Teun de Nooijer’s dream of winning the Euro Hockey League in his last ever playing season remains alive and kicking after his HC Bloemendaal team reached the tournament final courtesy of a penalty shoot-out victory against Amsterdam H&BC. The win means that the host club will play Belgium’s KHC Dragons, also winners on penalties in their Semi Final clash with Rot-Weiss Köln, in a mouth-watering final on Sunday.
The Dragons versus Köln match was a truly extraordinary game which really could have gone either way, but it was the Belgians who grabbed the win in dramatic style. Normal time finished with the scores locked at 3-3, before Dragons took the lead for the first time in the match at the start of the second period of extra time. However, Germany’s double Olympic gold medallist Christopher Zeller took the game into a penalty shoot-out with an overtime penalty corner. The first eight penalties were converted before Köln’s Benjamin Wess fired wide of the target, with Dragons captain Jeffrey Thys making no mistake by scoring the winning penalty to send his team into tomorrow’s final. KHC Dragons star Felix Denayer was named man of the match, presented by ABN AMRO.
In the second Semi Final, Bloemendaal were forced to overcome a two goal deficit before earning their place in the final. A brilliant double strike from Amsterdam’s Mirco Pruijser certainly dampened the festivities of the passionate home fans ahead of half time, but goals in the third and fourth quarters from Ebby Kessing and Australian international Fergus Kavanagh dragged Bloemendaal kicking and screaming back into the game. Man of the Match Wouter Jolie scored the winning penalty in the shootout, sparking wild celebrations from his team-mates and a large section of the 5000-strong crowd that enjoyed a tense and hard fought contest.
Sunday will feature three key matches as the European club season reaches its climax. The first match of the day - EHL's Bronze medal match between Rot-Weiss Köln and Amsterdam H&BC - takes place at 1015 (CET). That game is followed at 1245 by the Final of the EuroHockey Club Champions Cup, which sees HC‘s Hertogenbosch and Laren MHC meet in an all-Dutch encounter. The final of the Euro Hockey League takes place at 1515, with KHC Dragons and HC Bloemendaal fighting it out to lift one the most sought after piece of silverware in men's club hockey - the Alain Danet Trophy.
The EHL will be providing full coverage of the event, with live streaming and complete tournament information being available on www.ehlhockey.tv and through the Smartphone App. The women's EHCCC Final will be streamed live on the Euro Hockey League You Tube Channel. The EHL social media coverage will also be extensive, allowing fans to interact through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. More information about the competition can be found at www.ehlhockey.tv, the official website of the Euro Hockey League.
Source: Euro Hockey League
