We arrived at the Plate Quarter-Final stage and we would shortly see eight teams reduced to four teams. We had a high quality line-up in the Plate with 3 of the 4 teams who had played in our tournaments before having reached the Cup knock-out phase previously. We also had 4 teams on debut.

One of those teams to have reached the Cup before was Fylde FC Old Boys who reached the Cup Semi Finals at the 2017 Krakow Trophy and the Cup Quarter-Finals at each of the 2018 Amsterdam Fives and the 2019 Alicante Tournament. Today they were up against FC Champagne who were on debut.

It was Fylde FC OB who took the lead through Andy Clough. The English team had the joint third best defence in the tournament with just 4 goals conceded and 3 clean sheets in the group phase so it would be tough for FC C(h)ampagne to get back into this game, but they did. A Craig Forbes goal saw them equalize for 1-1.

FC C(h)ampagne were maybe in a slightly false league position in 6th in Group B given that they were the only team to beat the Group B winners and 2017 champions PFC (Bra). It showed the strength in depth of Group B and what FC C(h)ampagne were capable of producing. However, it was Fylde FC OB who would go on to secure the third and crucial goal of this tie. Ryan Errington's fourth goal of the tournament and arguably the most important sent the English team through to the Semi-Finals.

In the lower half of the Quarter-Final draw it was Tikki Masala versus Bugiels Athletic. Both these teams were on debut and breaking new ground with each step in our tournaments. As such we have no history with which to preview this fixture except for the fact that each team had two squads in this tournament and each team would have played their opponents' sister-squad in the group phase.

In Group A, Tikki Masala had defeated Bugiels Rovers 2-0 whilst over in Group B Bugiels Athletic had defeated Semen Padang 2-1. We are sure these squads would've sourced scouting reports from their mates about their opponents but could they put that info to good use on the field of play.

It was to be Bugiels Athletic who broke the deadlock and it was a great goal to separate the two sides. Matt Styles got on the end of a long pass over the top to control a volley and make it 1-0. They were not ahead for long though as Jonathan Paiva swept home to make it 1-1 and put the game back in the balance.

Both previous Quarter-Finals had finished 2-1 and this game would continue that trend. It was another spectacular goal from Bugiels Athletic to win it. Liam O Connell produced a fine solo run and composed finish at the end to send his team through to the next stage. A worthy goal to win any tie.

The final Quarter-Final saw Semen Padang take on Deportivo Dooradoyle. It was the third placed team in Group B (Semen Padang) who only missed out on the Cup on goal difference taking on the 6 th placed team in Group A (Deportivo Dooradoyle). On paper, the Dutch team were certainly favourites against the Irish.

On the pitch though there was nothing to separate the two teams as the match finished 0-0 so we would need a penalty shoot-out to decide who would take the final Plate Semi-Final berth. You would think this would favour the Irish as they had 6 wins out of 7 penalty shoot-outs in our events. Their record was:

2013 Barcelona Fives, Trophy Final: Won 2-1 v Drunk Perfect.

2014 Berlin Fives, Plate Final: Lost 2-0 v Scandittack.

2015 Algarve Open, Wooden Spoon Final: Won 6-5 v Whiteley FC

2015 Barcelona Fives, Cup Semi-Final: Won 3-2 v Elcombe Old Boys

2018 Gdansk Tournament, Plate QF: Won 6-5 v FC Maroon

2019 Budapest Fives, Plate QF: Won 2-1 v World Pinteur

2022 Mallorca Fives, Cup QF: Won 2-1 v AFC Blue Boys

It was Deportivo Dooradoyle to take the first kick with Neil Timothy successfully putting his team 1-0 up. Semen Padang's goalkeeper turned striker as Amine Elmeghni placed the ball on the spot. He made no mistake to level at 1-1. Patrick O'Brien was next up and he duly slotted home to make it 2-1. Semen Padang were level again thanks to Balint Takacs successfully finding the back of the net.

Kevin Shine took the final regulation penalty before sudden death for Dooradoyle and he made it 3-2. All attention turned to Fay Bitous who could extend this shoot-out and keep his team in the tournament but there was agony as he saw his penalty hit the post and rebound to safety. It was yet another shootout win for Deportivo Dooradoyle.

We had to say farewell to Tikki Masala & Semen Padang on the pitch. We wondered if they might meet in the Semi-Finals but both sadly missed out. We'd like to thank them both for making the journey from the Netherlands to Lisbon to compete. They were a great addition to our events and we hope to see them again in the future.