Lisnagarvey produced a memorable third quarter show to land the men’s EuroHockey Club Trophy I in Lousada to defeat reigning champions Cardiff & Met 4-2 in the final.
The Irish side had trailed twice early in the contest but three goals – from Ryan Getty, Andrew Williamson and Oliver Kidd – in a seven minute spell saw them race clear.
Early on, Owain Dolan-Gray and Ieuan Davies nudged the Welsh side 1-0 and 2-1 up in the early phases either side of Williamson’s first goal of the day.
But that Garvey run of goals put them in the clear and completed a perfect tournament for them, four wins from four and scoring 22 times in the process.
It was their second European title in the past two years having won the 2022 EuroHockey Club Challenge I in Copenhagen.
SV Arminen took bronze ahead of Scotland’s Grange in a potentially important result for the EHL Ranking Table as they prevailed in a shoot-out following a 3-3 thriller in normal time.
The Austrian side looked to have the game under control after goals from Robert Campe and Robert Bele made it 2-0 and then Florian Hackl extended the advantage to 3-1 with 10 minutes to go.
But Dylan Bean and David Nairn responded in the closing stages to earn a shoot-out chance.
Arminen, though, steadied their nerves and the experienced trio of Daniel Fröhlich, Patrick Schmidt and Florian Steyrer all scored in the shoot-out for a 3-1 success.
OKS-SHVSM Vinnitsa were 5-4 victors over SK Slavia Prague in the fifth place playoff despite suffering four yellow card suspensions in the tie.
Goals from Dmytro Hrubyi and Oleksii Popov in the last eight minutes got them the win.
Hosts AD Lousada got seventh place after seven rounds of shoot-outs to defeat HC Olten 6-5 after normal time ended 2-2. The Swiss side looked set for victory at 2-0 but two goals in the last 11 minutes earned Lousada a draw.
Men’s EuroHockey Club Trophy I (Lousada, Portugal) – final rankings
- Lisnagarvey (Ireland)
- Cardiff & Met (Wales)
- SV Arminen (Austria)
- Grange (Scotland)
- OKS-SHVSM Vinnitsa (Ukraine)
- SK Slavia Prague (Czechia)
- AD Lousada (Portugal)
- HC Olten (Switzerland)
Player of the tournament: Oliver Kidd (Lisnagarvey)
Goalkeeper of the tournament: James Milliken (Lisnagarvey)
Top goalscorers (6 goals): Oliver Kidd, Andrew Williamson (both Lisnagarvey)
