The technology & IT heat of Business fives took place on August 25th with 16 teams battling it out for their place at the national final on September 1st.  Supported by industry partner ScotlandIS the heat was played in good spirits with some very competitive matches.

With generous donations flowing in for the Trussell Trust, Jim Robertson, Scotland Partnership Coordinator shared success stories about the fantastic work the charity supports throughout Scotland in changing the lives of those who have fell on hard times.
The group stages saw teams from Sky, Exsel Group, Nine Twenty and FanDuel top their groups.  No team got out of the group without dropping points, a testament to the high standard of the heat.

In group A, Cathcart Associates narrowly missed out on a quarter final spot after showing some good goal scoring form beating DLA Piper 5-0, a score line that became all too familiar to DLA Piper who will be hoping to improve upon their showing at the winter edition.

Group B saw Exsel Group set out an early statement of intent with convincing wins over Cooper Software and Dumfries & Galloway Council, although they were held to a draw by Sopra Steria, who booked their place in the quarter finals on goal difference ahead of the council side.

In group C Nine Twenty and Dacoll finished level on points at the top of the table, both picking up wins against Craneware and Sky before playing out a draw in a tense affair.  It was however Nine Twenty’s 7 nil win over Craneware that got them through as group toppers on goal difference.

Over in Group D FanDuel beat Pulsant in the opener who then bounced back emphatically with Difference Corp on the wrong end of a 9-0 scoreline.  With an early injury to keeper Trevor Geraghty the cause of a reshuffle in the Difference Corp ranks a probable cause for their short lived stay in the tournament.

The team from Pulsant were spurred on by their opening defeat winning their quarter final tie against Nine Twenty 4-3 in what was the tie of the round with the Nine Twenty team very unfortunate to be hitting the showers early.

The team from Sky squeezed passed Sopra Steria with an own goal proving the only difference between the two sides in what was a cruel way to exit the tournament, with Scott Dawson winning a bottle of whisky in the charity raffle proving little consolation.

Exsel Group had reached their stride by the quarter finals with quality in their side in the form of two former professional footballers and current BDM’s, captain Lee Mair and John McShane.  The clean sheet against Dacoll was enough to see them book their spot at Lesser Hampden, that combined with Donald Young’s decisive finishing.

CRB Cunninghams were the last to book their place in the national final with a 2-1 victory over FanDuel.
The team from CRB Cunninghams gave the Exsel Group team a fright in their semi-final only to eventually be beaten 3-2 in a very close match.  The adjacent tie was an even tighter affair with Pulsant eventually losing out on penalties after a goalless draw against Sky.

The final was a one-sided affair with a Donald Young hat trick putting him way out on his own at the top of the goal scoring charts for the heat.  Sean McGuire’s man of the match winning performance provided the midfield engine that drove Exsel Group on to a 4-0 victory against the team from Sky.

The action continues at our national final on Thursday September 1st where teams from Standard Life, Santander, Maclay Murray & Spens, EDP Renewables, DJ Alexander, Keepmoat, Equator Scotland, NEO Environmental, Doosan Babcock, Sky, Pulsant, CRB Cunninghams and Exsel Group will take part to see who is crowned our national champions 2016.

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