Euro Hockey League - Easter 2012

Rotterdam Hockey Club hosted the top 16 European teams in the knock out stages of the Euro Hockey League. England were represented by Beeston, East Grinstead, and Reading.

Beeston were on first thing on Good Friday morning against Club de Campo from Madrid.

Beeston came back from being a goal down to win 2-1 and earn their place in the quarter finals on Sunday

Uhlenhorster HC Hamburg (playing in light blue shirts) beat RC Club de Polo from Barcelona 3-0 and would now play Beeston in the quarter finals

Dutch champions, Amsterdam H & BC - captained by penalty corner legend Taeke Taekama - beat Dinamo Kazan from Russia 6-0

Taeke Taekama, in action against Dinamo Kazan - but he didn't score from this one!

On Friday afternoon, HC Bloemendaal and their vociferous supporters were in town

Captained by the legendary Teun De Nooijer, Bloemendaal overcame Spanish champions Atletic Terrassa but the Spaniards gave the Dutch team a scare. 

Bloemendaal led 4-1 in the fourth quarter ...

... but two goals by Terrassa made for an exciting final few minutes as Bloemendaal clung on for a 4-3 win.

On Saturday, English champions, East Grinstead were first on and were too strong for French team CA Montrouge and won convincingly, 8-0. Ashley Jackson and Mark Gleghorne each scored hattricks.

In the noon game Belgian champions, KHC Dragons, took on and beat Russian runners up Dinamo Elektrostal 2-0. 

Host team, HC Rotterdam were next up against the German runners up, Ulhenhorst Mulheim. Rotterdam raced into a 3-0 lead and then extended it to 4 at the beginning of the second half. However, Mulheim steadily clawed their way back into the game with three goals. They then scored the equaliser three minutes from time. 

Extra time produced no further score and so we went to a penalty shoot out – in this competition, the attacker starts on the 23m line and has 8 seconds to score a goal.

The game was still tied after the first set of 5.

Rotterdam eventually won 8-7 in the sudden death shoot out. Rotterdam would then play East Grinstead in the quarter finals. 

In the last game of the day Reading beat Club an der Alster from Germany 3-1 and earned themselves a quarter final place against KHC Dragons

Reading's Richard Mantell seemed pleased with the win

And so to the Quarter Finals which were played on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday

UHC Hamburg thoroughly outclassed Beeston in the first quarter final match to be played on Easter Sunday. 

They ran out comfortable 7-1 winners and fully deserved their place in the semi-finals at the end of May.

The prime time TV slot featured Amsterdam and Bloemendaal. 

These two teams clearly knew each other well and it was played tactically like a game of chess ...

... with the emphasis on defence. 

Amsterdam opened the scoring through penalty corner ace, Taeke Taekama. They extended their lead before half time.
 

Bloemendaal pulled one back through a very neat penalty corner routine. 

However, Amsterdam quickly restored their two goal advantage. Bloemendaal scored their second from another penalty corner in the final minute ...

... but it was not enough and Amsterdam went through to the semi finals.

On a very wet Easter Monday - so wet that I left my camera at our campsite - KHC Dragons played Reading. These two teams met at this stage in last year’s competition in a game that went to extra time – with Reading eventually winning the penalty shoot out. However, this year the Dragons got their revenge and ran out 3-1 winners but they needed extra time to earn their semi final place against UHC Hamburg. Dragons opened the scoring in the first half but Andy Watts equalised late in the second half to send the game into extra time when the Belgians scored twice.

East Grinstead against hosts HC Rotterdam was the prime time TV slot game and was perhaps the most entertaining game we had seen all weekend.  Rotterdam’s captain, Jeroen Hertzberger, opened the scoring and then he doubled the lead with another fine strike before half time – he now tops the all-time EHL scorers list with a grand total of 26 goals.  Mark Gleghorne pulled one back for East Grinstead from a penalty corner but Rotterdam extinguished any hopes of a comeback with their third goal in the dying minutes.  Rotterdam now face Amsterdam in the semi finals at the end of May.

Video highlights of all matches can be found on the EHL TV website

Easter in Holland

It's Easter and for us that means a trip to Holland to watch the Euro Hockey League  - this is the third year we have watched this stage of the tournament. This year Rotterdam Hockey Club were hosting the tournament and we decided that we would stay at a campsite in Delft and cycle to the hockey stadium - a round trip of some 15 miles.

We ferried from Harwich to Hook of Holland - it's so much cheaper than from Hull to Rotterdam.

We arrived a couple of days before the hockey started, so took the opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing in Delft

Delft is a small city located in the west Netherlands about halfway between Rotterdam and The Hague. It is one of Holland’s historical centres and home to the Dutch royal family, The House of Orange. William of Orange also known as William the Silent was killed and buried here in 1584 at the end of his struggle against the Spanish in the 80 years war.

Historical buildings and other sights of interest include:

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), constructed between 1381 and 1496. It contains the Dutch royal family's burial vault, which between funerals is sealed with a 5000 kg cover stone.

A statue of Hugo Grotius - (1583–1645), a lawyer who laid the foundations for international law - made by Franciscus Leonardus Stracké in 1886, located on the Markt near the Nieuwe Kerk.

City Hall on the Markt.

Delft is probably best known for the blue and white porcelain and pottery that originates from the area known as Delftware.

Cheese is also much in abundance!

Not sure what this statue is supposed to represent

We stayed at a campsite in Delfte Hout ...

... and also took the opportunity to cycle to ...

... a windmill.

Details of our visits to the Euro Hockey League will follow later

Another sunny Sunday in Birmingham

On Sunday 25th March - another sunny Sunday - University of Birmingham played host to Lichfield Hockey Club in their last match of the England Hockey League's Conference West. Lichfield desperately needed a win if they were to stand a chance of avoiding the relegation play-off spot. If Birmingham won they could end up Runners Up - depending on the result in the Havant game.

Birmingham set off at a cracking pace ...

... and were three goals up in the first quarter of an hour

Peter (Jacko) Jackson opened the scoring then Rich grabbed two more goals

Aathavan (Aardy) Lingeswaran extended the lead to four by half time.

Two quick goals by Lichfield brought them into the game before Rich scored his third and Birmingham's fifth to make it 5-2.

However, two further Lichfield goals made for a tense final ten minutes ...

... until Will Byas eased the home fans' nerves with a strike in the final minute.

With Havant (surprisingly) losing 2-1 at Cheltenham, Birmingham finished 2nd in the League by a clear 2 points (albeit some 14 points behind Champions, Bath). Well done to the entire squad in what has been their best season for many years.

Well done and thanks to coach, Steve ...

... and manager, Norman

A sunny day in Birmingham

This afternoon, University of Birmingham Hockey Club played Havant HC in an England Hockey League Conference West clash at the University's Bournbrook Pitches.

Havant and Birmingham both had 27 points from 15 games - 13 points adrift of Conference Champions, Team Bath Buccaneers.

Havant, who were lying 2nd in the table at the start of the game, were quicker "out of the blocks" ...

... and were two goals up within 8 minutes against 3rd placed Birmingham.

After 12 minutes, Birmingham pulled one back. Rich - in only his second game since keyhole surgery on his knee about 6 weeks ago - latched on to a superb through ball from Will Byas and buried the ball in the net giving keeper Andy Isaacs no chance.

Birmingham continued to pile on the pressure ...

... and Ben Stoney grabbed a deserved equaliser from a penalty corner. So all square at half time.

Birmingham took the lead some 5 minutes into the second half. Captain Pete (Jacko) Jackson scored one of his trademark penalty corners

Birmingham ran out winners 3-2 and moved into second place in the league. A trip to champions Bath awaits them next week before the final match of the season on 25 March at home against Lichfield.

Well done Brum