Another dramatic day at Round 1 in Barcelona and there still remains all to play for with all four KO16 tickets still up for grabs. Kampong struck twice in the last five minutes to stun East Grinstead 3-2 while home favourites Atletic Terrassa bounced back to draw with SV Arminen. Rot Weiss Koln and Daring opened their accounts with big wins over Grunwald Poznan and Monkstown, respectively.
Here’s a breakdown of day two’s main action:
Pool A: Kampong 3 (R Kemperman, M Havenga, C Jonker) East Grinstead 2 (M Gleghorne 2)
Kampong summoned a controversial late fightback to beat East Grinstead 3-2 in the final game of day two, scoring twice in the last five minutes to leave the English side wholly frustrated.
Mark Gleghorne’s first half goal had EG in front at half-time as they looked a transformed side with Ashley Jackson in the team. Robbert Kemperman equalised only for Gleghorne to tip in an excellent team goal
The lights went out with 14 minutes to go, necessitating a break for them to come back on and Kampong levelled for a second time on the restart via Martijn Havenga’s penalty stroke.
Then, in the final minute, Pepijn Luijkx fired a perfect cross for Jonker to deflect into the top of the goal to win the game 3-2.
It means Kampong need a draw from their game on Sunday against Dinamo Stroitel to claim a KO16 ticket while East Grinstead must wait on the outcome.
Pool B: Royal Daring 3 (T Cosyns, V Megnez, G Cosyns) Monkstown 0
Royal Daring began life as and EHL side with a well-crafted victory over Monkstown as they made the right bursts at the right time to land the result.
Tanguy Cosyns scored a spectacular opening goal from their first penalty corner in the eighth minute. The lead was extended when Manu Brunet dashed forward and his shot was redirected into the goal by the lively Victor Wegnez for 2-0 on 40 minutes. Monkstown did win three penalty corners but could not convert while Jof Cosyns vollyed home a third goal on the final whistle to add extra garnish to the win.
It sets up a Sunday showdown with Racing Club de France with the winner taking all in the race for the KO16 ticket. That game will be played at 2.30pm (CET).
Pool C: Rot Weiss Köln 5 (C Zeller 3, C Menke, T Grambusch) WKS Grunwald Poznan 0
Christopher Zeller’s second half hat trick saw Rot Weiss Köln move into a great position to progress to the KO16 as his team shot home five times after the big break to beat WKS Grunwald Poznan in the first game of Round 1, day two.
After a scoreless first half, Zeller popped home the easiest of finishes to break the deadlock and subsequently smashed home a second off the back of two good Mariusz Chyla saves for 2-0.
Christoph Menke’s solo goal, a Tom Grambusch penalty stroke and a Zeller penalty corner rocket completed the win. Should they defeat HC Bra on Sunday, they will reach the KO16 phase.
Pool D: Atletic Terrassa 2 (E Roig, M Torrente) SV Arminen 2 (P Schmidt, A Bele)
Atletic Terrassa salvaged a dramatic draw to bring Pool D down to the wire on Sunday, clawing back a two-goal deficit in a dramatic battle with Austrian champions SV Arminen.
Arminen became the first Austrian side to win a game in the EHL on day one and carried that confidence in to today’s game with gusto. They got off to a breathtaking start, building a 2-0 lead in the first quarter through excellent goals from Patrick Schmidt and Alexander Bele.
Terrassa, though, battled back and were back in the mix when Eduard Roig got the deftest of touches to a brilliant Albert Beltran run and shot. From there, they camped in Arminen’s circle, hitting the post and letting a couple of penalty corner chances slip before Marc Torrente nipped in to deflect in a set-piece move with five minutes to go.
It means Atletic are still alive in the competition while Arminen face a nervous wait on Sunday. If the Spanish side win by a better scoreline than the 5-2 the Austrian team managed against Kelburne, then they will advance in the place.
Throughout the weekend, we will have live streaming on http://www.ehlhockey.tv/
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Sunday 12 October 2014
9.30am, Pool C, KTHC Rot-Weiss Koln v HC Bra
12pm, Pool D, Atletic Terrassa v Kelburne
2.30pm, Pool B, Royal Daring v Racing Club de France
5pm, Pool A, SV Kampong v Dinamo-Stroitel
Source: EHL
Photograph: Frank Uijlenbroek/EHL
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