Men’s EuroHockey U21 Championship II-A (Poznan, Poland) – day 3 round-up
Ireland and Poland are set for a huge showdown on Friday afternoon in the chase for men’s EuroHockey U21 Championship II-A gold as both progressed to three wins out of three in Poznań.
It puts them three clear of Italy with two sets of matches left in the round-robin group from which top spot earns promotion and a Junior World Cup spot.
Ireland moved into pole position when they defeated Italy 4-1 thank to a trio of second half goals, extending their run to three wins from three.
** Picture: Mariusz Jarząb
Toby O’Connell and Giovanni Faggian exchanged early goals and it remained 1-1 into the second half where the greens took control.
Alfie Lequesne’s penalty stroke was quickly followed by a corner goal from Ben Walker and Tommy Dobson completed the win with a couple of minutes left.
In the evening game, it was far tighter for Poland as they scored with the last act of Q3 and Q4 to defeat Croatia 2-0.
Emil Witczak gave the hosts a narrow lead in the 45th minute and the result was only put to bed in the last seconds by Karol Gumny.
Povilas Sinkevičius’s 51st minute goal earned Lithuania a 1-1 draw with Ukraine as both teams got off the mark in the second game of the day.
Daniil Smaliukh gave Ukraine a second quarter lead which they held all the way to the 51st minute where Sinkevičius scored his 13 goal in 12 Under-21 international games.
After three successive game days, Thursday is a rest day with Friday looking likely to be decisive. It opens with Croatia against Ukraine at 11.00 CEST, Lithuania versus Italy at 13.15 and then Poland against Ireland at 15.30.
** Click here for further stats and details about the players and the tournament
