Victor Lopez Garcia who walked off with the Top Goalscorer Award (20 goals).

We offer our massive congratulations to Deddington Sea Badgers though – 2018 Riga Tournament Champions! It was an incredible performance and an incredible achievement. They proved the English can win penalty shoot-outs. Gareth Southgate – sign these guys up for Russia!

We'd like to thank everyone who participated for making it such a great day. The scenes at the presentation and the atmosphere during the Cup Final are testimony to what a great day we had. The spirit between the teams was exceptional so thank you. We hope to see you all again at a tournament very soon.