SK Slavia Prague, Lisnagarvey and OKS-SHVSM Vinnitsa all started on the front foot at the men’s EuroHockey Club Trophy I in Lousada, Portugal.
Kryštof Bodnár was the Slavia hero, scoring in the final minute from a penalty corner to earn a 3-2 win over Switzerland’s HC Olten in the opening game of the tournament in Pool A.
Swiss international Lukas Hengartner had given Olten the lead early on before veteran David Vacek turned the game around with a pair of goal, a 2-1 lead for the Czechs.
Hengartner equalised with four minutes left before Bodnár won the tie and the five points on offer.
It means they have the early advantage in the group after Cardiff & Met and SV Arminen shared a 1-1 draw, marked by an incredible series of corners in the last five minutes.
Max Kelner in the second quarter and a Nicholas Morgan riposte in Q3 had the game level going into the closing stages where Cardiff had six corners and a stroke.
They could not convert any of those while Arminen had a series of five corners in the final minute – there 22 in total during the game – but also could not find the net.
Lisnagarvey started Pool B in dominant form with a 4-0 victory over Grange with Oliver Kidd scoring a hat trick. The first two came either side of a goal from Andy Williamson to build a 3-0 lead before half-time and Kidd completed the win in the 37th minute.
OKS-OHSVM Vinnitsa finished their game against hosts AD Lousada to win out 5-2, netting three times in the last seven minutes for an important win.
Oleksandr Solomianyi gave the Ukranian side a brilliant start with a stroke and a corner goal in the first five minutes, 2-0. Lousada regrouped and were level going into the final quarter thanks to Gonçalo Marques and Ricardo Teixeira efforts.
But Vinnitsa finished the game superbly with Oleksandr Yasinskyi restored the lead and then Solomianyi completed his hat trick with a second stroke. Maksym Onofriiuk’s goal made sure there was no losing bonus for Lousada.
Saturday sees Arminen take on Slavia and Olten meet Cardiff in Pool A while Grange face Vinnitsa and Lousada play Lisnagarvey in Pool B.
** To follow all the scores and fixtures from Lousada, click here
