28th August 2017: The men’s EuroHockey Junior Championship began with a bang with 26 goals across four games in Valencia, crowned by a thrilling 3-3 draw between the hosts and the Netherlands.
Pool A: England 8 (W Calnan 5, D Scott, J Clee, P Scott) Portugal 0
Will Calnan scored five times for the English Under-21s as they proved too strong for the promoted Portugal in the opening game of Pool A. Calnan opened the scoring in the third minute before adding a second from the penalty spot.
Duncan Scott’s effort made it 3-0 at the half-time interval. Another stroke from Calnan and field goals from Jack Clee and Peter Scott extended the lead to six before Calnan completed the win with two penalty corner goals.
Lars Balk and Marc Miralles battle for possession. (c) Frank Uijlenbroek/World Sport Pics
Netherlands 3 (B Burkhardt 2, T Beins) Spain 3 (I Cobos, L Garcia Alcalde, M Miralles)
The Netherlands scored twice in the closing 10 minutes to draw 3-3 with Spain in front of a boisterous home crowd in Valencia.
Boris Burkhardt got the Dutch in front from a corner with a low drag-flick in the 15th minute. The hosts got back on terms a minute into the second quarter when Lucas Garcia Alcalde’s shot rebounded to Ignacio Cobos who netted. And Spain moved in front in the 39th minute following a glorious move. Manu Bordas and Sam Cortes exchanged passes before the latter crossed for Garcia Alcalde to guide home.
Cobos then won a stroke which Marc Miralles converted for a 3-1 lead. Teun Beins reduced the gap with ten minutes to go from a corner rocket and they got back level in the 54th minute when Burkhadt smashed in his second.
Pool B:
Germany 4 (N Bosserhoff, J Schiffer, M Rothlander, T O Prinz) Ireland 2 (S Wolfe, L Madeley)
Quick-fire goals from Moritz Rothlander and Ties Ole Prinz saw Germany shake off the attentions of Ireland in a lively opening game of the tournament, played in the early morning sunshine.
“I think it was a good game to start,” German coach Valentin Altenburg said of the tie. “Ireland did a good job defending which was very effective. Whenever they entered our circle, they were very dangerous, equalising twice and making things very difficult for us.”
Germany got off to the perfect start with Niklas Bossherhoff opening the scoring in the first minute. Simon Wolfe levelled the tie before Jan Schiffer got on the end of a brilliant cross to put Germany 2-1 up at half-time. Luke Madeley’s drag-flick from Ireland’s only corner equalised the game for a second time. But moments later Rothlander restored the German lead and Prinz completed the win.
Belgium 5 (G Stockbroekx 3, L Capelle, T Willems) Austria 1 (F Steyrer)
Gregory Stockbroekx’s hat trick saw Belgium see off Austria 5-1 to give them a lead on goal difference after day one of the men’s campaign. He had scored two by half-time and his third made it 3-0 early in the second half.
Captain Florian Steyrer – one of three Austrians who played at the Euros in Amsterdam along with Oliver Binder and Fabian Unterkircher – got one back from the penalty spot. Louis Capelle and Tommy Willems completed the victory for the Belgians.
Upcoming fixtures:
| Wednesday 30 August 2017 | |||||
| 09.00 | MB | Ireland | v | Austria | Pitch 1 * |
| 11.15 | MB | Belgium | v | Germany | Pitch 1 * |
| 17.45 | MA | England | v | Netherlands | Pitch 1 * |
| 20.00 | MA | Spain | v | Portugal | Pitch 1 * |
All games will be Live-streamed on www.eurohockeytv.org