Photo: Leuven players celebrate as the final hooter is sounded.Reading’s hopes of being the first English club to qualify for the semi-finals of the EuroHockey League evaporated in the sunshine here in Hamburg this afternoon. A single penalty corner conversion by Richard Mantell was all that Reading had to offer against the Belgian’s of Leuven.
To be frank, the English side did not appear to be firing on all cylinders, and although they dominated periods of the match, Leuven’s forwards were able to capitalise on odd lapses in Reading’s defence.
The result could have been far worse. Leuven had a goal disallowed after a video appeal and Nick Brothers had a penalty stroke awarded against him for a trip – a decision that reversed after the umpires conferred.
The final score of 2-1 in Leuven’s favour will be a huge disappointment to Reading. Having won a match in Round Two that the pundits assured us they would lose – the game against Barcelona - they have gone on to be knocked out by one of the teams that have widely been regarded as outsiders. That is not to say that Leuven did not deserve their win. Both they and Waterloo Ducks have demonstrated in this competition that Belgian hockey is a force to be reckoned with.
