Photograph: Mark Pearn celebrates Danny Hall’s 70th minute winner
Some people were writing off East Grinstead’s opponents in their Second Round EuroHockey League match before the game had even started, but those of us had seen St Germain play in the EuroHockey League before knew they would be a tough nut to crack. Despite opening the game with considerable panache, it was four minutes into the second half before East Grinstead could find the French net, Danny Hall the scorer. Julien Thamin in the St Germain goal had done much to thwart East Grinstead’s attempts to take a lead, aided by some effective defensive tackling before the ball reached the French twenty-five.
Despite their early dominance, East Grinstead let the game slip away from them in the third and fourth quarters, with two excellent goals from Martin Genestet and Jean Pauchet. At 2-1 down it looked all up for Grinstead until Martin Haner, playing on his native soil, equalised with six minutes left.
As the minutes ticked away, it looked more and more as if the match would be decided by a EuroHockey speciality – the one-on-one shoot out. Fortunately, in the nick of time, Danny Hall exploited a lapse in the St Germain defence and shot the winner. The final hooter sounded seconds later.
East Grinstead will play Bloemendaal (Netherlands) on Sunday after Cannock went down 3-1 to the Dutch side this afternoon. It was a brave effort from Cannock, who seemed to have learnt lessons from their previous encounter back in Round One. Cannock’s scorer was Harry Jawanda.
Further reports will appear later.
