Picture: WAC/Johanna Perlinger-Ringler
Scotland’s Grange will face Ukraine’s OKS-SHVSM Vinnitsa in the men’s EuroHockey Trophy final following a dramatic third day of group games in Vienna.
Grange finished on top of Pool A after an exciting fight against HC Minsk, winning 3-2 thanks to a penalty-corner-rebound by Dominic Wild with four minutes on the clock.
Before that, Michael McKenzie opened the scoring after 16 minutes from a penalty corner. Tsimur Tsimashkou made it 1-1 in the 43rd minute when Minsk was already down to ten men after a red card when Aliaksandr Korsik was sent off for violent conduct.
Luke Cranney took back the lead for Grange in the 46th minute but Minsk, who needed just a drew to reach the final, levelled once again via Aliaksandr Hancharou for 2-2 after 53 minutes – but then Wild scored when the Ukraine side was down to nine players.
The win means the Scottish side, if they win the final, have a the potential chance of winning a second place in the Euro Hockey League for next season.
Earlier, Stroitel Brest finished in third spot after beating KS AZS AWF Poznan 4-3. Mateusz Nowakowski and Lukasz Kurniewicz put Poznan in front 2-0 before Stroitel scored the 1-2 via Yauheni Stsepanets in the 22nd minute.
The Poles scored again for 3-1 early in the second half but three goals in four minutes saw Stroitel turn the game around. Mihail Paulovich scored from a penalty corner (41.), Anton Sizhuk got the equalizer (43.) and Ivan Kisalevich converted a penalty stroke (45.) and they stayed in front despite three late yellow cards.
In Pool B, Vinnitsa secured their top-spot in Pool B by winning 13-1 against HC Bra but the Italians scored their first goal of the tournament to loud cheers of the crowd: Matteo Moro converted a penalty corner in the 25th minute.
Hosts WAC finished in third spot in Pool B after losing 3-2 in an exciting and fast final match against Rotweiss Wettingen.
Marco Michel opened scoring for the Swiss side in the third minute. But the home team from WAC got back on top in front of another packed ground after 14 minutes thanks to a short corner from Dominik Kaut.
Benjamin Messerli got Wettingen back in the lead from a corner after 29 minutes but, again, WAC got the equaliser when Mathias Podpera converted yet another corner for 2-2 in the 29th minute. With five minutes to go, it was Messerli again who put his side in second spot by scoring the 3-2 for Wettingen.
On Monday, Grange will meet Vinnitsa in the final on Monday, Minsk and Wettingen will fight for third place, while home-team WAC will play Brest for 5th. Bra and Poznan will open the day with their game for 7th place.
Sunday’s results
| 10:00 | POZNAN – BREST | Pool A | 3 – 4 | ||
| 12:15 | MINSK – GRANGE | Pool A | 2 – 3 | ||
| 14:30 | BRA – VINNITSA | Pool B | 1 – 13 | ||
| 16:45 | WAC – WETTINGEN | Pool B | 2 – 3 |
Monday schedule
| 09:00 | POZNAN – BRA | 7th/8th Place | |||
| 11:15 | BREST – WAC | 5th/6th Place | |||
| 13:30 | MINSK – WETTINGEN | 3rd/4th Place | |||
| 15:45 | GRANGE – VINNITSA | Final |
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