HC Oranje-Rood, SV Arminen, Lisnagarvey and Royal Orée all emerged victorious from their respective Euro Hockey League Men ROUND1 groups to advance to next Easter’s FINALS.
For the Eindhoven hosts, they put on a great show as they defeated Real Club de Polo on Friday evening 2-0 with Struan Walker’s classy backhand finish setting the tone before Borja Lacalle’s corner rebound made the game safe.
They then won a 5-3 thriller against Wimbledon with Walker scoring another couple to ensure they topped Pool C.
Royal Orée enjoyed a dream debut as they topped Pool B on goal difference ahead of 2017 champions Rot-Weiss Köln. Both beat Slavia Prague comfortably but the Belgian side scored more to leave them needing a draw against the German outfit to advance and that duly arrived with a pair of Loris Grandchamp corner goals in a 2-2 outcome.
SV Arminen emerged from a highly competitive Pool A to make it to Easter for the third time. They held off a big comeback from Edinburgh University – who had beaten Lille MHC 4-0 – to win 3-2 and then held firm against Lille in a 2-1 success.
Lisnagarvey were perhaps the most comfortable side to go through as four first half goals set them up for a 5-2 win over Rotweiss Wettingen. They followed up with a 6-0 win over CAM 92 to win Pool D.
The venue for the EHL FINALS will be confirmed on Wednesday, October 14th with the draw following on Monday, October 19th.
