A weekend of European hockey action has begun with Leicester playing in the Women's European Club Championships in Cologne. Meeting the strong Spanish side from Club de Campo, they could only achieve a 2-2 draw. The favourites to win this competition, the Dutch from 's-Hertogenbosch, sent out a signal to the other clubs by beating the Lithuanian contenders from Siauliai Gintra 11-0. 's-Hertogenbosch have won this competition every year since 2000 and the closest that another club has come to knocking them off their perch was Leicester in last year's final. Although some of Leicester's GB players have been released for the weekend, they are still without Rebecca Herbert and Kerry Williams (pictured).
The final rounds of the EuroHockey League are played this weekend in Rotterdam. There is no longer a British club involved in the finals, although some English interest remains in the fortunes of Dutch club HGC, whose Barry Middleton has been released from GB commitments so that he can play for his club.
