Belfius EuroHockey Championships – day two round-up
It was a spectacular day two at the Belfius EuroHockey Championships with five matches taking place on Super Saturday with 10 teams making their entrance onto the Antwerp stage.
In men’s Pool A, Wales almost pulled off a massive surprise win against England but their 2-2 draw makes for a fascinating Sunday of group-play. Spain will play Wales at 13.30 CET with England facing Belgium at 18.00 CET.
Pool B saw the favourites the Netherlands and Germany both start with awesome displays. The Dutch saw off Ireland 5-1 while Germany went even better, beating Scotland 9-0.
All four sides are back in action on Sunday with Ireland facing Scotland at 15.45 CET and a huge battle at 20.30 CET between the Netherlands and Germany.
Women’s Pool A also started with Spain nicking a late win over Russia to give their semi-final hopes a great start. Pool B starts early on Sunday morning with Germany facing Belarus at 09.00 CET before a crunch match between England and Ireland at 11.15 CET.
Men’s Pool A
England 2 (S Ward, J Gall) Wales 2 (G Furlong, R Furlong)
Wales almost caused a massive shock in their first appearance in the top tier of European competition for 20 years as they drew 2-2 with England in their opening game in Antwerp.
Indeed, it might have been even better for the Welsh men as they fought back from a 1-0 half-time deficit to lead 2-1 courtesy of goals from Gareth and Rhodri Furlong only for James Gall to snatch a late equaliser.
Read the full match report here
Pool B
Germany 9 (T Herzbruch 3, N Wellen 2, F Fuchs, M Grambusch, C Ruhr, M Haner) Scotland 0
Timm Herzbruch’s hat trick saw a sparkling Germany ease to a big win over Scotland in the opening game of Pool B in the men’s competition.
Germany raced into a 4-0 half-time lead with Herzbruch opening the scoring inside eight minutes before Niklas Wellen, Mats Grambusch and Florian Fuchs weighed in. Further second half goals from Wellen and Herzbruch gave them the perfect start to the competition.
Real the full match report here
Netherlands 5 (B Kellerman 2, M Pruijser 2, S van Ass) Ireland 1 (S O’Donoghue)
The Netherlands started off their chase for a third successive men’s EuroHockey Championship title in confident fashion with a strong win over Ireland in men’s Pool B.
It was built around a blistering opening eight minutes, scoring three times to virtually put them out of sight of the Green Machine. Seve van Ass, Mirco Pruijser and Bjorn Kellerman all netted during that phase and while Shane O’Donoghue pulled one back before half-time, a second goal each from Kellerman and Pruijser won the day.
Full match report here
Women
Pool A: Spain 1 (B Iglesias) Russia 0
Belen Iglesias’s dramatic 58th minute goal saw Spain spoil Russia’s return to the top tier of the EuroHockey Championships as they finally broke down a packed defence.
For Russia, their goalkeeper Viktoriia Aleksandrina was immense despite her small stature and she almost earned them a shock point against the World Cup bronze medalists. But Spain kept their nerve and eventually got the winning goal to start their tournament on the front foot.
Full match report here
Netherlands 1 (F Matla) Belgium 1 (M Struijk)
Hosts Belgium fought back to earn a big draw against the reigning champion Netherlands in as Michelle Struijk’s goal earned a share of the spoils in a dramatic 1-1 at Wilrijkse Plein.
Frederique Matla had given the Dutch a 1-0 lead as they controlled the opening stages but Belgium grew and grew into the game and duly deserved their draw.
Full match report here
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Sunday, August 18 schedule (all CET)
Women
Pool B: Germany v Belarus, 09.00; Ireland v England, 11.15am
Men
Pool A: Spain v Wales, 13.30 Belgium v England, 18.00
Pool B: Ireland v Scotland, 15.45; Germany v Netherlands, 20.30
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