Round 1.2 of the Euro Hockey League got underway on Friday with four pulsating hockey matches taking place at St Germain HC, on the outskirts of Paris. It was an incredible day of action that witnessed 24 goals in just four matches, including two hat-tricks. You can find a brief summary of the action below, with extensive reports available on www.ehlhockey.tv - the official website of the Euro Hockey League.
Pool D - Club Egara 3-2 HC Bra
Spanish giants Club Egara got their Euro Hockey League season off to a winning start but were made to fight all the way by a HC Bra team that performed superbly throughout the match. Egara eventually won the match against the Italians 3-2, with goals coming from the sticks of Jorge Carrera, Marc Garcia-Chicote and Jorge Clapes, but Pol Amat was the star of the show with a stunning individual performance. The result puts Egara top of Pool D before Saturday's match between Rot-Weiss K├Âln and HC Bra.
Pool C - East Grinstead HC 4-1 KS AWF Poznań
East Grinstead came through a tough test from Poland's KS AWF Poznan to eventually win 4-1, a result which puts them top of Pool C overnight. Two impressive penalty corner strikes from Gareth Carr were the highlight of the match, with Ben Payne and Dave De Prez also getting their names on the score-sheet. KS AWF had given themselves hope when they made the score 1-1 thanks to an easy finish from Waldemar Rataj, but the English champions proved to be just too strong for the Polish student team.
Pool A - Der Club an der Alster 5-1 HC Rotweiss Wettingen
Jonathan Fr├Âschle scored a hat trick of penalty corners to help Der Club an der Alster to a 5-1 victory over Switzerland's Rotweiss Wettingen. However, the nature of the win was not as emphatic as the score-line would suggest, with Reto Sp├Ârri's second half strike making things extremely interesting at 2-1. Eventually though, the team from Germany produced a late flurry of goals to secure all five points in Pool A, giving themselves an excellent chance of reaching next Easter's EHL KO16 event.
Pool F - St Germain HC 1-7 KHC Leuven
Host club St Germain fell to a crushing 1-7 home defeat at the hands of Belgium's KHC Leuven, who produced a sensational display of attacking hockey to top Pool F at the end of Day 1. Ireland international Phelie Maguire scored a first half hat-trick to effectively win the game and give his team a great chance of qualifying for the second phase of the competition. The home team never recovered from their bad start, and will now need to re-group before Sunday evening's vital clash with Beeston HC of England.
The action continues on Saturday when German champions Rot-Weiss K├Âln take on HC Bra of Italy at 10.30 (GMT +1), with Bra needing a victory to keep alive their chances of qualifying for Round 2 of the event. Reigning EHL Champions HC Bloemendaal take to the field at 12.30 when they face Rotweiss Wettingen, with the Swiss side needing to produce a shock result if they are secure a berth at KO16. At 14.30, Dutch giants Amsterdam H&BC play their first fixture of the 2009-10 EHL season against English champions East Grinstead. The final match of the day takes place at 16.30 and sees England's Beeston HC play their first match of the competition against the inform KHC Leuven.
For more information, pool tables, video highlights and live match streaming, please visit www.ehlhockey.tv.
EHL Round 1.2 - St Germain HC, Paris (FRA), 23 - 25 October 2009
Schedule (all times are local - GMT +1)
Friday 23 October 2009
14.30 hrs Pool D Club Egara v HC Bra 3-2
16.30 hrs Pool C East Grinstead HC v KS AWF Poznań 4-1
18.30 hrs Pool A Der Club an der Alster v HC Rotweiss Wettingen 5-1
20.30 hrs Pool F St Germain HC v KHC Leuven 1-7
Saturday 24 October 2009
10.30 hrs Pool D Rot-Weiss K├Âln HC v HC Bra
12.30 hrs Pool A HC Bloemendaal v HC Rotweiss Wettingen
14.30 hrs Pool C East Grinstead HC v Amsterdam H&BC
16.30 hrs Pool F Beeston HC v KHC Leuven
Sunday 25 October 2009
10.30 hrs Pool D Rot-Weiss K├Âln HC v Club Egara
12.30 hrs Pool C Amsterdam H&BC v KS AWF Poznań
14.30 hrs Pool A HC Bloemendaal v Der Club an der Alster
16.30 hrs Pool F St Germain HC v Beeston HC
