Club de Campo went the distance to eventually beat Royal Léopold in a shoot-out, sending them through to the FINAL8 along with Hamburger Polo Club who were too strong for Saint Germain.
Polo too strong for Saint Ger
Hamburger Polo Club were in electrifying form as they swept past the challenge of Saint Germain to reach next Easter’s EHL Men FINAL8.
Tim Brand fired a hat trick while they led from start to finish en route to a 7-2 win despite some lively moments from the French side.Kane Russell got two as well, the first of them coming in just the third minute from a penalty stroke and the Justus Weigand slotted in another in the 12th minute.
Hamburger Polo Club applaud their fans. Picture Frank Uijlenbroek/World Sport Pics
And any chance of Saint Ger making a game of it ended in the minute before half time as Russell’s corner goal was quickly added to by Brand from Niklas Bosserhoff’s race around the right baseline.
Paul Smith tacked on the fifth as he kept his balance and push in after a flowing move. Brand got the sixth and seventh from close range before the French team rallied.
Hugo Dolou got a brilliant goal back following Jules Verrier’s lovely skill and Thomas Assoignon fired in a corner to reduce the gap further.But Polo were well clear and content to take home the ticket to the FINAL8 next Easter.
Curiel shoots Campo into FINAL8
Cesar Curiel sent Club de Campo de Madrid into raptures as he kept his nerve in a sudden death shoot-out to send them through to the FINAL8, seeing off Royal Léopold 4-3 after normal time ended 3-3.
It concluded a fabulous match in which Léo made the early impact but Campo finished strong.
Dylan Englebert opened the scoring with a remarkable upright shot on his backhand after an overhead ball into the circle was never fully cleared in the third minute.
Either side of that, Campo had a series of good chances in Q1 with Rafael Vilallonga, Thijs van Pelt and Alvaro Iglesias all having strong efforts. Léo, meanwhile, had the ball in the goal from a Gaspard Baumgarten shot but the video review showed it hit a team mate’s body en route to goal.
Club de Campo de Madrid celebrate their shoot-out victory. Picture: Frank Uijlenbroek/World Sport Pics
The third quarter belonged to Campo who penned Léo in their own 23-metre zone for most of the 15 minutes with precious few avenues out of defence. The equalising goal within seconds of the restart of the big break with Alvaro Iglesias touching in a cross from Nicolas Poncelet.
But they could not make further use of a set of three penalty corners, one of which Tanguy Zimmer somehow took off the line after ping-pong in the circle.
Léopold settled in the final quarter but could not find the next from a couple of corners while Campo continued to threaten but to no avail.
During that phase, Iglesias also showed an incredible piece of sportsmanship when Léo were faced with a yellow-card for Dimitri Cuvelier after a video review when his stick hit Enrique Gonzalez’s neck.
The Campo captain said the yellow was not warranted and was accidental with the umpires agreeing not to impose the sanction.
It meant a shoot-out in which Léo took the early advantage but the first series of five ended level at 3-3. The next round was blank while round seven saw Louis De Backer denied by Rafa Revila before Curiel scored for a second time for the winning moment.
Wimbledon and CAM 92 win Ranking Matches
Wimbledon and CAM92 took the spoils from their respective Ranking Match showdowns, earning 13th place overall for their nations and important points for the EHL Ranking Table.
Sam Hooper’s quartet of goals saw Wimbledon run up an 8-1 win over SK Slavia Prague to win the extra ranking points on offer for England and finish in 13th place overall for this EHL season.
He opened the scoring from the penalty spot, the first of three strokes he would score on the day, in addition to a corner drag-flick. Jules Bournac added a rebound off the impressive Jakub Bogar’s pads in the first quarter while James Vallely tapped in en route for a 5-0 half-time lead.
Louis Tipper and Eddie Harper also got in on the act in the second half as they came within close-range of one of the biggest EHL wins for an English club.
Wimbledon celebrate an early goal. Picture: Frank Uijlenbroek/World Sport Pics
East Grinstead’s record remains intact at 8-0 against Montrouge in 2012; Wimbledon did beat SV Arminen on a 9-0 margin during the second where field goals counted for two points, netting five times in that game.
In the second ranking game, Antonin Igau’s glorious hat trick propelled CAM 92 to a memorable 3-2 win over a HC Wien side bouyed by their large travelling crowd.
It looked comfortable for a while as Igau’s drag-flick in the first quarter and then a stroke in Q2 gave them a healthy advantage.
But Wien came out firing in the second half and cut the deficit through Max Meisel in the 39th minute and the Austrian side made lots of moves to try and get an equaliser.
The defining moment, however, came from Igau who broke forward from halfway with the ball and then fired the ball into the roof of the net. Kai Kokolakis did get one back for Wien to the delight of their crowd on the final hooter but it was CAM who had the victory.
Saturday schedule
The next eight sides make their entry into this year’s EHL Men KO16 with Saturday seeing four knock-out battles. The action starts early at 09.45 CET with Scottish champions Western Wildcats taking on newcomers Braxgata.
At 12.00 CET, SV Kampong face Real Club de Polo in a potential classic. The final quadrant of the competition sees Banbridge up against Bloemendaal at 14.15 CET before the day finishes with Old Georgians against HC Olten at 16.30 CET.
