18th February 2018: A fine team performance from Rot Weiss Koln has earned them their 9th European Crown here in Wettingen this afternoon as they beat Racing Club de Bruxelles by 5 goals to 2.
Final: Racing Club de Bruxelles v Rot Weiss Koln 2 – 5 (0 – 4)
In their first final since 2013, Racing conceded a penalty corner to Rot Weiss Koln in the 5th minute of the game, converted by Fleckhaus to put the Germans into an early lead. Miltaku scored a second, in the 11th minute, flipped up over the keeper from a simple pass by Ruhr. The Belgians worked hard to break through the German defence but some basic errors let them down. Koln went ahead again in the 16th minute via Trompertz. Racing opted for a power play and were punished with a 4th goal scored into an empty net just before half time Trompertz scoring his second of the half.
An error with their substitutions left Koln down to 4 players and no keeper in the 27th minute, a penalty corner was also awarded. Boom made short work of the corner, scoring Racing’s first goal, 1-4. Another error in the 28th minute meant Koln were down to 3 and no keeper, but a mis-trap on the corner meant Racing could not take advantage. Ruhr converted a penalty corner in the 31st minute taking the score to 1-5 in favour of Koln. Boon, dangerous as always, converted a second penalty corner in the 37th minute to bring the Belgians closer 2-5, but it wasn’t enough to challenge an impressive German side, who improved from game to game at this event.
Individual Awards:
U21 Player of the Tournament: Georgii ARUSIIA, Dinamo Ekaterinburg
Top Scorer and Best Player: (9 goals) – Marco MILTKAU, Rot Weiss Koln
Best Goalkeeper: Philip van LEEUWEN, AH&BC Amsterdam
Final Tournament Ranking:
- Rot Weiss Koln, Germany
- Racing Club de Bruxelles, Belgium
- Dinamo Elektrostal, Russia
- AH&BC Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- HC Rotweiss Wettingen, Switzerland
- SV Arminen, Austria
- Surbiton HC, England (relegated to Trophy, 2019)
- C.H. SPV Complutense, Spain (relegated to Trophy, 2019)