Men’s EuroHockey Championship I Qualifier (Rome, Italy)

Scotland added gold to their EuroChamps27 qualification ticket as two goals in quick succession saw them pull away from hosts Italy in their final this evening in the Rome heat.

Struan Walker and Cammie Golden netted back-to-back goals in the 33^rd and 34^th minutes which ultimately saw them pull clear despite a massive Italian offensive in the closing quarter.

The Scots had initially taken the lead when Cameron Golden fired home his fifth goal of the weekend from a penalty corner, a feat which earned him a share of the top goalscorer prize with Croatia’s Josip Krleža.

Italy’s reply took just over a minute to arrive with Claudio Brocco popping up on the end of two smart under-the-arm passes to shoot home.

And that was how it remained throughout a relatively quiet second quarter before the result’s defining period. Scotland had already threatened with one long ball through the circle just missing an attacking touch but Lee Morton soon picked out Walker and he applied a delicious finish to chip over the goalkeeper.

Golden then gobbled up a chance created by Jamie Green’s work that yielded a rebound; 3-1 in the 34^th minute.

Italy threw everything into attack after that and peppered Tommy Alexander’s goal with nine corners in the closing quarter; he made one special save with his right boot while Jamie Golden was twice on hand to save off the left post.

It added to the Italian frustration and they ended with Joaquin Puglisi red carded in the closing moments.

“The target was to qualify. Obviously to do it winning all three games is great,” said Scottish captain Robert Field. “It’s what we came to do so happy boys and a happy camp.”

Earlier, Krleža’s hat trick saw Croatia land the bronze medal as they won a penalty corner battle against Portugal 3-2.

Runners-up Italy. Pictures: Frank Uijlenbroek/World Sport Pics

Portugal were first to strike with Emil Gomes scoring his first international goal when a charged down corner fell his way.

But, in a game of 21 corners, Croatia replied with the third of their set pieces with Krleža’s drag-flick taking a touch off the number one runner.

He put his side in front in the third quarter and it was 3-1 in the same manner with another effort where Krleža applied the power and a touch from the runners provided the misdirection.

Portugal were back in the game when Miguel Rodrigues scored a stroke when a corner shot hit a foot on the line. But they could not find another route to goal in the remaining 12 minutes and so had to settle for fourth place.

Switzerland prevailed over Czechia in the fifth place game with a sudden death shoot-out success after normal time ended 2-2.

Leonhard Kraxner was the star man with two shoot-out finishes to go with a player of the match performance as they burst out of the blocks. Lukas Hengartner picked up the pieces at the second attempt after Mika Conrad’s driving run to make it 1-0.

Jonáš Lupač levelled when he spotted a near post gap to slam in a shot from the baseline and his side went in front courtesy of František Toms’ effort in the third quarter.

Loris Grandchamp equalised with a drag-flick, sending the game to a shoot-out where the Swiss won 4-3 after seven rounds.

Türkiye took seventh spot with the game also going to a shoot-out against Ukraine following a lively 3-3 draw in normal time. Andrii Koshelenko put Ukraine ahead in Q1 but replies from Sait Kalkan and Müslüm Ekinci turned the game around by half-time.

Serhii Riabchuk and Ömer Karakuş exchanged goals to leave the Turks 3-2 ahead going into the closing stages when Oleksandr Solomianyi levelled from a 58^th minute corner.

In the shoot-out, the Turks produced a series of clever dinked finishes to win 4-2.

Player of the tournament: David Franco (Portugal)

Top goalscorers: Jamie Golden (Scotland), Josip Krleža (Croatia)

Goalkeeper of the tournament: Fran Pažur (Croatia)

Final rankings

1. Scotland
2. Italy
3. Croatia
4. Portugal
5. Switzerland
6. Czechia
7. Türkiye
8. Ukraine