Match details will be added as soon as they are available.
Match report
EHL GRAND FINAL
Rot-Weiss Köln 3 (T Grambusch, F Adrians, F Scholten) HC Oranje-Rood 2 (A Mazzilli, M van der Weerden)
Rot-Weiss Köln won a brilliant EHL GRAND FINAL to beat HC Oranje-Rood, winning the title for the first time following a pulsating day in Brasschaat.
The first half was played at an awesome speed initially with both sides breaking at speed and looking to counter-attack. Bob de Voogd and Jelle Galema had a number of raids while Jair van der Horst’s left wing cross went just wide from Caspar van Dijk’s cross.
They almost profited when Matthias Müller’s clearance fell kindly for Muhammad Rizwan but he was quickly shut down by Victor Aly who made a brilliant double-block in the 23rd minute.
It led to the game’s first corner but it was not stopped, denying Mink van der Weerden a first shot on goal.
A little against the run of play, Rot-Weiss produced a sustained piece of controlled possession, probing the Oranje-Rood 23-metre area. Mats Grambusch eventually unpicked the defence with a top pass to Jonas Gomoll who won a corner. Tom Grambusch brilliantly dragged the chance into the top corner for 1-0.
Back came Oranje-Rood with Agustin Mazzilli having two bites at a chance created by van der Weerden’s overlap. It led to a second corner but Rot-Weiss cleared once more for a narrow lead at half-time.
The second half started at similar pace with Galema clipping a shot into the outside of the goal while Timur Oruz also pushed an effort onto the frame of the goal.
Rot-Weiss got their second goal in the 35th minute, though, when a crash ball from the back was deflected into the path of Florian Adrians and he brilliantly slotted a shot under goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak.
The Dutch side took little time to get back into the tie, Agustin Mazzilli netting in the 38th minute after Jair van der Horst had nicked the ball back to Caspar van Dijk. He popped it back behind the defence for the Argentinean to flick in.
And the game was level in the 40th minute when Bram Huijbregts cut in to win a corner. He found a foot for a fourth penalty corner which van der Weerden fired home for 2-2, his third goal of the weekend.
Alexander Schölkopf was in the sin-bin at that time for a foul on Mazzilli but when he returned, Rot-Weiss responded. Kai Aichinger produced some magic down the right wing and worked the ball into the centre where Florian Scholten controlled in mid-air and volleyed into the goal a lovely effort, 3-2.
Van der Weerden won himself another corner with an excellent run but his flick was charged down as Rot Weiss hung on to their lead.
From there, Oranje-Rood drove forward through Benjamin Stanzl but he got little change from Müller. The Dutch side then had three penalty corners in the closing minute but they put their bodies on the line – surviving getting reduced to nine players as well – to keep out the chances and land the biggest prize in European club hockey.