22nd July 2017: The Eurohockey Junior Championship II ended in St.Peterburg. France beat Poland in the Final with a 3-0 win.
The day started with the final games of the Pool C, relegation Pool:
Pool C Italy – Turkey 2:2
Goals: Valentino Luca(p.c.), Pagliara(p.c.)- Demirel(2 p.c.)
The result means that Turkey are relegated and Italy finish 5th and stay in the division.
Valentino Luca, player Italy said: – “I think we played really good game. The second goal was so good, but we did not win one point for the win. Anyway, it’s a satisfactory result.”
Ukraine v Russia 2:7
From the first minute Russian team seized the initiative and led until the end of the meeting, and won with the score 7:2. Denis Starienko, young hockey player from Azov, who will be just 17, scored twice in this meeting. This result puts Russia in 6th place and safe in the division. Ukraine dropped to 8th and now face relegation from the division.
Goals: Kovalenko (p.c.), Mazurkevych – Kotkov, Starienko(2, 1-p.c.), Artemov, Arusiia(p.c.), Agafoncev(p.c.)
Oleksandr Frankov, Ukraine said “The game was not right from the start. There was no united playing.In general, the tournament prepared well, the field is ideal. I liked the tournament very much. Of course, we are frustrated. Of course we wanted to play for 1-4 places. I think that the French and the Poles stand out in the tournament, they played well and, of course, they play in the final game for 1-2 place.”
Aidyn Murtuzov, head coach Russia added “The fact is the team stay in Group B is good for the future championship. But the result is dissatisfied. We were hoping to go to the group A. Still, we did not have much training before this tournament. Many teams played for several tournaments, and we met just here for 10 days in total for the training – sparring. Of course we need more training and games to systematically prepare for championships like this.”
3rd / 4th play off: Czech republic v Scotland 3:4
Goals: Plochy(2 p.c.), Marek(p.c.) – Harwood(2, 1-p.c.), Mcquade(p.c.), Murray(p.c.)
The match for third place was interesting. The Scots led in the scoring, but towards the end of the game Czech really stepped up and brought the scoreline back to 3-4 in favour of the Scots, who held on to this marginal lead to the rest of the game. The Scottish fans dressed in kilts cheered on the boys to their bronze medal.
Ondrej Soukup, Czech Republic said – “You know, it was really hard match. We wanted to play good hockey. I think we played very well, but the Scots were better and more aggressive. I congratulate Scotland.”
At the end of the game Collins Murrey, Scotland added ” I am so, happy to finish this championship. We are happy with the results, but we disappointed to play for third place, we had come with the target of promotion.”
Final: Poland v France 0:3
Goals: Xavier(p.s.), Coffigniez Adrien(2 p.c.)
In the final match, the French confidently defeated the Poles and won the main prize of the competition.
Vincent Le Croller, Manager of team U21 France: – “We are very happy about the organisation. It was very comfortable and everyone was really helpful. I am also so happy because we won!”
Final Ranking:
| Team | Standing | |
|---|---|---|
 France |
1 | |
 Poland |
2 | |
 Scotland |
3 | |
 Czech Republic |
4 | |
 Italy |
5 | |
 Russia |
6 | |
 Turkey |
7 | |
 Ukraine |
8 |
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Watch back the final days play here
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