11.10.2015; Royal Leopold, Club Egara, Amsterdam and Harvestehuder THC all claimed their tickets to the Euro Hockey League KO16 which takes place next Easter following day three in Hamburg.
Leopold confirmed their place with a 3-0 win over Dinamo Elektrostal, winning Round 1 Pool C though they had it far from their own way.
Goals from Dimitri Cuvelier, Agustin Mazzilli and Gabriel Dabanch proved the difference from a game they only needed a draw to advance from. Elektrostal did have a number of big chances in the closing 20 minutes but Leo’s defence held firm to see out the result with something to spare.
In Pool D, Club Egara got the 3-3 draw they required to advance despite an incredible comeback from Monkstown. It was scoreless until 16 minutes from the end before a crazy blitz of goals saw the pendulum swing quickly one way and then the next.
Edi Tubau’s two goals, adding to Lluis Mercade’s strike, had the Spanish side 3-0 ahead but Kyle Good, Gareth Watkins and Peter Caruth gave Egara a real scare. Ultimately, it was not enough to nick the win the Irish team needed to advance.
Amsterdam were too strong for Saint Germain in Pool A, running out 4-0 winners. Sander ’t Hart opened the scoring after two and a half minutes and while the French team defended well, they struggled to get any forward momentum.
Valentin Verga’s pair of goals killed off the tie before ’t Hart scored the fourth goal.
In front of a packed house, bolstered by a boisterous Austrian contingent from HC Wien, Harvestehuder THC sent the sizeable host support home happy as they completed the line-up for the KO16 with a 6-1 win to top Pool B.
Michael Korper’s four goals played a key role, aided by efforts from Tobias Hauke and Leon Willemsen. The loudest cheer of the day came for Simon Landsteiner’s goal for Wien, a special moment for the Austrian club in one of the biggest games in their history.
It means the 16 teams are confirmed for the EHL KO16 which takes place next Easter. The quartet join the Netherlands’ Oranje Zwart and SV Kampong, Germany’s Rot-Weiss Koln and UHC Hamburg, Spain’s RC de Polo and Atletic Terrassa, England’s Wimbledon, Poland’s WKS Grunwald Poznan, France’s Racing Club, Russia’s Dinamo Kazan and Belgium’s HC Leuven and KHC Dragons.
To relive all the action from an epic weekend of hockey at Hamburg, you can have a look at our
– Video highlights
Have a look at all the goals and highlights packages either on the EHL highlights centre or the EHL Youtube channel
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Photograph: Henet Romain, Leopold celebrates (EHL/Frank Uijlenbroek (c))