As the 2012 Valencia Fives Cup Quarter-Finals were about to get underway we were down to the 8 top performing teams in the tournament representing the England, France, Hungary and Ireland. Only ill-discipline had cost the home nation with a chance to claim victory for Spain. There would be 7 games which would decide who would emerge victorious and claim the 2012 Valencia Fives title.

We started on Pitch A with England versus Ireland as Shahs of Sunset met Mestallaban. Shahs of Sunset were the Group A winners with a 100% record in legal fixtures and only a defeat to the subsequently disqualified Luminy Wolves prevented them having a perfect morning. Mestallaban had had a superb morning. Following a slow start and opening game defeat they roared back going 4 games unbeaten (3 wins, 1 draw) which included a fine 3-0 win over the Group B winners FC Miracle.

With two teams possessing such fine records it was perhaps no surprise that we finished the game deadlocked at 2-2. Martin Weltman and Anes Jusic had both added to their personal tallies for the Shahs of Sunset whilst Shane Murphy and Emmet Egan netted for Mestallaban.

A penalty shoot-out ensued in which one man emerged as the hero of the hour – John Fitzpatrick. The Mestallaban goalkeeper can rightly claim man of the match for three incidents – saving a penalty in normal time, saving a penalty in the shoot-out and scoring the winning penalty in the shoot-out for a 3-2 penalty win. Mestallaban were through to the Semi-Finals.

Shahs of Sunset were out in the cruelest of fashions. The big problem with going out in such a way is that you wonder if you had got through the shoot-out just how far could you have gone in this tournament. For today we will never know but well done Shahs of Sunset on a good performance throughout the day.

Grant Thornton of France were up next against Team Extreme of England. The French team qualified as Group C winners having won 2, lost 2 in the group phase. Team Extreme put opening game defeat behind them to surge into the Quarter-Finals on a run of four games unbeaten (3 wins, 1 draw).

Team Extreme certainly had some momentum going in their favour and it was maybe no surprise when they took the lead through Dave Cole's 5th goal of the competition. The English team maintained the lead until half-time and were in pole position to make the Semi-Finals.

Grant Thornton would be no pushovers though and if Team Extreme had expected a fightback they got it. If we rewind back 5 months to the 2012 Budapest Fives we saw Grant Thornton (as L'Albiceleste) win their group and then go out in the Cup Quarter-Finals 1-0. Surely history would not repeat itself?

Thibault Kerouredan pulled them level at 1-1 before Fateh Bekhouche put the French 2-1 up. The comeback was complete when Olivier Douard made it 3-1. The game had been turned on its head. Within a flash Team Extreme had gone from pole position to out of the tournament but they had come up against a good Grant Thornton side so there was no shame in defeat.

It was our great pleasure to welcome Team Extreme to the eurofootballfives.com fold in Valencia and great to see the lads out in the pub later for the post-tournament social. We trust you had a cracking night out and hope the Sunday morning hangover doesn't put you off competing in our tournaments again!

The final Quarter-Final was CBD Boys versus Alphasights. If Mestallaban had been a surprise package in Group B from previous tournament performances then CBD Boys were another team that had showed vast improvement in this tournament. The Omani team were winless during their previous outing in Barcelona but had already recorded 4 wins in 5 games here in Valencia.

Alphasights were another team on the up but to a lesser degree as their progress was less of a surprise. They picked up the Plate Runners-Up Medals in Krakow last year and were four games unbeaten in the group stage here today to reach the Cup (* ignoring defeat to the subsequently disqualified Leones FC). Their unbeaten run now stretched to six games.

Alphasights gained the early advantage in this contest as they forged a 2-1 lead by half-time thanks to a double strike from Andreas Friedberg who outgunned the solitary strike from CBD Boys Sean Cuthbertson. After the interval Friedberg made a real name for himself by scoring twice more for four in the game and six overall in the tournament.

CBD Boys added to their tally with an Adrian Tavain strike - 9 goals on the day for him. He would not get the chance to add to his tally though as CBD Boys were out, 4-2. A big thank you goes out to CBD Boys though for making the journey from Muscat – we hope they enjoyed the day to make the journey worthwhile.

Alphasights marched on and stretched that unbeaten record to 7 games.