The EuroHockey Junior Championships, Men got underway today

A blistering start to the EuroHockey Junior Championships saw all the teams (Germany, France, The Netherlands, Austria, England, Poland, Spain and Belgium) on display.

Match 1: Germany v France 9-1 (Pool B) 

Germany played against France in the first men’s game of the event. The German team opened the score from the penalty spot in the second quarter via their captain Doesch. Prinz doubled the lead for his team in the 21^st minute. Just before half time, Permin finished a great counter for France to get back in the game. The score at half time was 2-1.

Germany dominated the third quarter and France was proceeding with counters. In the 44^th minute, the French goalie made a first great save but Weigand was ready for the rebound and pushed the ball in an empty net. Two minutes later, Hinrichs scored one more for Germany to increase its lead to 4-1. In 3 minutes, Germany scored 3 goals. Just before the end of the third quarter, Weigand scored his second of the game. The same Weigand completed his hattrick from a spectacular dive to make it 7 for Germany. In the fourth quarter, Germany added two more goals to win the game with 9-1 against the French team.

Match 2: England v Poland 6-2 (Pool A) 

England got their tournament off to a solid win over a nervous looking Poland. 5 minutes into the game, England converted their first penalty corner via RUSHMERE. In the first quarter, England had the best chances but Poland was defending. Despite a dozen penalty corners, the English men couldn’t increase their lead. Just before half time, WALLACE smashed one home to eventually double the lead for England.

A few minutes into the third quarter, GRIFFITHS put one more into the net for his team. In the 42^nd minute, WAY scored the 4^th goal for England from a penalty corner. At the start of the last quarter, BEMBENEK scored a brilliant goal after an amazing pass through the English defence. This goal gave some hope to the Polish team but WAY scored his second of the evening from a penalty corner to secure a comfortable lead for the English with 8 minutes left on the clock. WALLACE scored also his second goal of the match in the last quarter. With two minutes left, Poland pulled one back from the penalty spot. But the final score was 6-2 for England.

Match 3: The Netherlands v Austria 10-0 (Pool B) 

The Netherlands clocked up a big score in their opening game v Austria. Van Bijnen opened the score in the 7th minute, with not one but two goals within seconds of each other. HOEDEMAKERS added 2 more in the second quarter to bring the score to 4-0 and CHARBON added another to make it 5-0 at half-time. Another 5 were added in the second half from MIDDENDORP, BEINS, 2 from van de VENNE and one from BIJEN to give the Dutch a 10-0 win and set them up nicely for their second game of the Tournament on 17th v Germany.

Match 4: Belgium v Spain 0-2 (Pool A) 

In the last game of the day, the host faced Belgium. In the first quarter, the ball moved fast from one goal to the other but neither team created big chances. Spain earned some penalty corners in the second quarter but couldn’t take advantage of them. Belgium was playing on the counter but it was Spain that open the score on a counter, finished by Cobos, 3 minutes before half time. In the next minute, Belgium earned a penalty corner but it was deflected wide. The score at half time was 1-0 in favour of the locals.

In the 31^st minute, the Spanish goalie made a great save to deny Belgium to score the equalizer. The host doubled their lead on a penalty corner converted by Alonso. In the 45^th minute, Belgium was awarded their 4^th penalty corner but once again, the Spanish goalkeeper kept his net clean. Belgium had the best chances in the last quarter of the game but Spain was defending well. The locals booked an important 2-0 win against Belgium.

Pool Rankings after Day 1:
Pool A