My first question to Reading skipper Rhys Joyce after this match was, how many times did Reading have to win it?
It was another match showcasing English hockey at its best, against a very capable KHC Dragons. Remember, the Belgians were the team that beat the holders, UHC Hamburg, in Round 1 and they went on to knock Rot Weiss Koln out of the competition on Saturday.
From the start it was end to end stuff, with Dragons taking their chances with long balls and Reading taking a more measured approach. The latter proved to be the better strategy, with Reading taking a 17th minute lead from a Warren D’Souza goal.
Five minutes later, Joyce was the unlucky victim of one of EuroHockey League rules, when a ball struck him on the foot and was deflected into the Reading net. It would not have been a goal in the England Hockey League, but it was in the EuroHockey League thanks to the ‘own goal’ rule.
Reading looked as if the had re-taken the lead later in the first half but the goal was disallowed on video appeal. Reading managed to take the lead for real 20 minutes into the second half with a penalty corner goal from Ian Mackay.
The last 15 minutes of the match was one of the longest I can remember and one could just sense that it was not all over. Predictably, with only a few second left, Renaud Pangrazio equalised give us a normal time score of 2-2.
Silver goal extra time could not resolve the issue and so it was another one-on-one shoot out. When goalkeeper Nick Brothers denied Dragon’s Loic Vandeweghe their final attempt, it appeared to be all over. Certainly the Reading squad were celebrating, but it was a celebration that had to be put on hold when the Belgians asked for the goal to be referred to the video umpire. After an interminable wait, the umpires received confirmation that the goal would stand, and it was time for Reading to start celebrating all over again.
Reading are the first English side to qualify for the semi-finals of the EuroHockey League.
Due to the EuroHockey League rules regarding two nations going through to the last four, I am able to say that Reading will play Club de Campo on 11th June at a venue to be announced.
Just to add a bit of spice to the day, we have just been told in the Media Centre at Bloemendaal that Leicester have reached the semi finals of the Women's Club Champions Cup in 's-Hertogenbosch.
