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.
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 37th 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.
