Day 4 Monday Play offs: Volga Telekom (Rus) 2 Atasport (Aze) 5; Royal Antwerp (Bel) 2 Ritm Azot Grodno (Blr) 3
Quarter Finals: UHC Hamburg (Ger) 1 Larensche (Ned) 5 ; Leicester (Eng) 1 Berliner (Ger) 0; Club de Campo Madrid (Spn) 2 Slough (Eng) 2aet , Slough won 4-3 on penalty strikes; Den Bosch (Ned) 10 CD Terrassa (Spn) 0.
Quarter Finals: UHC Hamburg (Ger) 1 Larensche (Ned) 5 ; Leicester (Eng) 1 Berliner (Ger) 0; Club de Campo Madrid (Spn) 2 Slough (Eng) 2aet , Slough won 4-3 on penalty strikes; Den Bosch (Ned) 10 CD Terrassa (Spn) 0.
Slough and Leicester from England and Larensche and ‘s-Hertogenbosch from the Netherlands will contest the semi finals at Whitsun (June 10-12) at a venue yet to be revealed, with the competition rules drawing the English and Dutch teams in against each other in the semi finals ensuring that an English team is certain to reach the final. The Dutch clubs sailed through at a canter but it was a much closer affair for Leicester who won by the only goal and Slough who won in the sudden death stage of this new fangled penalty shoot out.
Leicester gave an assured performance restricting Berliner to two penalty corners and although they were unsuccessful from their own five corners they scored the critical goal four minutes before half time. Emma Clarke did well to control the ball in the midfield and released Chloe Rogers down the right. Rogers’ cross was swept in by Lauren Turner.
A delighted Leicester coach Chris Mayer said: “Absolutely ecstatic, we deserved that victory. It made up for a number of disappointments over the last two years and all the work the squad has put in. A great day for English clubs in Europe. We now look forward to the finals weekend at Whitsun.”
Slough took the lead in the tenth minute. Fiona Greenham’s ball over the top released Lauren Penny who ran on to score. Madrid equalised through a Carla Rebecchi penalty corner which sailed high beyond Becky Duggan’s reach. Ashleigh Ball put Slough back in front before the interval slashing at a loose ball in the circle after Alex Scott had created the opening.
Slough’s lead remained intact until the final minute of normal time when Maria Cruz scrambled an equaliser. There was no time to restart and after two periods of five minutes extra time there came the shoot out. Nicola White and Ball were successful at both attempts and Duggan saved from both Rebecchi and Cruz for a dramatic victory.
Larensche’s 5-1 defeat of Hamburg completed a miserable weekend for German clubs while two early corner strikes by Maartje Paumen opened the floodgates for ‘s Hertogenbosch’s 10-0 win against CD Terrassa in front of a large crowd and the town band.
