Men’s EuroHockey Championship II (Lousada, Portugal) – day two round-up

Draws all round in Pool B of the men’s EuroHockey Championship II in Lousada sees Wales and Scotland move into strong positions for a semi-final spot with Switzerland and Croatia needing a shock on Wednesday to advance.

Tuesday sees Pool A return to action with Italy and Ireland meeting in a game which could see the victor through to the semi-finals. Czechia and Portugal, meanwhile, will be looking to grab a win to give them a chance at a semi-final berth.

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Pool B

Switzerland 3 Croatia 3

Lukas Hengartner’s 58^th minute drag-flick earned Switzerland a share of the points, denying Croatia a first win in Championship II since 2015 as the sides played out a 3-3 draw.

Mika Conrad finished off an early goal following a back-to-front move from the Swiss after an initial shot squirmed through to him for a Swiss lead but Lukas Bachmann was on set-piece form, equalising from Croatia’s first corner in Q2.

Léonard Kraxner’s composed finish restored the Swiss lead before half-time, profiting from a diving interception on halfway. He was set free to coolly round the goalkeeper and slot home.

A brilliant counter-attack in the 44^th minute saw Mario Ilinović bundled over when through on goal, giving Bachmann the chance to level once more from a penalty stroke.

And he fired his team in front, completing his hat trick to make it 3-2 with nine minutes to go before the late Swiss show meant both sides had to settle for a draw.

Wales 2 Scotland 2

Gareth Griffiths’ goal 12 seconds from full-time earned Wales what may well be a crucial point in the chase for a semi-final spot as they drew 2-2 with their fierce rivals.

Wales took the lead in the 12^th minute when Nic Morgan was last man waiting to flick into the goal after a flurry of attacks. Scotland’s star man Struan Walker, meanwhile, produced a typically virtuoso move to dance through a few tackles and shoot high into the net for 1-1 at half-time.

It remained that way through Q3 before Walker put his side in front for the first time with a virtuoso piece of work. After some patient Scottish play, a speculative lob into the D bounced to the forward who struck home from an awkward and narrow angle.

Wales stormed forward after that with the Scots needing to clear a couple out of the goalmouth. But, from the final attack, Griffiths was located on the right of the circle by a pin-point overhead pass which he controlled and lashed into the corner for 2-2.

Rank	Team	Pl	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	Scotland	2	1	1	0	10	5	4
2	Wales	2	1	1	0	5	3	4
3	Switzerland	2	0	1	1	4	6	1
4	Croatia	2	0	1	1	6	11	1

Tuesday schedule

15:15	ITA – IRL	Pool A
17:30	CZE – POR	Pool A