SCHC Too Strong For L1 In EHL Ranking Match
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Ladies battled against Dutch side SCHC in the ranking match at the Euro Hockey League in the Wagener Stadium in Amsterdam, but after taking the lead, they fell to a 3-1 defeat on Sunday morning.
SCHC, as with Surbiton, had lost their quarter-final via a shootout following a 1-1 draw in normal time and went into the ranking match without both Pien Dicke and Ginella Zerbo who were injured against 's-Hertogenbosch.
Surbiton had an early scare before Izzy Petter stopped Kyra Fortuin shooting on goal in the first minute as both teams had possession but produced few chances in the first quarter.
Mette Winter fired past the left post and Leah Wilkinson was brilliant in defence towards the end of a first period which saw Surbiton take the lead.
Petter was stopped while in attacking mode, but SCHC conceded a penalty stroke with just ten seconds remaining on the clock. Darcy Bourne showed absolutely no nerves in slotting the stroke to Alexandra Heerbaart's right to put Surbiton ahead.
SCHC trailed for just three minutes before they equalised with an excellent passing move. Xan De Waard found Trijintje Beljaars, whose pass to Laurien Leurink was clinically dispatched past Sabbie Heesh in the Surbiton goal in the 18th minute.
Back on level terms, Yibbi Jensen tested Heesh with a save from SCHC's first penalty corner but made no mistake in the 27th minute when having won a penalty corner via a video referral, Jensen gave SCHC the lead for the first time from their second award.
Surbiton took the game to SCHC with Sophie Hamilton attacking down the left and Petter attacking down the right, but couldn't take their chances with SCHC defending in numbers when Bourne was in possession in the circle and frustratingly, the ball wouldn't fall for Surbiton in the second quarter before the Dutch team took the lead.
Surbiton were even more frustrated in the third quarter when their first penalty corner was wasted after Giselle Ansley's pass to the left went wide of Bourne.
In contrast, SCHC's routine led to their third goal after they won a penalty stroke from their third penalty corner in the 46th minute. Surbiton video referred the stroke decision but the decision was upheld, causing them to lose their right to a video referral.
Jensen duly found the backboard to extend SCHC's lead and all but earn joint-fifth place.
SCHC showed minor vulnerabilities by mis-trapping their fifth penalty corner while putting Surbiton's defence under pressure from set-pieces and losing their right to a video referral with just nine seconds remaining in the quest to win another penalty corner award, but showed why they are a force in the Dutch league and why they were so disappointed to lose out to 's-Hertogenbosch in the quarter-finals.
Surbiton will be disappointed to have finished in joint seventh-place, but battled in both games and they will probably be wondering what more they had to do to get past Düsseldorfer in the FINAL8.
More information about the Women's Euro Hockey League can be found at the EHF Altius website here
The daily report on the Euro Hockey League website can be found here
In Switzerland, Hampstead & Westminster beat hosts, Wettingen 5-0 in their opening Pool match before going down 2-0 to Mannheimer on Saturday. Hampstead beat Iris Hockey Lambersart 12-0 on Sunday and beat Ukraine's MSC Sumchanka 1-0 to win bronze on Easter Monday.
More information about the Women's EuroHockey Club Trophy can be found at the EHF Altius website here
And Cardiff & Met men, who will play in the Men's Hockey League Premier Division for the first time in 2023-24 won the final of the Men's EuroHockey Club Trophy I in Vienna.
Cardiff beat OSHVSM Phoenix of Ukraine 8-1 before drawing 3-3 with Post SV of Austria. A 2-0 victory over Scottish club Grange in their final match ensured that they finished top of Pool A. On Easter Monday Cardiff defeated OKS Vinnitsa of the Ukraine 4-2 to go back to Wales with the gold medals.
More information about Cardiff's exploits can be found here