BOWDON LET TROPHY SLIP THROUGH THEIR FINGERS

Bowdon Hightown managed to let the trophy slip though their fingers when they played Slavia Praha in the final of the European Indoor Clubs Trophy in Prague this afternoon.

Bowdon had gone into the second half with a 2-0 lead, thanks to goals from Sally Walton and Michelle Liptrot, and increased the lead when Liptrott converted a corner early in the second half. But Praha were on their tails almost immediately and equalised from a penalty stroke converted by Adela Mejzlikova nine minutes into the half. Walton converted a penalty corner to allow Bowdon to re-take the lead, but the Czechs struck back quickly with two goals to take the lead. The match ended 5-4 to Slavia Praha.

Final positions: 1. Slavia Praha (Czech Rep.), 2. Bowdon Hightown (England), 3. Rotweiss Wettingen (Switzerland), 4. Lorenzoni (Italy), 5. Slagelse (Denmark), 6. Cambrai (France), 7. Zrinjevac (Croatia), 8. Armagh (Ireland). Czech Republic and England are promoted to the Club Champions Cup in 2013. Ireland is relegated to Challenge I in 2013.

The European Club Champions Cup in Vienna has seen the final decided on penalty strokes after the match ended 4-4 in ordinary time. The match was eventually won 6-5 by Berliner, who beat Ritm-Azot Grodno of Belarus. Third place was taken by Dutch side SV Kampong. MSC Sumchanka of the Ukraine and Scotland's Dundee Wanderers finished in seventh and eighth place respectively. Ukraine and Scotland are relegated to the Indoor Clubs Trophy next year.

A GOOD DAY FOR PREMIERSHIP LEADERS

The teams in the top half of the Men's England Hockey League Premier Division all enjoyed successful afternoons today with the exception of Cannock, who could only draw 1-1 at home to Reading. Leaders East Grinstead made up for the disappointment in the European Indoor Championships last weekend by putting six past Bowdon for no reply, with Danny Hall (2), Andy Piper, Mark Pearn (2) and Mark Cleghorne supplying the goals. Bowdon look in trouble unless they can pick up some points in the run in to the end of the season.

Beeston recorded a more modest 3-0 win against Southgate, another side who will need to find some points to avoid the play-off zone. Surbiton's Ben Tibble, James Tindall (2) and James Ashcroft, supplied the goals in their side's 4-1 win over Loughborough Students. Hampstead & Westminster have an outside chance of qualifying for the League Championships, so their 3-1 win over University of Exeter will keep their hopes alive.

In the Conferences there were a number of clubs who were playing back-to-back matches as a result of the disruption caused by the weather at the beginning of the month. East Conference leaders Canterbury had taken the points at Harleston Magpies yesterday, but could only draw away at Holcombe. Ironically, their goal came from a penalty stroke from David Matthews, who has returned to Canterbury after a spell at Holcombe. Canterbury are two points ahead of Old Loughtonians, in what is looking increasingly a two horse race. Old Loughtonians came away with maximum points from their two matches this weekend, with a 2-1 win over Calum Giles' Teddington yesterday, and a 7-1 win over Harleston Magpies today. Their Oliver Didham's managed to net the ball five time over the two matches.

In the North Conference, leaders Brooklands MU were spared having to play two matches and beat Leek 3-0. Leek were playing their second match, having come out of yesterday's match against Deeside Ramblers with a 7-5 win.

In the West Conference, Team Bath Buccaneers are on the verge of being crowned Conference Champions. With 12 points available from the remaining matches, they have an 11 point lead over Havant. They helped their cause this afternoon with a 2-0 win away at Cardiff.

In the Investec Women's Premier League, Reading have not quite wrapped things up yet, but their 7-0 win over relegated Cannock keeps them seven points ahead of Leicester in second place. Nice to see someone from outside Reading's GB contingent scoring goals, with Elizabeth Hunt netting a hat-trick for her side. Leicester visited Slough this afternoon and recorded a 4-0 win. Sutton Coldfield rocket up the table after three goals in the last ten minutes from Sarah Mills, Celia Butler and Charlotte Cross gave them maximum points. They are now in sixth place.

We were very unkind yesterday about the match between Maidstone and Chelmsford, and Chelmsford were clearly out to confound their detractors when they beat Women's East Conference leaders Surbiton 1-0. St Albans, who were chasing the leaders, also suffered a defeat, losing 1-0 to third place Sevenoaks.

There was only one match in the Women's North Conference this afternoon. It's tight at the top in the North, with only seven points separating the first and fifth placed sides, so Wakefield Bradford would have found their 1-3 win away at Doncaster useful. They move into fourth place. The West Conference leaders, Buckingham, beat Firebrands 2-0, to stay four points ahead at the top of the table. Trojans moved further away from the danger zone when they beat bottom placed Team Bath Buccaneers 5-2.

FULL RESULTS AND TABLES ARE AVAILABLE ON OUR MAIN WEB SITE AT www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk.

Today’s League and Cup matches

The two leaders in the Investec Women's League, Reading and Leicester were not playing today, which gave the clubs underneath them a chance to catch up. Clifton made the most of it with a 4-0 win over Olton & West Warwicks, whilst Canterbury missed their chance with a surprising 3-3 draw against ninth placed Sutton Coldfield. Slough and Birmingham University, both of whom are perilously close to the wrong end of the table, could only record a 0-0 draw.

Currently the leaders, Reading, are eight points ahead of third placed Clifton and with two games in hand. Second place Leicester have a one point gap between them and Clifton, but Leicester also have two games in hand. Sixth place Bowdon are not playing this weekend as they are in Prague for the European Indoor Club Championships, where they have reached the finals.

TalkHockeyRadio went to Maidstone to watch them play the once great Chelmsford. Unfortunately it ranks as one of the worst matches we have seen this season. One was starting to wonder why they had bothered to erect goals at either end of the pitch until Chelmsford's Loren Sherer opened the scoring sixth minute into the second half. She followed it up with a second seven minutes later, signalling a virtual collapse of Maidstone's defence. Hayley Heggie and Geogia Herron added two more to the tally. The final score, 4-1 to Chelmsford, the home side's only goal coming from a penalty stroke. At least the weather was good. Elsewhere in the East Conference, Surbiton kept up their lead at the top of the table with a 4-0 win away at Maidstone. They are being closely chased by St Albans, who recorded a 2-1 over lowly Horsham.

In the North Conference, Beeston are five points clear, with a 5-0 win over Liverpool Sefton. In the West Conference Buckingham recorded their 12^th win of the season when they beat Barnes Hounslow Ealing 2-0.

In the Men's Cup, Bowdon reached the semi finals by beating Southgate 4-1.

Full results from today's cup and league matches are on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk. Pictures of the match between Maidstone and Chelmsford are on our pictures site at www.hockeyimages.co.uk.

 

'GRINSTEAD DOWN AND OUT by Peter Savage at the European Club Championships in Hamburg

This morning the day for English supporters started as it had finished the day before, with a lot of ‘ifs’.

If East Grinstead won their protest against the score in their match with Luzerner (which they did. It was declared a draw), and if Arminen beat Luzerner (which most people expected they would), and if East Grinstead  beat Partille (they’re from Sweden – do they play hockey in Sweden?), then EG would retain their top tier status and return to make a challenge for the Championships with a full squad next year.

Then came the ‘buts’.  Possibly motivated by losing the appeal yesterday, Luzerner beat Arminen in their last Pool C match to go second in the pool.  Then to rub salt into the wound, the Swedes proved they that really can play indoor hockey.  Despite two goals from ‘Grinstead’s Daniel Koschyk (2), Dave De Prez, and Andrew Piper, there was no stopping them, and the match ended with an eye-watering scoreline of 12-4 in Partille’s favour. 

Some evidence of the desperation that crept into the match was the fact three of Partille’s goals were from strokes  and two EG players were sent to the naughty seat, including goalie David Kettle.  It was a sad day for English hockey, as East Grinstead were condemned to the Trophy tournament in 2013, due in part (but not entirely) to the absence of the GB players (with the exception of Glenn Kirkham).

The bronze medal match was won by Dinamo Elektrostal who beat Spain’s Club Egara 6-4.  The final between the host club, Der Club an der Alster, was played out before a packed house, with the organisers being forced to close the hall to further admissions for safety reasons.  The Germans, despite reaching the final, had looked a little less than champions in their pool matches, but they really turned on something special in the final, beating Dutch side HDM 7-3 to take the Championships.

Full results can be found on our main web site at www.TalkHockeyRadio.co.uk . Pictures are still being uploaded to our pictures site at www.HockeyImages.co.uk. There will be a feature on the tournament in the March edition of our on-line magazine HockeyTalk, available to download later this week.

European Indoor Clubs Championships – final placings:

1.     Der Club an der Alster (Germany) CHAMPIONS!

2.     HDM (The Netherlands)

3.     Dinamo Elektrostal (Russia)

4.     Club Egara (Spain)

5.     Partille (Sweden)

6.     Luzerner (Switerland)

7.     SV Arminen (Austria)

8.     East Grinstead (England)

PROTEST GIVES EAST GRINSTEAD A LAST CHANCE by Peter Savage at the European Indoor Clubs Championship in Hamburg

There were dramatic scenes here in Hamburg this evening after East Grinstead's game against Swiss side Luzerner appeared to end in a 3-2 defeat.

Needing at least a draw to avoid relegation, East Grinstead had played a competent enough game, although some of the problems with passing that we noted yesterday were still evident. Although Luzerner took an early lead, which they increased to two in the second half, it remained a match that could go either way. 

Penalty corner conversions by Dave De Prez and Ross Stott, put the sides on even terms, but in the dying seconds of the match Luzerner were awarded a penalty corner, which was converted by Maurice Cottier.  The final whistle sounded and that appeared to be the end of that. East Grinstead looked doomed to certain relegation.

I was in the press room after the match when I became aware that there was something going on in the corridor outside, involving EG's manager Matt Jones, coach Richard Organ and video woman Anne Needle. On enquiring I discovered that a protest had been lodged with the Tournament Director, claiming that the penalty corner had been awarded after the final hooter.  Anne's video footage seemed to confirm this.

Anyone who has read Rule 5 of the indoor rules will discover that this is anything but a straightforward matter, and we'll be covering this in the March edition of our on-line magazine HockeyTalk which is due to become available next Thursday.  Fortunately for East Grinstead, the Tournament Director upheld the protest, and so both they and Luzerner emerged from the match with a draw.  East Grinstead play Swedish side Partille tomorrow, with a slim chance of surviving at this level for another year.

Tomorrows final will be between Dutch side HDM and the hosts, Club an der Alster. HDM beat Club Egara 4-3, whilst Alster came back from behind to beat Dinamo Elektrostal 8-3.

Full results and pictures from today can be found on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk. 

GRINSTEAD LEAVE BEST UNTIL LAST BUT FINISH BOTTOM by Peter Savage at the European Indoor Club Championships in Hamburg.

It was a pity that East Grinstead found some of their best hockey when it was too late.  In contrast to yesterday, the passes were usually spot on and, overall, it was a far more controlled display.  Goalkeeper Richard Potton, who has not looked  comfortable at times during this tournament, was replaced for their final Pool B match by David Kettle, who had a good game.

In fact their match against Pool B leaders HDM got off to the best possible start with a fifth minute goal from Glenn Kirkham., and right up until half time it looked on the cards that East Grinstead could pull of a win. Unfortunately skipper Scott Ashdown found himself sitting on the naughty seat just before the break and during power play HDM equalised.

In the second half it remained honours even until Timo Kranstauber put the Dutch ahead after ten minutes, but Scott Ashdown equalised minutes later.  With less than ten minutes left, HDM scored twice to give them a comfortable 4-2 lead and that is how the match ended.

Finishing bottom of Pool B, EG now go through to Pool C (otherwise known as the Relegation Pool) where they will play the bottom two sides from Pool A.  They have to finish first or second in this pool to avoid relegation.

Full results and tables are available on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk.  Photos are available to view at www.hockeyimages.co.uk.

ARMINEN AND DANGEROUS by Peter Savage at the European Indoor Club Championships in Hamburg

East Grinstead suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Austrian side SV Arminen, and at the end of the day they only have themselves to blame.

Arminen got off the blocks with a goal in the first two minutes. Finding themselves behind, ‘Grinstead put on a flurry of activity which saw them score twice in the space of less than a minute. The first came from a penalty stroke converted by Mike Holland, and the second from open play by David De Prez. 

For a few moments it looked as if EG were going to take the match by storm but the Austrians had equalised before the ink on the scoresheet had dried.   From that point it was all downhill, with Arminen taking a 5-2 lead by half time.

Many of East Grinstead’s woes were down to lamentable passing. Perhaps the pitch here in Hamburg is slower than they have been playing on in the Super Sixes, but often passes fell a foot or two short, allowing their opponents to pounce on the loose ball.

The Austrians put away another three goals in the second half,  and Ross Stotts 37^th minute goal was little more than consolation.  Final score 8-3 to Arminen.

East Grinstead play HDM in their final pool match tomorrow.  The Dutch have already qualified for the semi-finals with two out of two wins so far.  Whilst it is theoretically possible for EG to reach the semi finals, they are current bottom of Pool B with a -5 goal difference.

GRINSTEAD IN AN EEL OF A GAME by Peter Savage at the European Indoor Club Championships in Hamburg

If you are looking for metaphors to describe a game of hockey, this one was a slippery eel.  Playing the Russians of Dinamo Elektrostal, every time East Grinstead got a hold of the game, it seemed to slip from their hands.

Fielding only one of their current GB internationals - Glenn Kirkam - East Grinstead looked sharp in the opening encounters, and could easily have gone ahead had it not been for the efforts of Rogov in the Russian goal.  Indeed, during the entire match ‘Grinstead must have easily beaten their opponents on shots at goal, but too few either beat Rogov or ended up between the uprights.

It was very much against the run of play that Dinamo scored first, and fifteen minutes into the match English side appeared on the rack when they trailed 3-1, the EG goal coming off the stick of Daniel Koschyk.  A second goal before half time – skipper Scott Ashdown the scorer – put a bit of sparkle into their game,  and Dave de Prez equalised five minutes into the second half.

This is where our metaphor with the eel comes in. Having drawn equal, it took Elektrostal three minutes to retake the lead.  Dave De Prez scored again, only to see the Russians take the lead again less than a minute later. Scott Ashdown stepped up to convert a penalty corner only to see Zhirkov score his second of the match after two  minutes. 

East Grinstead nearly fell to a late goal by Elektrostal but the ball went wide, and the match ended in a 5-5 draw. 

East GrinsEast Grinstead play their next Pool B match later today, against the Austrians of SV Arminen.

RACE AT TOP OF PREMIERSHIP GETS TIGHTER.

The race at the top of the Men's Premier Division got tighter this afternoon after a depleted East Grinstead side went down to two goals apiece from Cannock's Matthew Plunkett and David Harris. There is now only one point separating East Grinstead from second placed Cannock.

Beeston and Surbiton stay in the hunt with wins over University of Exeter and Southgate respectively. Reading's match against Bowdon was scratched due to the weather and so they now have a game in hand in fifth place behind Beeston and Surbiton.

There were no East Conference matches played today but the North lost only one match, that being the game between Leek and Deeside Ramblers. Brooklands MU look set for an early bid to return to the Premier Division with a 3-1 win over Doncaster which puts them three points clear at the top. Second placed Sheffield Hallam played their part in opening the gap by dropping points in a 3-3 draw at Olton.

The West Conference managed to survive most of the big freeze, with only the match between Guildford and University of Birmingham. Leaders, Bath Buccaneers, inflicted some pain on Bournville, beating them 8-3 to go 10 points clear at the top of the table. Bournville are bottom of the table.

Full results and tables can be found on our main web site at www.TalkHockeyRadio.co.uk. Unfortunately there are no images from this weekend's games as the match we were due to cover was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

GB MEN DRAW SERIES IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Great Britain's men drew the last of their three match series against South Africa 3-3 in Stellenbosch today. With one win apiece, plus today's draw, the series has finished in a draw. GB's scorers today were Mark Pearn, Barry Middleton and Mark Cleghorne.

BIG FREEZE STRIKES AGAIN

There were a large number of postponements in the national league today due to icy conditions.

The Premier Division of the Investec Women's League, due to play its first matches after the winter break, saw only two matches played. Clifton managed to close the gap between them and third placed Canterbury with a 2-1 win, whilst University of Birmingham added to Cannock's woes with a 5-0 win at home. Cannock remain with no points and an X-rated goal difference of -51.

There were no matches in the Investec East Conference but the North and West Conference managed to muster three games each. North Conference Springfields might be wishing that their game against Beeston had been cancelled as they went down 11-0, with Kim Leiper and Nikki Ward both scoring hat-tricks for Beeston.

There were scheduled to be three men's East Conference matches today, but only one survived the icy conditions. The surviving game saw Wimbledon beat City of Peterborough 4-1.

Full results (including scorers) and tables are available on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk.

GB WIN HISTORIC SILVER IN ROSARIO

Great Britain women played in their first ever world level event final last night when they met Argentina in the Champions Trophy in Rosario.

Progress through to the final had been a remarkably smooth affair, with GB coming second in their pool matches after wins over Japan and China, and a draw against The Netherlands. Korea had been beaten 4-1 in the quarter finals before GB met old rivals Germany in the semi-finals, inflicting a 2-0 defeat on them.

Facing a team like Argentina on their home soil was always going to be a daunting prospect, but the GB women looked confident on the field. It was their misfortune to have a very vocal home crowd supporting their opponents in the final and to find Argentine legend Luciana Aymar on top form. Aymar had a number of penetrating runs, but goalkeeper Beth Storry had an outstanding game and denied the Argentines several times.

The only goal of the match came just before half time when Silvina D'Elia's penalty corner strike was just beyond Storry's reach. Final score 1-0 to Agentina, but the GB girls can come home with their heads held high. Hopefully, when the teams next meet, Great Britain will have the home crowd behind them.

The bronze medal game between The Netherlands and Germany was quite a curtain raiser, with the Dutch taking an early 4-0 lead, only to get pegged back to 5-4. Haunted by the previous day's semi-final which saw them lose the shoot out after a last minute goal by Argentina, the match came to an tense climax but the Dutch managed to cling on to their lead 5-4 lead.

Full results are currently on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk

BUCCANEERS DEFY THE FREEZE

Today should have seen a full programme of Investec Women's League Conference matches, two men's conference matches, and a number of matches from various national knock out tournaments. But the icy conditions struck again, with a combination of frozen pitches and snow putting pay to all but two matches.

By a stroke of good fortune, TalkHockeyRadio had chosen to visit Havant to see them play Bath Buccaneers in the West Conference this afternoon. The conditions were almost surreal, and had it not been for snow on some long distance lorries travelling on the nearby A27, everyone may have been wondering what the fuss with the weather was about. It was hardly warm, but the temperature managed a steady four degrees for most of the afternoon.

Team Bath Buccaneers enjoyed a four point lead when they arrived at Havant, and the difference in status between the two teams showed, although both teams enjoyed a fair amount of possession. There was some good end to end stuff, but you started to get the impression that neither side wanted to spoil the match with anything as vulgar as a goal. It took the Buccaneers all of 56 minutes to penetrate the Havant defence and find the net, the goal coming from a Johnny Kinder penalty corner conversion.

The Bath side contains two former Havant players, Tom Skinner in goal, and striker Tim Davenport. The latter had thrilled us at Wembley last weekend playing in Beeston colours but he enjoyed less success this afternoon. After Kinder's goal, Davenport found himself unmarked in the 'D' on at least two occasions, with only the goalie to beat, but his scoring touch from only a week ago seemed to have deserted him and he shot wide. At the other end of the pitch Skinner pulled off a super save late in the match to retain Bath's lead.

The final score, 1-0, sees Bath increase their lead at the top of the table to seven points, but they do have a game in hand.

Coincidentally, the only other game today was in a West Conference and involved the leaders. Struggling Trojans played host to Buckingham in the Investec Women's West Conference, a match which Buckingham won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Tracy Jones.

The latest tables are on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk. Pictures of the match between Havant and Team Bath Buccaneers will appear on our HockeyImages web site tomorrow.

BIG FREEZE HALTS HOCKEY PROGRAMME

The England Hockey League, which was due to re-start after the winter break with a schedule of Conference Division matches, saw the entire programme cancelled due to frozen pitches and the threat of snow. And things do not look much better in the Investec Women's League, which was due to re-commence tomorrow. Already the East Conference matches between Sevenoaks and St Albans, and Old Loughtonians and Horsham, have been cancelled. 


We will be posting the latest league tables to our main web site although, of course, these remain unchanged.

PAUMEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Dutch international and specialist penalty corner striker Maartje Paumen has been elected women's FIH Player of the Year.  Nominations were put together by a panel of coaches, including England's Danny Kerry, before a player vote determined the winner.  Paumen had previously won the FIH Young Player of the Year Award in 2008.

The award follows on from Paumen becoming the highest scorer in Champions Trophy history when she scored twice during The Netherlands 4-1 victory over Japan on Tuesday.

This years FIH Young Player of the Year is Stacey Michelsen of New Zealand.

The men's award had been announced during the Champions Trophy in New Zealand and won by Jamie Dwyer