It was 16 games down and 12 to play as we entered Round 5 of Group D. We began on Pitch A with Unbelievable Technippers versus Athletico De Leave. This was a basement battle between the two teams in 7th and 8th position in the standings. At the end of Round 7 the top six would progress to the knock-out phase with the bottom two eliminated – if either team wanted to avoid elimination a win here would go a long way to aid their cause.

Based upon the previous four rounds it was Unbelievable Technippers who held the slight advantage as they had a point to their name, had scored 1 to their opponents 0 and conceded 9 to their opponents' 15.

If this made Unbelievable Technippers the favourites for this game then they seemed to enjoy the label as it was they who forged ahead. It was Stephen Mangan who gave his side the lead. Unbelievable Technippers were in unchartered territory as they extended their lead to 2-0. It was Mangan again with the goal.

Things were looking ominous for Athletico De Leave but they had a foothold in the game when Vivek Deva reduced the deficit to 2-1. Deva had the honour of scoring Athletico De Leave's first goal in eurofootballfives.com competition. He was swiftly followed by Anish Koshal who produced an equalizer to make it 2-2.

The game finished with no further score and whilst both teams would be happy to get points on the board the draw did not benefit them vastly in the overall context of Group D.

The next game in Group D was the big one – a top of the table clash between Beercelona and Red Light Runners. This was to be a real heavyweight contest between two teams who both held 100% records with 4 wins out of 4 each. For one of these teams (or maybe both) that 100% record would be over at the full-time whistle. Whoever could win this game would have one foot in the Cup competition, the loser would have work to do.

A draw would not be the worst result in the world for either team. They currently enjoyed a 4 point lead over their nearest challengers so both teams would be guaranteed a spot in the Cup qualification places at the end of the round. Should the game finish in a drawer then Beercelona might be the happier as they were currently top on goal difference. They were currently +13 compared to their opponent's +10.

With the game underway it was Red Light Runners who made the initial breakthrough through Cory Gallagher – continuing his run of scoring in every game. As the game reached it's latter stages there was an equalizer for Beercelona through Jason James. It looked as if they had done enough to earn a draw but no sooner had they drawn level then they were behind again. Stephen Doherty was the man to restore the lead for Red Light Runners.

Stephen Doherty was the top goalscorer here in 2008 (with 11 goals) to add to the 10 he scored at the 2008 Krakow Trophy. This was his 6th of the tournament today and arguably one of his most important.

Throughout the tournament so far it has been Beercelona 1st and Red Light Runners 2nd – that was to change for the first time today as the team's swapped places.

The next game on Pitch C in Group D would be a key battle that would probably decide which of these two teams would make it to the Plate and which would make it to the Trophy. It was Drunk Perfect versus Bolivar who sat in 4th position and 5th position respectively.

This was Drunk Perfect's fifth Barcelona Fives campaign and their group record so far read:

2011: Played 4, Won 1, Drew 2, Lost 1, For 4, Against 8, Points 5 (3rd)

2012: Played 4, Won 1, Drew 2, Lost 1, For 5, Against 6, Points 5 (3rd)

2013: Played 4, Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 3, For 9, Against 8, Points 3 (4th)

2015: Played 4, Won 1, Drew 1, Lost 2, For 9, Against 9, Points 4 (4th)

2016: Played 4, Won 1, Drew 2, Lost 1, For 6, Against 5, Points 5 (4th) *so far.

As you can see, their performance today was pretty much par for the course based upon previous years. They were looking to qualify for the Plate for the third time. Bolivar had 1 previous appearance for which they had qualified for the Trophy. On this basis you would see Drunk Perfect held the slight historical advantage.

It was of course what happened on the pitch here in 2016 that mattered and it was Drunk Perfect who held the advantage in the here and now. It was a closely fought contest and a narrow win but Drunk Perfect did emerge victorious. It was Carlos Pacheco Alfonso's fifth goal of the tournament that earned his team a 1-0 win.

That left us with Shahs of Sunset versus Los Swallacticos. Shahs of Sunset were struggling today compared with previous tournaments as they currently languished in sixth position. Los Swallacticos remained unbeaten with 2 wins and 2 draws as they occupied third place in the table. They needed to catch up four points on the two teams above them but they had an opportunity. The two teams above them were due to play head-to-head in Round 5 and then Los Swallacticos were due to play each of those teams in the final two rounds. Things were definitely still in Los Swallacticos's own hands but they had to win this one to make it count.

Their group record over the years read:

2013: Played 4, Won 3, Drew 0, Lost 1, For 8, Against 7, Points 9 (2nd)

2014: Played 4, Won 3, Drew 0, Lost 1, For 11, Against 5, Points 9 (2nd)

2016: Played 7, Won 2, Drew 2, Lost 0, For 9, Against 2, Points 8 (3rd) *so far

On both previous occasions they qualified for the Cup by finishing in second position. I am sure if you offered that to Los Swallacticos now they would take it. Given the results so far today you would make them favourites to take 3 points from this game and close the gap on the two teams above them.

That is exactly what happened. Ruairi O'Neill missed out on the 2013 title triumph but made quite a debut in 2014 as Los Swallacticos made it to the Cup Final again and he took the tournament's individual honours – he was the top goalscorer with 9 on that occasion. He scored twice in this fixture either side of a Conor Taylor goal to help his team to a 3-0 victory. It was getting very interesting at the top!