10th February 2017, Sveti Ivan Zelina, Croatia
After the first day we know who will play in promotion/relegation pool
As expected the opening day of the EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy, Men in Sveti Ivan Zelina was very good. And we know, after first day, who will play in promotion and relegation pool.
Match 1: Inverleith – Slagelse 5:7
Slagelse started the tournament with a win over Inverleith from Scotland. Individual quality brought the advantage to Slagelse. Fourteen minutes till the end score was 7:2 for Danish team. Inverleith tried to close the gap but they ran out of time.
Match 2: RW Wettingen – Atletico CP 3:2
The most interesting match of the first part of the day was played by Rot Weiss Wettingen v Atlético Clube de Portugal. Joao Penetra scored in 6th minute for the Portuguese club. Benjamin Messerli scored two goals by half time for Wettingen. In the second half of the match, Atletico equalized after 8 minutes (Thiago Pereira). Five minutes before the end, Yves Morand scored the third goal for RWW. An important five points before the evening programme for swiss champion.
Match 3: Bohemians – Minsk 1:8
This was a very interesting game in the first half. Minsk were leading after 20 minutes by one goal (2:1). Although we expected a similar situation in the second half, we saw a one-sided match, with six goals by Belarus team. In particular, Aliaksandr Hrachou scored three goals, a fantastic performance by him.
Match 4: Racing Bruxelles – Zelina 4:0
The hosts had been waiting for this match v Racing Bruxelles and to see Tom Boon in action for the past year. The world hockey star showed little of his talent, but it was enough to score three goals.
The first half ended with only 1:0 for the Belgium champs, this was not a reflection of the talent of the Belgians who were the better team.
In the second half, Racing continued to dominate, and Zelina tried to surprise the favourites following counter-attacks. Zelina’s defence with GK Jurica Benkovic held until 38th minute when Racing scored a third and fourth goal of the game.
Match 5: Atletico CP – Slagelse 3:5
A 5: 3 victory over the Portuguese Atletico CP, means the Danish team Slagelse ensure the fight for the EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup next year. With two wins, they await Saturday’s match against RW Wettingen for the points in promotion pool. The Danes took the lead with 3:0, while Atletico, inspired by saves of goalkeeper Antonio Camacho brought the game back to 2:3 (two goals Joao Penetra) in 26th minute. However, Slagelse in the same minute scored 4:2 and and by the end of the match maintained the advantage.
Match 6: Inverleith – RW Wettingen 1:6
Rot Weiss Wettingen secured the promotion pool after their second win on Friday. In the afternoon game they beat Inverleith from Edinburgh 6:1. The Swiss team controlled the match from the beginning. A compact defence and very clever solutions in attack created problems for Inverleith.
Match 7: Racing Bruxelles – Bohemians 11:1
A real goal feast and a special performance from a strong Belgium side. Three goals from Boon, two from Charlier amongst others in 11:1 (4:0) win. One goal for Bohemians scored Vohnicky. The Belgium team is the first team from pool A to secure the promotion pool.
Match 8: Minsk – Zelina 5:4
What a game! The home crowd expected win for Zelina team, but start of the game was not good. Nosenko and Lutsevich gave a 2:0 lead for Belarus team. Zelina came back with a goals from Dierckens and Nowakowski, Minsk took the lead 3:2 via Hancharou in the 18th minute. Toni Premilovac gave lot of joy to the home crowd with an equalizer 90 seconds before the end of half-time. In a very intense second half, Zelina took the lead 4:3 in 38th minute from Nowakowski’s penalty stroke. A minute later, Minsk were awarded a penalty corner after Dierckens (Zelina) made a foul (yellow card). Lutsevich scored the goal to level the sides at 4:4. In the last minute, Zelina had a chance for goal but they missed. In a counter-attack, 20 seconds before the end, Hancharou scored a goal for Minsk and the Belarus team won the game 5:4 and a place in the promotion pool.
Full gallery of photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hkzelina/sets/72157678371772121