Group B began with two teams familiar to eurofootballfives competition – CIS Committee and Red Cow Belgrade. They boast a combined 11 previous appearances between them. We'll preview CIS here and more on Red Cow Belgrade later as we progress through the group.

CIS Committee made the journey to Vilnius with 3 eurofootballfives.com victories to their name. They began their eurofootballfives.com journey at the 2011 Prague Masters when they became the first team from Belarus to compete in our tournaments. They showed sensational form in the group phase winning their first four games before finishing with a draw as they won Group B. They were then surprisingly defeated in the Cup Quarter Finals via Golden Goal 2-1 to Dark Horses.

They returned to action in 2014 when they competed in both the Budapest Fives and Bratislava Fives. They were unbeaten in both as they won both titles.

In 2015, they were looking to win a third straight victory and become only the second team in eurofootballfives.com history to defend a title (Athletico Do Hollande won the 2010 & 2011 Algarve Open). Things were looking good as they reached the Cup Final and lead 1-0 in the early stages. Their opponents, Csabagyongye then hit back to win 2-1.

2016 saw them make the journey to Budapest again to try and regain their crown. They started superbly winning their 6-team group with a 100% record scoring 14 goals and conceding just 3. They set up a Cup Semi-Final against Budapest Celtic Greens where a 0-0 draw saw the game go to penalties. Sadly for them they went out 3-1 in the shoot-out.

They also attended the 2016 Prague Tournament where they picked up their third tournament win. It was another 100% record in a 6-team group with 16 goals scored and just 1 conceded. They swept Damjan Radeka (Cze) aside 4-1 in the Semi-Finals before a hard fought 3-2 win over Team Extreme (Eng) in the Cup Final.

That was the size of the task facing Red Cow Belgrade and it always promised to be a tough opener – so it proved. CIS Committee scored twice in the opening period through Vladimir Ciganok and Aliaksandr Viazhevich. Red Cow Belgrade held them after the break. Final score, 2-0.

Match 2 saw Skidmarks against AFC Shooters B. Skidmarks are another team with huge experience in our events as they made appearance #8 in Vilnius. They would certainly be a team to watch as they looked to secure a 3rd eurofootballfives title. On debut they claimed the 2011 Valencia Fives title and followed this up with victory in the 2012 Krakow Trophy.

Skidmarks almost become only the second team to claim three titles in a row when they reached the 2013 Mallorca Fives Cup Final. However, French team Grant Thornton took the title that day. In the 2014 Budapest Fives they won their 6-team group and were looking on fine form until they came up against Argentina in the Quarter-Finals and lost 2-0. Skidmarks were on course for more success at the 2014 Bratislava Fives when they won Group A. Two close contests in the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals (both on penalties) saw them win through to the Cup Final. They finished Runners-Up to CIS Committee of Belarus who claimed their second title of the calendar year.

Their performance at the 2015 Algarve Open was below par compared to their usual high standards. They finished their group with 2 wins, 2 draws and just 1 defeat which was good enough for 4th (out of 6). They entered the Plate for the first time and raced to a 5-0 win over Kazakhstan FC in the Quarters before a 1-1 draw and subsequent penalty shoot-out exit in the Semi-Finals to Mavericks.

The 2016 Barcelona Fives saw a return to form as 6 wins out of 7 saw them become Group B champions. In the Cup Quarter-Final with Smithfields OAPs (Ire) they won on penalties after a 0-0 draw. The Semi-Finals saw them leave 1-0 after defeat to eventual champions Elcombe Old Boys.

They looked to get off to a winning start against AFC Shooters B (more on them later) here in Vilnius but were held to 1-1 at the break. In the second half Skidmarks eased away from their opponents to secure a 4-1 win. Richard Keely (2), Ash Britten and Jamie Dewinter were all on target for Skidmarks.

AFC Shooters B had no points to show for their efforts but were up and running in the “goals scored” department as Aaron Wheeler scored their opening goal of the tournament.

The 10.40 fixture in Group B was due to be KRP FK (Ltu) versus CIS Committee (Blr). However, despite reconfirming the day before the tournament KRP FK inexplicably failed to show for the event.

It was disappointing to say the least for the tournament as a whole and particularly the teams in Group B. It would mean all teams would earn a 3-0 walkover victory against KRP FK.

The next fixture on the field of play was Red Cow Belgrade versus Skidmarks. Could the “away” team record a second victory and join the team from Belarus at the top of Group B?

Red Cow Belgrade had tasted defeat in their first game and they had another tough task in their second game as they made their sixth appearance in eurofootballfives.com competition. They made their debut with us at the 2013 Budapest Fives and finished 4th in their 6-team group – a group that featured both the eventual finalists. They then played in the 2014 Algarve Open where they slipped to 6th in Group B and were eliminated at this phase of the tournament. They were much improved at the 2014 Barcelona Fives where 3 wins out of 4 in the group phase saw them finish 2 nd in Group C behind Spain's Prospe FC. 2nd in most tournaments is Cup qualification but in Barcelona it meant the Plate would await Red Cow Belgrade. They started off the knock-out phase well with a 3-0 win over BCN Raiders and then a 0-0 draw with ADP Netherlands in the Semi-Finals. They were victorious via penalties and met Naranjitos of Spain in the Final. Sadly for Red Cow Belgrade they couldn't quite get over the line and had to settle for Runners-Up medals after a 2-0 defeat.

In 2015 they featured at the Lisbon Tournament where they struggled in the group phase and qualified for the Trophy. In the Quarter-Finals, a second penalty shoot-out win in @eurofootball5's action led us to check their passports to see if they were actually English – they were. They progressed to the Semi-Final to defeat Where's Dave? 1-0. In the Trophy Final they met Frank Hirth A and after a 1-1 draw had to settle for Runners Up medals again as their true Englishness in penalty shoot-outs came to the fore.

Their 2016 tour was to the 2016 Riga Tournament. They started off well with 4 points from the first 6 before a downturn in form saw them finish in 4th (out of 6 teams). They regained their form in the Plate competition with a 5-2 win over Saga Louts and a 3-2 win over Zemniecki to reach another European final. It was Runners-Up medals again as they missed out to DHFC, 3-1.

Back here in Vilnius and it was a goal in each half for Jamie Dewinter and Luke Hatfield that won the game (2-0) for Skidmarks.

As we've seen above, KRP FK were a no-show. AFC Shooters B were due to be their next opponents but the English team would have to wait for their next action on the field. We chalked up their 3-0 win in the meantime.