Reading, who play Rotterdam tomorrow (Sunday), have now booked their place in Round 2 without touching a ball today, courtesy of......Rotterdam. The star-studded Rotterdam side took on the other Pool F contender this afternoon, the Scots from Western Wildcats. In the opening stages, the Wildcats were massively outclassed by their Dutch opponents, and although they saw more of the game in the second half, the Dutch ran out the winners 5-0. So Western are eliminated at the first hurdle. The match between Reading and Rotterdam is now a bit of a formality, although a victory, or even a modest defeat, would be a great morale booster for Reading, against a team which includes a veritable line-up of top players from around the globe.Three Rock Rovers’ reputation grows, although against less eminent opposition than Terrassa yesterday. They managed to hold Belgian side Leuven to a 1-1 draw. In the final match of the day, the Spanish demonstrated their standing in European hockey, despite the dismal performance of Terrassa the day before, when Barcelona beat Hamburg 4-4.
In tomorrow’s matches, kelburn play East Grinstead and Reading play Rotterdam. Host club Lille will have their work cut out against Hamburg but they may have the advantage of playing on their home turf. Leuven take on Terrassa.
Our photographs are from the match between East Grinstead and Waterloo Ducks earlier today. They show German under 21 player Martin Haner, who scored East Grinstead’s first goal, and Duck’s ‘keeper Cedric De Greve, well beaten by David Cresswell’s winning penalty corner.
