Round 3 started with an important fixture between FK Prienai and Shahs of Sunset. FK Prienai could take a stranglehold in Group C with a win that would put them 6 points clear at the top. Shahs of Sunset needed to quickly bounce back from their 4-1 defeat at the hands (or should we say feet) of Burritos.

Shahs of Sunset made an impressive debut in our tournaments all the way back in 2012 at the Valencia Fives. They topped their group and qualified for the Cup competition where they lost out to Mestallaban (Ire) on penalties in the Quarter-Finals. In the 2013 Budapest Fives they topped their 6-team group again without conceding a goal to qualify for the Cup. They went to penalties in the Cup Quarter-Finals again but this time won through. Their adventure ended in the Semi-Finals when they lost to the eventual champions, Team Bear, 1-0. At the 2013 Barcelona Fives they finished joint top on 9 points in their group but ended up 3rd on goal difference meaning they incredibly missed out on the Cup. A Plate QF win was followed by a SF defeat to end their day.

At the 2014 Bratislava Fives they finished joint-top of their group again with 12 points from a possible 15. They drew 2-2 in their Cup Quarter-Final with Spider Mans & Eagle before winning on penalties. In the Semi-Finals they also drew 2-2 with Skidmarks but this time went out on penalties. Their next appearance was at the 2015 Lisbon Tournament which saw them draw a particularly tough group and despite being unbeaten they finished fourth – 4 draws in 5 games slowed their progress. They qualified for the Plate competition where they secured solid 3-1 and 4-1 victories in the QF and SF to meet Frank Hirth B in the Final. They missed out on ultimate glory with a 2-0 defeat in the final.

2016 took them to the Barcelona Fives where they drew another tough group that featured two previous eurofootballfives.com winners. They won 3 out of 7 games and finished 5 th of 8 teams which saw them qualify for the Trophy. In the Quarter-Finals they defeated Ireland's Beercalona (1-0) before a narrow Semi-Final defeat to Giggs Boson (3-2).

A first half strike from Martin Weltman put Shahs of Sunset in the ascendency here. It was a lead they would not relinquish and it was a great win. FK Prienai had played 7 previous group games in our tournaments and were unbeaten with 5 wins and 2 draws….until now. It was a great scalp for Shahs of Sunset and just what they needed to kickstart their campaign.

The next scheduled fixture was Burritos versus Riga United Legends. We awarded the 3-0 walkover win which made the table look very interesting – 3 teams tied on 6 points at the top.

AFC Shooters A and Shahs of Sunset were the two teams next to do battle. Shahs of Sunset will have been buoyed by their last result and if they could pick-up a win in this one they would have a real chance of qualifying for the Cup. AFC Shooters A could still do it themselves – they would need to win this and their subsequent fixture.

It was Shahs of Sunset who made the initial breakthrough in this fixture and it was Martin Weltman on target for the second game in a row. The Shahs held the narrow lead at half-time. In the second half they extended that lead to 2-0 and then to 3-0. Martin Weltman was going through a purple patch in front of goal as he completed his hat-trick and made it 4 goals in 2 games.

The game finished 3-0 and Shahs of Sunset had done all they could on the pitch. They had posted 9 points and would now have to see if that would be enough to qualify for the Cup.

For AFC Shooters, the result meant they could now only qualify for the Plate competition.

The penultimate fixture was the academic exercise of adding FK Prienai's 3-0 walkover win against Riga United Legends. It put them on 9 points and crucially above Shahs of Sunset on goal difference. It meant that FK Prienai could finish no worse than second and would qualify for the Cup.

So, all that left us with was Burritos against AFC Shooters A to end proceedings in Group C. AFC Shooters A had a free game in a sense as they could finish no higher than 3rd and no worse than 4th due to the above results. It would be great for them if they could sign off Group C with a result and take some momentum into the knock-out phase.

The above results also meant that Burritos had to win to have any chance of qualifying for the Cup. Anything less and they would be in the Plate. If they were to win they would move onto a three-way share of the lead on 9 points and it would come down to goal difference to see which 2 from 3 would make the Cup.

At kick-off, Shahs of Sunset were +4, FK Prienai were +7 and Burritos themselves were also +4. It therefore meant any form of win would be good for them and not so good for Shahs of Sunset. If the result went the other way, a win for AFC Shooters A by 4 goals or more would see Burritos slip to fourth.

Burritos were taking no chances and produced a stunning performance. They raced to a 3-0 lead in the first half alone. Another three followed in the second half as AFC Shooters A were hit for 6. There was a hat-trick for Ben Messam plus a goal each for Andrew Monaghan, Matthew Lee and Andrew Perris.

Burritos had not only qualified for the Cup but would go through as Group C winners – a great effort.