Photo: English interest (or, to be precise, Scottish interest) in the Hamburg v Club Egara match was in the form of umpire Andy Mair.REPORT ON THE EUROHOCKEY WOMEN’S CUP WINNERS CUP IN MANCHESTER from Peter Colwill
Bowdon Hightown will play Rot Weiss Koln in the third place match after losing 4-0 to Amsterdam in their final pool match. Amsterdam will play Campo Villa de Madrid in the final.
Although Bowdon Hightown opened strongly they went behind in the 21st minute. A stunning reverse centre by Ellen Hoog was turned in by Kity Van Male, back after missing the previous match through injury. Four minutes later Amsterdam went further ahead when Elsemieke Groen was left unmarked and slotted in the easiest of chances.
Amsterdam's third goal came 11 minutes into the second half. Defender Marieke Mattheussens stole into the top of the circle and finished with a well placed shot. Despite denying Amsterdam at 8 penalty corners a terrible hit-out gifted Amsterdam their fourth goal scored by Eveline Wisse-Smit.
Bonagrass Grove's chance of reaching the third place match evaporated in 5 dramatic minutes at the start of the second half of their match against Rot Weiss Koln.Ailsa Robertson had given the Dundee side the lead sweeping in Linda Clement's cross shot at a penalty corner but Lena Arnold equalised for Rot Weiss just before half-time.
Rot Weiss came out for the second half several minutes early and just stood in their positions whilst Bonagrass came out and went into a huddle. In less than a minute a dazzling run by Christina Schutze set up Andrea Wicken to give Rot Weiss the lead. Within four minutes Wicken had added another from a penalty corner for 3-1.
A 6-1 win would have given Rot Weiss a place in the final but Bonagrass raised their game denying Rot Weiss further penalty corners and pulling a goal back in the penultimate minute when Robertson followed up Louise Carroll's penalty corner shot.
Campo Villa de Madrid secured their place in the final by beating Lorenzoni 9-1 although they had to wait anxiously for the result of the Bonagrass Grove match against Rot Weiss Koln,
Lorenzoni held the Spanish side to 3-1 at half time but the second half was one way traffic with Lorenzoni reduced to hitting centre restarts off the pitch. Amparo Gil scored 4 for Madrid.
Day 3 Results.
Pool A: Campo Villa de Madrid 9 Lorenzoni (Ita) 1; Rot Weiss Koln 3 Bonagrass Grove (Sco) 2.
Final Pool positions: 1 Campo Villa de Madrid 7pts. 2 Rot Weiss Koln 7pts. 3 Bonagrass Grove 3pts. 4 Lorenzoni 0pts.
Pool B: Alta-Borispol (Ukr) 0 Royal Uccle (Bel) 2; Bowdon Hightown 0 Amsterdam 4.
Final Pool positions: 1 Amsterdam 9pts 2 Bowdon Hightown 6pts 3 Royal Uccle 3pts. 4 Alta-Borispol 0pts
EUROHOCKEY LEAGUE ROUND UP from Peter Savage in Hamburg.
Hats off to East Grinstead for a sterling attempt to get into the semi-finals of this competition, against one of the world’s best club sides. But neutral supporters looking for a white knuckle contest were probably more interested in the earlier match, between the host club Hamburg and the Spanish from Club Egara.
Egara have played some stunningly attractive hockey in the two season that the EuroHockey League has been going and we were expecting something special. The match had its moments but it was never the thrilling game that we all had anticipated. The final score of 4-3 to Hamburg delighted the home crowd but denied the final rounds of one of the most attractive teams in the contest.
All eyes will now be on tomorrow’s meeting between Reading and Leuven of Belgium. On paper Reading should win the match, but Leuven demonstrated yesterday that they are no pushover. If Reading succeed, they will be the first English club to proceed through to the semi-final stage of the EuroHockey League
