Last but not least, we come to Group D where the group began with Lilchicago versus Bede FC.

Lilchicago (LTU) became the second team from Lithuania to appear in our tournaments when they made the journey to the 2017 Mallorca Tournament earlier this year. They were hugely impressive in the group phase with 4 wins and 1 draw in their group games. They went on to win Group A with 11 goals scored and just 3 conceded. In the Cup Quarter-Finals they drew 1-1 in normal time but left the competition via a penalty shoot-out defeat.

This therefore represented a tough start to the Vilnius Tournament campaign for Bede FC (more on them later). As suspected the difficult start proved to be the case with Lilchicago finding themselves 2-0 up at half-time thanks to Danas Kulisauskas and Sarunas Krasauskas. Bede FC were more solid in the second half but were unable to reel in their opponents. Final score, 2-0.

Match 2 in Group D saw 3 Lions FC meet The Crazy Gang as two regular teams in our tournaments would meet face-to-face for the first time.

It was appearance number 6 for Chris Baginsky's 3 Lions FC. 3 Lions made their debut in the 2008 Barca Fives. They came very close to going home with a trophy when they finished runners-up in the Plate competition. They were on fire in the knock-out stage with a 4-1 win over the CSF in the quarter-finals and a 6-1 win over the 2008 Prague Masters Plate winners, Prisoners, in the semi-finals. They then fell at the last hurdle against Czech team DHL Prague 3-1 in the final. Close but no cigar. Their compensation for defeat was a trip to the Nou Camp to watch Barcelona versus Getafe. They returned to action in the 2009 Amsterdam Fives where they were outstanding in the group phase winning 10 points out of 12 to take Group A (only a 1-1 draw with the CSF prevented a 100% record) before a surprise Cup quarter-final exit.

Their next appearance was at the 2011 Mallorca Tournament where they finished 3rd in their 6-team group. They went on to the Plate Semi-Finals where they lost narrowly (2-1) to eventual winners FC Dukesfield. Berlin is a welcome return for 3 Lions FC. After Mallorca, was the 2014 Berlin Fives where 3 wins out of 4 in the group stage saw them qualify for the Cup before they succumbed to the eventual champions, Hasanheide Hotspur, in the Quarter-Finals.

Most recently was the 2016 Budapest Fives where they drew a tough group that featured 3 x eurofootballfives.com winners CIS Committee (Blr) and 2 x eurofootballfives.com winners Budapest Celtic (Hun). They finished 4th to qualify for the Plate competition. They beat Maverick FC 4-1 in the Quarter-Finals before succumbing to Budapest Celtic who they met again in the Semi-Finals.

We'll preview The Crazy Gang in more detail in the report for their next fixture. Here in the first game they found themselves a goal down to the 3 Lions after the early exchanges. Taranjit Panesar scored their first of the day in the first half. In the second half Stacey Cross sealed the win, 2-0.

The final team to get underway in Group D was Funfoot. They were up against Lilchicago who already had a 2-0 win under their belts. This was Lithuania versus Lithuania for the first time in today's event.

In 7 eurofootballfives.com games before this one (6 in Mallorca, 1 today), Lilchicago has secured 5 wins and 2 draws so this would be a good opening test for Funfoot. Funfoot were an unknown quantity to us so the result of this game would give us an idea of how they may fare in today's tournament.

They did pretty well in fact and scored the only goal of the game in the opening period. Now, it is not unusual for goalkeepers to score in our tournaments – from penalties, free-kicks or throwing caution to the wind when trying to find a late equalizer. The “sweeper keeper” is becoming more and more prevalent. However, it is not often goalkeepers score early in games as teams are usually more cautious.

There was no such caution from Aivaras Meskinis as the Funfoot goalkeeper not only scored but kept a clean sheet – a remarkable performance.

Bede FC were next in action against 3 Lions FC as the “home” team in this tie. They came away from their opening fixture empty handed against the might of Lilchicago. They were aiming to bounce back against 3 Lions FC and get their tournament challenge on track.

Bede FC (Eng) made their debut back at the 2011 Barcelona Fives and picked up a first European victory with a 2-1 victory over eventual Plate Winners, Bristol Bridge. Other results did not quite go their way and did not reward their performances as they were unlucky to finish 5th on goal difference – going through to the Wooden Spoon Semi-Finals but going down to Stamford AC. They played in the 2012 Algarve Open finishing 4 th in their group before a narrow 2-1 exit in the Plate Quarter-Finals to Goals Aloud of Wales. A return to the Algarve Open in 2013 saw them struggle in the group phase finishing 6 th . In the Wooden Spoon Final they lost on Golden Goal to Norton Old Boys. Next stop was the 2014 Amsterdam Fives where they finished 5th in their 6 team group before Vodafone Netherlands were responsible for their exit in the Plate Quarter-Finals. Fast forward to the 2015 Bratislava Fives and they lost narrowly to the 2015 Mallorca Tournament winners, Saipan FC. They followed this up with a 3-1 win over Slovakia's Donuts. A 2-1 loss to Tekkerslovakia followed and they ultimately finished 4th in their group. An epic Quarter-Final and 10-goal thriller wowed the crowds but sadly they missed out on the next round, 6-4, to the 2013 Budpapest Fives champions – Team Bear.

At their most recent outing at the 2016 Mallorca Tournament Bede FC had their most successful group phase to date in terms of points with a 60% win ratio as they finished 4th of 6 teams. They qualified for the Plate and in the Quarter-Finals met 2 times eurofootballfives.com Plate winners St Paul's College Old Boys. Bede FC sadly succumbed at this stage.

3 Lions FC came into the game looking to go top of the table. A draw or a victory would secure that objective. This was a pretty even game that saw both teams enter the break level at 0-0. The score remained 0-0 at full-time with David Hillman (3 Lions FC) and Eddy Clarke (Bede FC) taking credit for the clean sheets and marshalling their defences.

Eddy Clarke can be particularly proud as this was Bede FC's first clean sheet in European football.

The game that brought us to the halfway stage of Group D was Funfoot and The Crazy Gang. The former came into the game on the back of defeat and would not relish what looked to be a tough game after Funfoot's defeat of Lilchicago earlier in the group. A win in this game would give the Lithuanian team the luxury of a two point lead going into the second half of Group D.

Earlier, we promised to preview The Crazy Gang in more detail – and we shall. They made their eurofootballfives.com debut in 2010 when we held a charity tournament in Manchester on behalf of The Prostate Cancer Charity. They finished 5th in their 6-team group and narrowly missed out on the knock-out phase. They then made their European debut at the 2014 Bratislava Fives and drew a highly competitive group finishing in 6th position. A Trophy Quarter-Final followed where they went out to the eventual Trophy Winners, Ziar Crew.

They followed this up by competing in Lisbon in 2015. They finished 6th in Group B to qualify for the Trophy competition and went out in the Quarter-Finals to Frank Hirth who went on to complete a Plate & Trophy double in Lisbon. It was a similar story at the 2016 Riga Tournament where they also finished 6th in Group B and made the Trophy again. They lost in the Trophy Quarter-Final to Aliance – who went on to win the Trophy. It was the third year in a row that The Crazy Gang had lost to the Trophy winners.

The Crazy Gang made a mockery of that form as they put in an ultra-strong performance against the Vilnius-based Funfoot. The Lithuanian team had claimed quite a scalp in Lilchicago last time out and expectations were heightened. The Crazy Gang put in a heroic performance and held their opposition for 99% of the game. Just as it looked like they would earn a draw up stepped Aivaras Meskinis to score with the last kick of the game.

For Funfoot it was two 1-0 wins. For Meskinis it was two goals in two games – let us remind you, he is the goalkeeper! We believe this is the first time a goalkeeper has scored in two successive games in our 91 tournament history.