The Netherlands and Germany have indicated their readiness for the upcoming TriFinance EuroHockey Championships thanks to stellar performances on the opening day of the ERGO Masters, Hamburg’s globally famous men’s invitational tournament.
The Netherlands powered to a sensational 6-1 win over England, with Constantijn Jonker proving to be the star of the show with a superb hat-trick in a dominant Dutch display. Impressively, all of the goals came from open play, with Robbert Kemperman, Seve van Ass and Rogier Hofman also getting on the score-sheet before a late consolation goal from England’s Darren Cheesman.
Speaking after the match England Head Coach Bobby Crutchley said, “We were punished by a far better team today who capitalised on some basic errors in our defending. I was disappointed with some of the individual performances and we have left ourselves with much to prove in our remaining games against Germany and Ireland at the weekend.”
Host nation Germany were also in sparkling form, cruising to a 6-0 win over Ireland. Marco Miltkau scored twice in the rout, with Oskar Deecke, Thilo Stralkowski, Mats Grambusch and Florian Fuchs adding to the tally. Germany were in superb form throughout the contest, and would surely have had more goals were it not for a brilliant goalkeeping display from Irish shot-stopper David Harte.
Friday is a rest day at the tournament, with the action resuming on Saturday when The Netherlands take on Ireland before England face Germany. The tournament will be completed on Sunday following the Ireland-England and Germany-Netherlands matches.
