Den Bosch and Rot-Weiss Köln completed the ABN AMRO EHL GRAND FINAL line-ups with the former set to face Club de Campo in the women’s decider (13.45 CET) while Rot-Weiss will meet Bloemendaal in a repeat of the 2022 men’s decider (16.15 CET).
Monday will also see the BRONZE MATCH in both competitions with Düsseldorfer HC up against Sanse Complutense in the women’s contest at 09.15 CET and Atlètic Terrassa facing Royal Racing Club de Bruxelles (11.30 CET).
Here’s a round-up of the day’s action
Women
FINAL4
Den Bosch 2 (Frédérique Matla 2) Düsseldorfer HC 1 (Sara Strauss)
Den Bosch came through a huge battle to finally get past Düsseldorfer HC as Frédérique Matla held her nerve to score the winner with just two minutes to go.
It ended the German club’s big resistance as they soaked up lots of pressure but could not carry it through to the final whistle and must now content themselves with a BRONZE MATCH fixture.
Early on, Maartje Krekelaar deflected Noor Omrani’s cross onto the outside frame of the goal while Frédérqiue Matla had a golden chance squirm wide and a drag-flick repelled by Nathalie Kubalski.
Out of nowhere, Düsseldorf hit the front when Sanne Koolen slipped while trying to tackle Lilly Stoffelsma. Sara Strauss stepped up to score from the stroke and a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute.
Den Bosch hit back within three minutes when the influential Rosa Fernig stepped forward from the back to dribble through a number of tackles. Her pass left Matla with a simple task which she just about took, the ball dribbling slowly over the goal line.
The third quarter saw Düsseldorf put all hands to the pump in front of Kubalski to battle through some hairy moments to keep the waves of Den Bosch attacks out.
On the break, they had their moments with Clara Ycart and Strauss keeping the Dutch club on their toes but it was a primarily a big defensive effort.
That was until two minutes from the end when Krekelaar was knocked over in the circle and a stroke was awarded. Matla stepped forward to make it 2-1 and continue their challenge for a second EHL Women’s title in three seasons.
5th-7th playoff
SCHC 3 (Yibbi Jansen 2, Laurien Leurink) Surbiton 1 (Darcy Bourne)
SCHC finished their first EHL campaign in fifth place as they came back from a goal down to beat Surbiton.
It was a keenly contested battle with both sides fighting to the end with chances flowing at either end
Darcy Bourne put the English side in front from the penalty spot following a swift move with Sophie Hamilton putting Izzy Petter through on goal where she was impeded.
The lead was swapped, however, by half-time as Laurien Leurink completed one of the goals of the tournament, instigated by Xan de Waard’s beautiful skills in midfield and then by a cross from Trijntje Beljaars.
Yibbi Jansen dragged in a corner to put the Bilthoven club ahead for the first time and she added another from the penalty spot following a clash of sticks in the circle in the fourth quarter.
Men
FINAL4
Atlètic Terrassa 3 (Pepe Cunill 2, Xavier Castello) Rot-Weiss Köln 3 (Christopher Rühr, Fabio Seitz, Elian Mazkour), Rot-Weiss win shoot-out 4-3
Rot-Weiss set up a repeat EHL Men’s GRAND FINAL against Bloemendaal as they, once again, advanced via a shoot-out after an incredible FINAL4 encounter.
Pepe Cunill broke the deadlock in the second quarter when he took in a long overhead on the right of the circle, leaving the Rot-Weiss defence unsure to step off of tackle. The Atlètic man took advantage of the indecision to score with a power-push.
But three goals in the eight minutes before half-time changed the complexion of the contest quickly. First, a Mink van der Weerden drag-flick was deemed to hit a body on the line and Christopher Rühr stepped up to score from the penalty spot.
Then Florian Adrians ball from the right made it through a maze of sticks to reach Fabio Seitz at the back post and the 19-year-old was cool and calm to make it 2-1.
And with just a couple of seconds before the big break, Mats Grambusch picked out Elian Mazkour with his back to goal. The striker brilliantly controlled and spun to shoot home in one quick move.
The third quarter was played at a high octane pace with Johannes Mooij clearing one off the line before Atlètic starting piling forward. Vincent Vanasch made a series of big saves from corners to keep them at arm’s length until eight minutes from the end.
With both sides down to 10 players, Pepe Cunill dragged in his second goal of the game, taking over the corner duties from his brother. Then Xavier Castello cracked in a bouncing ball a minute later to level the game at 3-3.
Vanasch saved early on to give Rot-Weiss the edge while the German club score their first three efforts. A dramatic stroke from Pepe Cunill hit both posts and was awarded following a long review before Marc Calzada saved for 3-3 going into the last round.
The two captains stepped up – Marc Salles was denied while Mats Grambusch calmly scored to get the result.
5th-7th Ranking Match
Gantoise 2 (Timothée Clément, Guillaume Hellin) Hamburger Polo Club 2 (Kane Russell, Paul Smith), Gantoise win shoot-out 3-1
Gantoise came back from 2-0 to finish their EHL Men’s season with a fifth place finish with Hamburger Polo Club ending in seventh.
Kane Russell opened the scoring with a stroke for Polo; Paul Smith then made it two with quick hands to jab the ball home following a brilliant run along the left baseline by Diede van Puffelen.
Timothée Clément’s slap from the top of the circle got Gantoise on the board before the end of the first quarter and they were level early in Q4. It came when Sean Murray crashed a ball to the back post where Guillaume Hellin touched in the goal for 2-2.
Gantoise then won the shoot-out with something to spare, Etienne Tynevez’s special effort the highlight in a 3-1 success.