Rotweiss Wettingen are in the box seat in Pool A of the men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy in Plzeň, Czechia while Pool B looks set for a manic Saturday morning after a lively first day at the Lokomotiv stadium.
The Swiss side won well against both Portugal’s AD Lousada (8-3) and Ireland’s Three Rock Rovers (5-2) to hold top spot and make sure they will contest the promotion pool regardless of what happens against Roslagens.
They got off to a flying start with a three-goal lead against Lousada before the Portugal champions cut it back to 3-2 at half-time. It stayed that way until the final quarter when the Swiss added four more with Yves Morard completing a hat trick.
Against Three Rock, the Irish side led 1-0 in Q1 and it was 2-2 at the end of Q3 but some exceptional goalkeeping from Joel Schüpach and another Morard triple earned their second win.
Rovers had earlier beaten Roslagens 12-1 while Lousada saw off the Swedes 9-0, results that means the Irish side need a draw to advance to the promotion pool while Lousada need a win on Saturday morning.
Pool B is incredibly tight with three sides covered by a single point. OKS SHVSM Vinnitsa won a 15-goal thriller against Scotland’s Western Wildcats following an immense fightback.
Inspired by Fraser Moran, Wildcats led 3-0 at half-time but six goals in Q3 turned things around to build a 6-4 advantage in the Ukranians’ favour. The final quarter was back and forth but a 39th minute Maksym Onofriiuk goal settled the matter 8-7.
Hosts TJ Plzeň-Litice produced a perfect second half to defeat Copenhagen HC 6-3, coming back from 3-1 down to land the points.
In the second session, Wildcats also defeated Copenhagen by a narrow margin, edging them out 3-2 via Callum Duke, Hamish Galt and Rob Harwood.
And the day finished with a classic tussle between Litice and Vinnitsa, one which the hosts led on three separate occasions but another last minute Onofriiuk goal from a corner made it 4-4.
The two clubs end the day on four points each with Wildcats on six. As such, both the meetings between Vinnitsa and Copenhagen and Wildcats versus versus Plzeň will be vital to see who plays in the top four promotion pool and who will be in the four sides relegated.
