Day 3 of the EuroHockey Championship, Men, Valencia

Pool B took to the pitch today and The Netherlands took another step to the semi-finals with a tight win over Germany.

Match 7: France v Austria 6-1

In the first game of the day, France and Austria faced each other early this morning. The French team dominated the first quarter. They were controlling the game, trying to find the opening in the Austrian defence, which was very compact. In the first minute of the second quarter, France drew first blood in this tight affair, as the ball is scrambled over the line by the captain. Two minutes later, Sellier doubled the score for France on the rebound of a penalty corner. In the 23^rd minute, the Austrian goalie made a big save to deny the French guys to increase their lead. A minute later, on a brilliant pass from Curty, Lenglet deflected through the legs of the keeper to make it 3-0 for France.

In the second half, again France dominated the game taking advantage of some Austrian errors and turnover ball. France had chances to extend its lead through 2 early penalty corners but the shots went wide of the post. Austria had a big chance in the 3rd quarter to get on the scoresheet as SCHIPPAN found himself 1v 1 with the French keeper, but his reverse shot went high over the goal. France scored its 5th via IGAU in the 43rd. But the goal of the match and France’s 6th was a sublime pass from GOYET, left to right onto the stick of DESGOUILLONS in the circle which he put away. Austria continued to press and was rewarded with a pc in the final minute which led to a penalty stroke which UNTERKIRCHER slotted home to bring the final score to 6-1.

Match 8: Germany v The Netherlands 1-2 

The second men’s game of pool A was an important game towards the semifinals, to decide who would probably top the pool. The first quarter was played in between both circles but the teams were controlling the game and neither of them seemed to take any risks. The Netherlands had a big chance on the buzzer before the first break as the German goalie was beaten but the ball was dangerous and not going towards the goal. On the first penalty corner of the game, the Dutch took the lead via Lageman. Seven minutes before half time, Bosserhof did some great work down the baseline but the ball went just wide the post.

In the third quarter, Germany put a lot of pressure on the Dutch defence. And a minute before half time, the German captain scored the equalizer from the penalty spot. With 10 minutes left on the clock, Germany turned the ball over high up the pitch and a first time shot on the reverse from Hoedemakers puts his side back into the lead. With one goal down, Germany took their goalie off with 4 minutes left on the clock. But the Dutch team kept their advantage and didn’t concede a goal against. The final score was 2-1 in favour of the Dutch.  

 Ranking Pool B