The 2016 Amsterdam Fives Plate Final was to be contested by two teams who had grown into this tournament. Today would see both Team Koopman and Rain Dragons pick up medals but who would take the winners medals and the coveted Plate trophy?

With five games down and one to go the teams would need to summon up one last effort to collect those winners' medals. Both teams came into the game on the back of two successive wins and had almost identical records in goals scored and conceded today – Rain Dragons had a tournament goal difference of 13-14, Team Koopman's record was 14-14. It would surely be difficult to pick a winner.

If the teams looked evenly matched on paper they were equally evenly matched on the field of play. After the early exchanges it was 2-2 and it looked like we would change ends all square but on the stroke of half-time Team Koopman edged ahead 3-2. Could that goal prove crucial?

The Rain Dragons made sure it wasn't as they hit back in the second half to level things at 3-3. They then moved ahead to make it 4-3 and as we entered the final stages they looked destined to be crowned Plate champions. However, a late Team Koopman goal in the first half put them ahead and now a late second half goal put them level at 4-4. It was a goal that would take this Plate Final to a penalty shoot-out.

What a penalty shoot-out it was! We often run through the penalties one by one but to do so here would take forever as we saw an exceptional display of how to convert a penalty. The 3 regulation penalties were all scored by each team and we went into sudden death. 3-3 became 4-4 which became 5-5…….which became 9-9 and then the 10 th round of penalties proved the decider. Team Koopman scored, Rain Dragons didn't and it was the Dutch team who claimed the 2016 Amsterdam Fives Plate victory – many congratulations to them.

Take nothing away from Rain Dragons though who had performed well during the day and particularly in the afternoon and it was a cruel way to miss out on the title. So close but no cigar.