EHL ROUND1, Barcelona, October 6 – day two round-up:
– Oranje-Rood make dominant start to their Pool A campaign
– Mannheim set up Wimbledon showdown with a big win in Pool B
– Leopold show a clean pair of heels to Grunwald in Pool C
– Three Rock snatch late draw to put pressure on Junior FC in Pool A
Photos: Tournament photography – you can find free for reproduction photos at this link from each of the games today! Please credit Frank Uijlenbroek/EHL
Live stream: You can enjoy every minute of the action on the European Hockey Federation’s www.eurohockeytv.org website hosting the live stream for each game. To view the games, simply register with the website for free and you can take in all 12 games over three days in Barcelona.
Friday 5 October 2018
Pool A: SV Arminen 4 (A Bele 2, Philip Schmidt, Patrick Schmidt) Grange 1 (J Tweedie)
Pool B: Wimbledon 5 (E Malthouse, I Lewers, J Codling, I Sloan, P Roper) Dinamo Elektrostal 2 (N Dvoretskii, M Proskuriakov)
POOL C: HC Minsk 1 (U Kochkin) WKS Grunwald Poznan 2 (M Hulboj, A Mikula)
Pool D: Three Rock Rovers 6 (M Darling 2, C Empey, D Walsh, M English, R Canning) Racing Club de France 0
Saturday 6 October 2018 (all times CET)
Pool A: (T Briels 2, L Martinez 2, B de Voogd, T Beins) Grange 0
Pool B: Mannheimer HC 7 (G Peillat 2, L Vila 2, G Barreiros, T Nguyen, F Schues) Dinamo Elektrostal 2 (N Dvoretskii, I Larikov)
Pool C: Royal Leopold 3 (K Russell 2, T Zimmer) WKS Grunwald Poznan 1 (A Mikula)
Pool D: Junior FC 1 (S Enrique) Three Rock Rovers 1 (L Madeley)
Sunday 7 October 2018 (all times CET)
M9 09.30h Pool C Royal Leopold (BEL) vs HC Minsk (BLR)
M10 11.45h Pool A HC Oranje-Rood (NED) vs SV Arminen (AUT)
M11 14.00h Pool B Mannheimer HC (GER) vs Wimbledon HC (ENG)
M12 16.15h Pool D Junior FC (ESP) vs Racing Club de France (FRA)
Day two reports
Pool A: HC Oranje-Rood 6 (T Briels 2, L Martinez 2, B de Voogd, T Beins) Grange 0
HC Oranje-Rood eased to victory as they broke down a strong defensive performance from Scotland’s Grange who had their moments but could not bridge the gap in star quality.
Indeed, Douglas Gourlay had a busy afternoon between the posts and made a number of big saves while they initially kept Oranje-Rood out with Mink van der Weerden whipping two drag-flicks wide.
The breakthrough did come in the 12th minute when Thomas Briels snuck along the baseline. His intended cross fell back to him at the base of the right post and he nudged it over the line for 1-0.
Grange did win a corner following Todd Mills good work down the left channel but Pirmin Blaak was equal to what was their best chance on goal.
Bob de Voogd fired in the next just before the end of the second quarter for a strong lead but things were not going fully their way. Van der Weerden saw a penalty stroke brilliantly saved by Gourlay.
Teun Beins did nail a corner drag-flick for the third before Lucas Martinez added another before half-time on the backhand; 4-0 at half-time.
The second half saw Grange continue to be dogged in defence, taking the sting out of the Oranje-Rood attacks but they did concede another when Briels finished off in the 42nd minute.
Martinez thrashed in his second during the endgame to complete a strong win that means the Eindhoven club need a draw or better on Sunday against SV Arminen to reach the KO16.
Pool B: Mannheimer HC 7 (G Peillat 2, L Vila 2, G Barreiros, T Nguyen, F Schues) Dinamo Elektrostal 2 (N Dvoretskii, I Larikov)
Mannheimer HC shook off the first half shackles as they hit full throttle in the second half of their EHL ROUND1 game to pull away from Dinamo Elektrostal.
Importantly, they moved ahead of Wimbledon’s goal difference, meaning they only need a draw on Sunday to go through ahead of their English rivals.
The first half was a close run battle with Dinamo going 1-0 up against the run of play when Nikita Dvoretskii broke clear from halfway and went it all alone to beat the last defender and fire a brilliant shot into the roof of the goal.
They were able to hold that lead until the 17th minute when Gonzalo Peillat whizzed a corner home by the right post for 1-1 but they never really cut loose before the break, struggling in the face of the Russian defence.
Elektrostal, though, ran out of legs in the second half with Peillat doubling his total with another powerful corner after the break. Tino Nguyen then followed up a corner to fire into the roof of the net for 3-1.
The final quarter saw them up their goal count significantly as Felix Schues got their first goal from play, Guido Barreiros tapped in at the back post and Lucas Vila extend the advantage to 6-1. Ilya Larikov pulled one back from a corner but Vila put an emphatic final exclamation point on the success, baseball-style, to make 7-2.
The result means they have a better goal difference and so can afford to draw against Wimbledon tomorrow while the English side must win their battle.
Pool C: Royal Leopold 3 (K Russell 2, T Zimmer) WKS Grunwald Poznan 1 (A Mikula)
Royal Leopold took a significant step toward qualifying for the EHL KO16 as their set-piece machine put them on course for victory over WKS Grunwald Poznan.
Kane Russell struck twice in the first 20 minutes from Leo’s first two corners while another drag-flick ended up hitting a Polish body on the line. That gave Tanguy Zimmer the chance to add the third goal from the penalty spot, making it 3-0 at half-time.
The Belgian club always looked the sharper outfit with their swift stickwork and intricate passing creating numerous opportunities. Goalkeeper Mateusz Popiolowski produced a number of world-class saves to keep the scoreline down.
He was swapped out for Rafal Banaszak in the second half and he kept his sheet clean in the third quarter as Grunwald got a greater grip on the game.
Indeed, the Polish club got a brilliant goal with four minutes to go when Tomasz Dutkiewicz’s long overhead was batted back from the baseline by Mateusz Hulboj into the path of 40-year-old Artur Mikula who volleyed home first time.
It earned Grunwald what might be an important losing bonus point, one which lifts them above Leopold overnight. The Belgians, though, have a game left to play against HC Minsk and so a draw or better on Sunday will see them advance.
Pool D: Junior FC 1 (S Enrique) Three Rock Rovers 1 (L Madeley)
A dramatic final quarter means it is all to play for on Sunday as Luke Madeley’s equaliser with 70 seconds to go earned Three Rock Rovers a 1-1 draw with Junior FC.
It means that the pressure is on Junior to run up a total of at least six goals on Sunday against already eliminated Racing Club de France if they are to have a chance of reaching the KO16 for the first time.
There was very little between the two teams throughout their battle at the Pau Negre Stadium. Junior had the first shot in anger as Alex Gil saw his shot booted away by Jamie Carr while Harry MacMahon put in a blockbuster tackle to deny another Junior attack.
Rovers were always their equal, though, and they won a couple of corners in the second quarter which the Sant Cugat club dealt with to keep the scoreboard blank.
Into the second half, it remained very close with few chances in the third quarter. Gil fired his second drag-flick wide and John Mullins went close when he reacted quickest to a mistake, his shot fizzing by the right post.
But, as Rovers tired following two games in 25 hours, Junior looked to have taken full advantage when Sergi Enrique powered home a corner.
The Irish club swapped out their goalkeeper for an extra outfielder and, after some patient passing, a ball into the circle came off a body. Madeley duly stepped up to score with a low drag into the backboard and the draw.
“It was a mad game,” Madeley said afterwards. “We were in it the whole way through and unfortunate to go 1-0 down but we kept fighting and it shows the character of the team to come back.
“It’s tough in the heat – we are not used to that back home – but we pushed hard and I guess we have to be happy with the draw. There’s nothing more we can do about it now.”
Moments before the Junior goal, Madeley was looking to take a short water break but was able to get back into the action to score the key goal.
“I was pretty tired alright; I am not going to lie! Just got myself back on and the lads were able to win that corner and I just did my job.”
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