The Spice Boys (Eng)

1

V

1*

Elcombe Old Boys (Eng)

* Elcombe Old Boys (Eng) won 2-0 on penalties.
 

After 132 games of football we came down to the most important of them all. Game 133 – The 2016 Barcelona Fives Cup Final.

Previous Winners:

2008 Rapid Bosco Navas (Spa)

2009 (June) Anglo Knights (Spa)

2009 (November) Luminy Wolves (Fra)

2010 Magic Monkeys (Eng)

2011 (April) Equipo A (Spa)

2011 (November) Midshire FC (Eng)

2012 Black Sheep (Spa)

2013 Los Swallacticos (NIR)

2014 Monexy (Ukr)

2015 Club Esportiu Llefia (Spa)

One thing was for sure – we would have our first English winner since 2011. The two teams set to do battle for the honour and glory of victory were The Spice Boys versus Elcombe Old Boys. Let's have a look at the two teams:

The Spice Boys

On debut and made a big impact at the start of the day racing to five consecutive wins. A late stumble in the group didn't de-rail them as they had done enough to reach the Cup. They then dispatched two impressive sides in the Quarter-Finals (Naranjitos who were 7 wins from 7 games) and Semi-Finals (Me Toca Tirar 7 wins, 1 draw). They were one game away from lifting the ultimate prize on debut.

Elcombe Old Boys

Following two Cup Semi-Final exits in 2013 and 2015 they had now reached their first Barcelona Fives Cup Final. In between, in 2014 they won the third tier Trophy competition after a hungover group phase saw them draw too many games before hitting top form in the knock-out phase. Today they had 7 wins and 1 draw in 9 games and boasted the tournament's best defensive record with just 2 goals conceded thus far.

So, where's your money? Who do you think will be crowned champions at 18.00 CET?

 
 
 

With the game underway it was Elcombe Old Boys who took a fairly early lead in the Cup Final. The goal came from Andrew Hampshire - his seventh of the tournament. Elcombe Old Boys had won their Quarter-Final and their Semi-Final both 1-0 so this would be a real test of The Spice Boys attacking pedigree. In fact, Elcombe Old Boys had gone six games without conceding and with such a record they would no doubt be confident in seeing this one out.

The Spice Boys had scored 20 goals already today but they would all count for nothing unless they could find a 21st . The Spice Boys proved they were up to the job though as Jordan Arthur scored his fifth of the day and we were all level at 1-1. The momentum was now with The Spice Boys and they almost had the lead as Jordan Arthur was almost on the end of a fine cross – if he had been there a split second sooner, if he was a couple of inches taller or wore boots a couple of sizes larger he could well have been putting The Spice Boys ahead. Instead, on the stretch, his shot went narrowly wide as he could not quite get enough purchase on it.

At the other end some last ditch defending prevented Elcombe Old Boys taking the lead. A goal-bound shot was blocked with the arm just outside the area and from the resulting free-kick a scramble ensued from which Elcombe Old Boys claimed a penalty. The referee waved play on – it was so hectic it would have been hard to give anything and we certainly couldn't tell from our vantage point. The sands of time ran out and we finished level at 1-1. Penalties would decide the 2016 Barcelona Fives champions.

It was Elcombe Old Boys to take the first penalty which Matthew Hall coolly converted to the goalkeeper's right. Samuel Oduntan was the first man to step forward for The Spice Boys to try and level it up. Oduntan went the same way as Matthew Hall but so did Andy Gartshore in the Elcombe Old Boys goal and he pushed the ball away to safety. It was advantage Elcombe Old Boys.

The second round of penalties would see Marcus Faure take on Michael Situ in the Spice Boys goal. Faure caressed the ball into the right-hand side of the goal to Situ's left and Elcombe Old Boys had a 2-0 lead in the shoot-out. It was up to Ryan Williams with 8 goals today to keep his team alive. He went high and hard down the middle as Gartshore dived to his left – it looked like it was 2-1 but somehow Gartshore raised a right paw just in time to keep the ball out. It was an incredible save and a worthy moment of brilliance to clinch the title for his team.

Our sincere commiserations to The Spice Boys who had come so close to glory but just missed out by the narrowest of margins. They had been brilliant on the day and it was a joy to meet them.

Our congratulations go to Elcombe Old Boys on their first eurofootballfives.com victory. It really did seem like a culmination of four year's hard work getting further and further in the tournament until everything clicked in 2016. All the work paid off!

We'd like to say a big thank you to all 32 teams who participated. The success of this great event really was down to you playing the tournament in a great spirit, being on time for fixtures and helping us keep everything running so everyone could have a superb time. It was a fantastic climax to our 2016 season which will live long in the memory. We very much hope to see you all in 2017 in Barcelona and/or one of our other destinations.

 
 
 
 
 
Group A
 

 
Group B
 

 
Group C
 

 
Group D
 

 
 
 
Trophy
 
Plate Knock-out
 
Cup Knock-out
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
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