Round 1a of the highly-anticipated second season of Euro Hockey League - the elite European club hockey competition for men - got underway on Friday in Amsterdam, with clubs from Germany, Poland, France, England, Ukraine, Italy and Russia all in action.
The first match of the day was played between Poland's KS Pocztowiec Poznan and Club an der Alster of Germany, with the Alster running out 3-0 winners thanks to a sparkling performance. A penalty corner effort from all action defender Alexander Sahmel gave Alster an early lead before Oliver Hetschel doubled their advantage before half time. . The scoring was completed by Nico Sonnenschein shortly after the break to give Alster a comfortable victory.
Russia's Dinamo Kazan and Cannock of England played out a nine goal thriller in the second match of the day. Arsen Gevorkyan gave Kazan the lead inside five minutes before the veteran Russia striker was brought down four minutes later for a penalty stroke, despatched clinically by Ivan Kisialevich. Cannock then levelled the scores with strikes from captain Richard Lane and Matt Taylor. Kazan were once again in the lead thanks to the penalty corner skills of Pakistan international Syed Warsi, but Gareth Andrew pegged Kazan back once again with a close range finish. Warsi again converted to take the score to 4-3 in Kazan's favour, but late goals from Richard Lane and Hardeep Jawanda ensured all of the points went to Cannock.
In today's other matches, Italy's HC Bra were defeated by an impressive St Germain outfit, while WKS Grunwald Poznan were too strong for Olimpia Kolos Sekvoia of Ukraine.
The event, taking place at Amsterdam H&BC in The Netherlands, runs until Sunday, with Round 1b taking place in Lille next weekend. For extended match reports and tournament information please visit the Euro Hockey League website: www.ehlhockey.tv. We are pleased to announce that matches will now be streamed live on the website, allowing you to watch the matches on line as they happen.
