Old Georgians and TJ Plzen-Litice hold the advantage over HC Valenciennes in the race for promotion from the men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy in Budapest after another dramatic day.
It began with Valenciennes securing their place in the promotion pool to the delight of their large and vocal travelling support, picking up a 4-0 win over KPH Rača with the goals shared between Malo Martinache, Adrian Cousin, Maxime Danghin and Martin Chiarelli.
AD Lousada went through with them to Pool D after a topsy-turvy 9-7 win over SV Arminen. The side from Portugal tore into a 6-2 advantage only for the Austrians to fight back and level the game at 6-6 by the 25th minute.
Crucially, José Santos and Ricardo Teixeira scored down the closing stretch to record the victory.
In Pool A, Old Georgians eased their way into the top four group with a 15-3 success against host club Soroksári. They raced into an 8-1 half-time lead and never looked back.
TJ Plzeň-Litice survived a late wobble to advance, too, as they beat KS Pomorzanin Torun 5-3. The Czechia club got the first five goals with Martin Seemann getting three of them before the Polish team rallied in the last few minutes with three replies.
Litice carried that good vibe into the promotion group where they defeated Lousada 8-6. They made their big move in the third quarter with a pair of goals from Šimon Levý and another from Lukáš Benda put them 7-4 up and they stayed ahead.
It lifted them to seven points, a total they were joined on by Old Georgians who blew away Valenciennes 8-1. The French side had started better, taking the lead through Denis Bailleul and they were still 1-0 up by the 17th minute.
But then OGs scored four times in two minutes and that was the game-breaking move; Alan Forsyth got two of those en route to a hat trick.
The result means Valenciennes must win their game tomorrow against Plzeň to gain a promotion spot for France; Old Georgians will know their equation when they take the court for the final game of the tournament against Lousada.
In the relegation pool, Rača got their first win of the competition with a 4-1 success against Soroksári while SV Arminen retained Austria’s place at this level when they defeated Pomorzanin Torun 6-2.
That means the key game on Sunday morning will be the meeting between Rača and Torun with the Polish side needing a draws while the Slovaks require a win or will go down.
Men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy – day two results
| Teams | Title | Scoreline |
|---|---|---|
| VALENCIENNES – RAČA | Pool B | 4 – 0 |
| LOUSADA – ARMINEN | Pool B | 9 – 7 |
| OLDGEORGIANS – SOROKSARI | Pool A | 15 – 3 |
| PLZEN – POMORZANIN | Pool A | 5 – 3 |
| SOROKSARI – RAČA | Pool C | 1 – 4 |
| POMORZANIN – ARMINEN | Pool C | 2 – 6 |
| PLZEN – LOUSADA | Pool D | 8 – 6 |
| OLDGEORGIANS – VALENCIENNES | Pool D | 8 – 1 |
Pool C standings
| Rank | Team | Pl | W | D | L | Goal Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SV Arminen (AUT) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 10 |
| 2 | KS Pomorzanin Torun (POL) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 5 |
| 3 | KPH Rača (SVK) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 5 |
| 4 | Soroksári HC (HUN) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -5 | 1 |
Pool D standings
| Rank | Team | Pl | W | D | L | Goal Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Georgians HC (ENG) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 2 | TJ Plzeň-Litice | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | HC Valenciennes (FRA) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -6 | 5 |
| 4 | AD Lousada (POR) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 2 |
