Men’s EuroHockey U21 Championship II-A (Poznań, Poland) – day 2 round-up
Poland kept pace with high-flying Ireland and Italy who all finished day two of the men’s EuroHockey U21 Championship II-A on six points.
In the closest battle of the day, Poland found the going tough but eventually got over the line against Ukraine with a 2-1 success, keeping their 100% record in tact.
** Picture: Mariusz Jarząb
The score remained tied until the 40th minute when the Poles took the lead after a brilliantly executed counte-rattack which Karol Gumny successfully finished off.
But, just two minutes later, Serhii Riabchuk equalised for Ukraine who had responded well to their rough opening day.
The decisive blow came nine minutes before the end from a short corner, Franciszek Juszczak finding the net, making the score 2-1.
Italy were the first to move up to six points as they defeated Croatia 8-1 with four goals coming between the 11th and 16th minute being the defining factor.
It gave them a four-goal lead they were never in danger of relinquishing as Giovanni Faggian finished with a hat trick and Francesco Atzori scored twice.
Ireland got their second successive double-figure tally as they beat Lithuania 12-0 to go with their 11-1 win on day one.
Toby O’Connell brought his tournament total to seven goals with four strikes this time while John Cunningham got a hat trick. They were relentless, scoring four goals in the last two minutes to boost their goal difference and take first place in the group overnight.
Wednesday’s schedule starts with a firecracker between Italy and Ireland at 14.30 (CEST) before Ukraine play Lithuania at 16.45 and Croatia face Poland at 19.00.
** Click here for further stats and details about the players and the tournament
