The 3rd annual Valencia Fives kicked off on the 15 th October 2011 with an interesting fixture between Hungary's Csabagyongye and English team Wandsworth Athletic.

Csabagyongye become our first Hungarian team to compete in a eurofootballfives.com tournament outside of Budapest. If they play as well as they did in Hungary they are sure to do well. Olympic Phil Babb have won 4 eurofootballfives tournaments but Csabagyongye were only seconds to knocking them out in the Cup Semi-Finals until Olympic Phil Babb grabbed a last minute equaliser and then won on penalties. They could easily be coming to Valencia with a eurofootballfives.com title to their name, will they be heading home with one?

Wandsworth Athletic were making their debut in our tournaments and they had a tough opening fixture but it was a game they performed well in although ultimately they were unable to take the points. In a close first half, it was the Hungarian team who drew first blood as Gergo Koczka put them 1-0 up.

In the second half 1-0 became 2-0 as David Kemeny secured all three points for Csabagyongye who began their challenge looking strong. Wandsworth Athletic had plenty of time to put points on the board.

Game 2 Spanish side 1980 Team take on Triple D. Triple D played in the 2010 Valencia Fives finishing 4 th in their group before suffering a narrow 1-0 loss in the Plate Quarter-Finals to Los Gorriones and would start off against Spanish opposition in 2011.

It was Atiko Team who got off to the quickest start as Grabiel gave them the all important lead. The first goal in eurofootballfives games often goes a long way to deciding the winner as it is so easy to concede when chasing an equaliser. Triple D were now chasing to get back into the game and it was a task they performed well.

Dave Tyrell got on the scoresheet for Triple D but, alas for them, it wasn't enough to rescue his side as Oscar's second half goal for 1980 Team ensured it was a Spanish victory, 2-1.

The final team to begin their Group A challenge was another team making their eurofootballfives.com debut – County (Re)United. They would come up against Hungary's Csabagyongye who already had a victory under their belt. County (Re)United had time to size up their opposition in Game 1 and it looked like it worked as they matched their opposition stride for stride in the first half. The two teams went into the break level at 0-0.

Csabagyongye were looking for a second successive victory which would put them in command of Group A. David Kemeny scored for the second game in a row in what was to be the only goal of the game and it was another 3 points for the tournament's representatives from Budapest. They sat on a maximum 6 points from 6. For County (Re)United it was an encouraging opening performance but with no points to show for it.

In Game 4, Wandsworth Athletic were looking to put opening game defeat behind them and register their first points of the tournament. Conversely, 1980 Team were hoping to make it two wins out of two and join Csabagyongye at the top of the table and make Group A a two-horse race. At half-time the teams were locked together at 0-0.

The 5 teams of Group A were looking pretty evenly matched and that continued in the second half of this fixture. We were to see goals and a first tournament goal for Wandsworth Athletic (scored by Alex Platt) but when the referee blew the final whistle, the teams were still locked together – this time at 1-1.

It was a good point for 1980 Team who consolidated second place in Group A. For Wandsworth Athletic it was a first point of the day and with two group games to go a couple of wins were needed but they were still right in contention.

The next game was Triple D versus County (Re)United in an all-England encounter. Both teams were looking for their first points and a win here would see the victors jump into 3rd place and just a point behind the Cup qualification places.

It was Triple D who took the early initiative with a first-half strike from Roy McConnell. It was a lead they were take into half-time. For County (Re)United it was time for them to find a goal and at least earn a draw. A defeat here would leave them with a major uphill task to reach the Cup. As hard as they tried though the Triple D defence stood firm. Triple D goalkeeper James Mimpress maintained his clean sheet and with that the victory was in the bag.

The 1-0 win put Triple D in 3rd place and in a healthy position. It did not look quite so rosy for County (Re)United but we were only at the half-way stage of Group and plenty of points to play for.