The last ever European Club Championships - at least as far as the men are concerned - kicked off today in the Spanish capital, Madrid. This year's event is unusual, inasmuch as both men's and women's cup are playing at the same location. It was a good start for the English representatives, Cannock and Canterbury, who both recorded wins.
Cannock coach, David Mayer, had declared at the EH Cup last Sunday that his side would be playing to win, and win they did against Italian side SS Lazio, 6-3. But the quality of the opposition can be judged by the other scores in the competition. In the same pool as Cannock, host club Club de Campo, put seven passed Dinamo Electrostal for no reply. As Reading found out last year, this Russian side are no push over. Amsterdam, who are playing in Pool A, managed a convincing win over Polish contenders Grunwald Pozna 10-0 and are probably the safe money for Sunday's final. Cannock will meet Club de Campo on Saturday, but meanwhile have to play the Russians tomorrow afternoon (Friday).
Canterbury women, who are turning into old hands in European competition but are trying to turn silver into gold, won their first day match against Glasgow Western 5-0. Scottish sides have proved difficult to overcome in the past and have sometime left their English opponents exhausted for the next day's match, so this result in encouraging.
TalkHockeyRadio will be in Madrid from tomorrow onwards and, subject to communication links, will be reporting daily on the progress of Cannock and Canterbury. The men's tournament and the more prestigious European Club Championships, will disappear at the end of this season to give way for the new EuroHockey League, which will play its first match in the Autumn
