Viva Men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy (Vienna, Austria)
Post SV secured the EuroHockey Indoor Trophy title for men with a 5-3 victory against Iris Hockey Lambersart, earning promotion along with Ukraine following OKS SHVSM Vinnitsa’s second place finish overall.
In an intense and high-quality final encounter, Post kept their composure to prevail against the strong French side who had impressed in their debut tournament, much to the delight of the home crowd at the Posthalle.
“This is an incredible day for Post SV,” said captain Paul Drusany; “it’s simply awesome. This team achieved this victory with heart, passion, team spirit, and tremendous effort.”
For Vinnitsa, they produced an epic comeback of their own to draw 5-5 with Gaziantep Polisgücü for a result that ultimately was enough for promotion.
Going into the final day, three sides were still in the hunt for the two promotion spots and the gold medal.
Vinnitsa were first up knowing a win would secure Ukraine’s return to the top level but they were trailing from the outset with Mehmet Demirel and Sait Kalkan building a 2-0 lead in Q1; Hakim Taşar made it 3-1 in Q2 and it was 5-0 with 13 minutes left.
From there, though, Vinnitsa produced the biggest comeback of a tournament defined by amazing fightbacks as Volodymyr Kaplinskyi scoring a hat trick and Maksym Onofriiuk scored in the final minute for an incredible 5-5 result.
It put them in temporary lead of the Pool D table but there were still permutations that could deny them promotion with Lambersart and Post both going for glory in the last game of the competition.
The Austrian side, though, showed their composure as Paul Bräutigam and Peter Kaltenböck making it 2-0 in the first half and Paul Drusany put them three clear.
Arthur Golliot and Adrien Cousin cut the gap significantly in Q3 but quickfire goals from Bartosz Szmidt and Benny Stanzl restored some sense of calm with a 5-2 lead.
Cousin did get one back but the French side had to settle with bronze as the hosts celebrated Austrian promotion and gold.
Pool C
LKS Gasawa grabbed their first win of the competition at exactly the right time to see them guarantee Poland a place in next year’s indoor Club Trophy as they won 7-3 against AD Lousada. The result sees Portugal relegated to the Club Challenge I for 2027.
The Polish side were on top from the start with Jakub Mroziński’s goal quickly followed by efforts from Yuan Hibatullah and Jerzy Wiśniewski for 3-0 in the first quarter. Lousada twice cut the deficit back to two goals but Indonesian international Hibatullah’s quartet of goals meant Gasawa were always out of sight.
Three Rock Rovers then followed up by defeating Slagelse 5-4, a result which means they retain their place in the second tier with the Danes going down.
James Walker had them edging in front throughout, making it 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 going into the final quarter where Luke Madeley’s stroke finally put daylight between the teams.
Rasmus Westrup replied but Ryan Williams made it 5-3 with four minutes left; Magnus Thorsted reduced the gap once more but two yellows in the last two minutes for Slagelse denied their chances of getting the draw they needed.
Player of the tournament: Simon Gauthier (Iris Hockey Lambersart)
Goalkeeper of the tournament: Jakob Kastner (Post SV)
Leader goalscorer: Volodymyr Kaplinskyi (OKS SHVSM Vinnitsa) – 12 goals
Final rankings
- Post SV (AUT)
- OKS SHVSM Vinnitsa (UKR)
- Iris Hockey Lambersart (FRA)
- Gaziantep Polisgücü (TUR)
- LKS Gasawa (POL)
- Three Rock Rovers (IRL)
- Slagelse (DEN)
- AD Lousada (POR)
