Men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup (Sant Cugat, Spain)
Junior FC produced a sensational comeback to defeat Harvestehuder THC to mark an incredible debut day in European men’s indoor action at a rocking Sant Cugat.
They are on the brink of the semi-finals with two potentially sold out days to come on their home court.
Royal Léopold, meanwhile, got their title defence off to a strong start with back-to-back wins putting them top of Pool A overnight while Harvestehuder THC are leading the way in Pool B.
Here’s a round-up of the day one action in Sant Cugat:
Morning session
Pool A
AH&BC Amsterdam raced out of the blocks with a comprehensive 9-0 win over promoted side TJ Plzeň-LItice. Some delightful finishes form Mustapha Cassiem and Max Sweering helped them build a 3-0 half-time lead before Boris Burkhardt powered in a trio of late goals in their victory.
Royal Léopold followed up with a strong 5-3 win over HC Olten, holding off the Swiss challenge in a well contested battle. Set piece goals from Tom Degroote and Philippe Simar along with a Nathan Leeuw goal gave the Belgian holders a healthy 3-0 lead.
But two sharp goals from Corsin Rauch either side of half-time cut the gap to 3-2, making things tight for a while before Dylan Englebert and Simar made the result safe.
Royal Léopold’s Philippe Simar. Picture: Frank Uijlenbroek/World Sport Pics
Pool B
Home side Junior FC enjoyed a dream debut as they ran up a 7-1 win over Old Georgians, the English side having a tough first appearance at this level.
Aleix Bozal’s stroke in Q1 gave them the ideal start and neat finishes from Oriol Serrahima and Oriol Bozal lifted them into a 4-0 advantage. Chris Proctor snuck one in just seconds before the end of Q3 but Oriol Salvador, Ferran Muñoz and Oriol Bozal completed the rout.
2014 winners Harvestehuder THC produced an impressive 13-3 win over 2022 runners-up HK Zelina; the Croats were in the mix in Q2 but a blistering six-goal spree from the Germans in Q3 gave the scoreline a one-sided look.
Gracjan Jarzyński’s four and three goals from Fülöp Losonci were the key influences.
Evening session
Pool A
TJ Plzeň-Litice recorded their first ever Club Cup win as they built a healthy lead before holding off a big HC Olten fightback, prevailing 7-5 in the end.
The Czech side were in control in the first half, albeit despite missing two penalty strokes, Ondřej Hes and Otakar Gerlický making it 2-0. Gerlický added two more for a 4-0 advantage and Jakub Homolka’s back-hand flick made it 5-2 going into Q4.
Olten kept fighting and did snag three goals in the final phase but Adrián Augustinič and Lukáš Benda kept Litice out of range and still in the hunt for a semi-final spot.
Royal Léopold then won a fiery battle with AH&BC Amsterdam 6-4; the lead swapped hands five times across the contest with the Dutch side going in front, Léo getting the next two before Amsterdam made it 3-2 early in the second half.
A Philippe Simar made it 4-3 before Sam Steins-Bisschop tied it up once more at the end of Q3. There, Nathan Leeuw coolly slotted the go-ahead goal for 5-4 and Simar slammed in a corner into an empty net for the clinching sixth goal.
It puts Léo on the brink of the semi-finals with only a heavy loss to Plzeň-Litice on Saturday morning able to deny them that spot.
Pool B
HK Zelina bounced back from their morning defeat to get the best of Old Georgians 10-7 and give themselves a shot at advancing to the semi-finals of the competition.
In a rollercoaster first half, the English side did build a 3-1 lead but, inspired by Bohdan Kovalenko, the Croatian team quickly turned things around to eke out a 5-4 half-time lead.
They were then more potent in the second half as they scored the next four for a 9-4 advantage. OGs pulled three back but, fittingly, Kovalenko walked in his fourth goal to close off the win.
Junior fans in full voice. Picture: Frank Uijlenbroek/World Sport Pics
As the crowds built late in the evening, Junior lined out in their special new shirts to celebrate 100 years of the hockey section of their club and they gave their fans a moment to savour against five-time champions Harvestehuder THC.
They ended up 7-5 winners as they overcame a rough first quarter in which they trailed 4-2 and fell further behind in the 12th minute to a second from Gracjan Jarzyński.
It remained 5-2 into the second half but, spurred by the raucous crowd, Ferran Muñoz got them rolling again before Nicolau Mustarós and Albert Serrahima equalised in the final quarter.
Oriol Serrahima ripped in another to put them ahead and Mustarós walked in another to complete a famous night in the club’s history.
