FINAL 4 Easter Sunday knock-out action at the Euro Hockey League
Harvestehuder, Racing Bruxelles, Dragons and Oranje Zwart make it to the Final Four
Eindhoven, 18th of April 2014, – After yet another brilliant day of action in the Eindhoven sun, four clubs have emerged from the pack to contest the FINAL 4 on Easter Sunday with the ultimate prize moving ever closer to reality. Belgian duo Racing Bruxelles and Dragons have made it through, hoping to become their nation’s first overall winner while Germany’s Harvestehuder and host club Oranje Zwart are also dreaming of a first win in European hockey’s elite club competition.
First up today, Germany’s Harvestehuder scored three times in the closing quarter to earn his side the first entry to the semi-finals as they eventually ran up a 4-1 win over Madrid’s Club de Campo. Johan Bjorkman scored twice, the second coming eight minutes from the end, to make it 2-0 before Ruben Mulder got one back. But two last gasp goals saw the Germans storm over the line.
http://www.ehlhockey.tv/video/highlights-club-de-campo-madrid-harvestehuder-thc
Racing Bruxelles produced a superb team performance to outdo Belgian champions the Waterloo Ducks 4-2 in the second KO8 tie of the day, earning their first Final 4 spot in some style.The Racing Rats came from 2-1 behind at half-time to produce some of their best hockey and progress with Anthony Versluys, Scott Tupper and Cedric Charlier making the game safe.
http://www.ehlhockey.tv/video/waterloo-ducks-hc-rc-bruxelles-2-4
In the third quarter-final, Dragons stunned Rotterdam with a backs-to-the-wall 1-0 win as they withstood a late onslaught to keep alive their chances of returning to the Euro Hockey League final for a second successive year. Felix Denayer’s second quarter goal was all that stood between the teams as he finished off Louis Rombout’s excellent right wing cross and it ended up being the only goal of high octane battle.
http://www.ehlhockey.tv/video/rotterdam-khc-dragons-0-1
Oranje Zwart eventually prevailed in the day’s final action ahead of Real Club de Polo on a penalty shoot-out. Normal time had finished 0-0 win a tense and physical tussle between two well-matched teams. In the shoot-out, Dutch stars Jelle Galema, Sander Baart and Bob de Voogd held their nerve to win it 3-1 and take their place in the final four.
http://www.ehlhockey.tv/video/highlights-oranje-zwart-real-club-de-polo
To watch: Final Four matches at Easter Sunday
The FINAL 4 will be played on Sunday with Racing Club de Bruxelles taking on Harvestehuder at 11am while KHC Dragons line out against Oranje Zwart at 2pm, the third Dutch side the Belgian side will meet this week.
More information about all the games including full reports and video highlights of all the matches can be found at www.ehlhockey.tv, the official website of the Euro Hockey League.
Source: EHL Media Release
Photograph: EHL/Frank Uijlenbroek (c)