Harvestehuder THC broke the hearts of home team Oranje Zwart to win their first Euro Hockey League title, but the German side did it the hard way, coming back twice from being a goal down and then holding their nerve to win the penalty shoot out. By winning this trophy, Harvestehude became only the second team to win the competition on their debut – UHC Hamburg achieved the same feat in the inaugural season.
Many of the faces appearing in the final will be featuring at the Rabobank Hockey World Cup in less than a month's time, none more so than the defensive duo of Tobias Hauke and Benjamin Stanzl, who were rock solid in the Harvestehude back line. But it was goal keeper and the EHL Player of the Season, Tobias Walter whose performance between the posts kept Harvestehude in the match and then in command during the shoot-out.
Another player likely to make hockey headlines in The Hague is Oranje Zwart's ace drag-flick specialist Mink van der Weerden. His shot powered the home side into the lead, but unfortunately for Oranje Zwart, when it came to the shoot-out, Welter stood firm and his teammates were able to capitalise, with Paul Pongs, Stanzl and Michael Korper firing home to win 3-1.
In the bronze medal match, Florent van Aubel’s two goals earned Dragons a late 2-1 win over Racing Club de Bruxelles. The Belgian striker popped up with the winning goal just 70 seconds from the end of an intriguing battle with little to separate the two sides for most of the match.
