W1 Beat Slavia Prague 8-0 To Qualify For FINAL8
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women beat Slavia Prague 8-0 to qualify for the FINAL8 of the Women's Euro Hockey League in 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands at Wednesday lunchtime, and will play German club Düsseldorfer on Thursday at 1145 BST.
Slavia Prague are currently top of the Czechia Extraliga with a seven point lead over nearest rivals, Rakovinik, who have a game in hand. Slavia Prague beat Rakovnic in a shootout to win the 2023-24 Czechia Extraliga and qualify for the expended Women's EHL FINAL12.
Surbiton dominated the first quarter, but couldn't break down the Prague defence until they were awarded their third penalty corner of the match with five seconds remaining of the first period. Darcy Bourne found the backboard in time added on to give Surbiton a boost.
Slavia Prague held out until the 25th minute when a brilliant passing move saw Surbiton double their lead. Martha Taylor found Sophie Hamilton, whose penetrating diagonal pass found Issy Yonge just outside the 23 metre area, Yonge running into the circle before smashing the ball into the top right corner in sensational style.
Prague goalkeeper Andrea Vančurová was beaten again a minute later after an excellent double save. First Izzy Petter was stopped from an extremely acute angle before the rebound found its way to Meg Dowthwaite. It was third time lucky as Erica Sanders finally put the ball into the goal to give Surbiton a 3-0 half time lead after two quarters of fifteen minutes duration.
Sanders struck again when Alice Sharp's free hit into the circle somehow bypassed the entire Slavia Prague defence in the 34th minute and was touched past Vančurová to give Surbiton a 4-0 advantage.
Two minutes later, things got even worse for Slavia Prague as not only did they concede a penalty stroke after a reckless challenge by Natálie Hájková on Bourne, but they lost their right to a video referral in challenging the decision.
Bourne beat Vančurová for the second time in the match, slotting the ball to the goalkeeper's right to put Surbiton in a commanding position.
Having conceded two goals in as many minutes in the second quarter, Slavia Prague were undone again in the third quarter as Meg Dowthwaite had reason to celebrate in both the 41st and 42nd minute, Surbiton leading 7-0 at the end of the third quarter.
Dowthwaite's first goal was set up by Yonge, with Ellie Mackenzie passing to Dowthwaite before being shoulder charged by a Slavia Prague defender, Dowthwaite finishing clinically for to complete a brilliant move.
Following another reckless challenge in the 47th minute, Slavia Prague conceded another penalty stroke, but this time Vančurová denied Bourne her hat-trick with a stick save on the line as Bourne elected to score in the same side.
Surbiton goalkeeper, Amber Walton made a save from Hájková early in the third quarter, and was replaced by Jemma Woods with just under five minutes to play.
Surbiton's final goal came in the 57th minute, Martha Taylor chipping Vančurová from a penalty corner, but the goal confirmation was delayed after an umpire referral to check whether the injection had left the circle. The goal was awarded and earned Surbiton their biggest ever win in European competition, surpassing their 8-1 win over Butterfly Roma last season on their way to lifting the EuroHockey Club Trophy in Hamburg.
Surbiton's biggest win in a Tier 1 European competition came in the former EuroHockey Club Cup in Amsterdam in 2019 when they beat GHC Rtm Grodno of Belarus 7-0.
After the match, Bourne, interviewed on EuroHockey TV after being named as the Player of the Match summed up the manner of the victory: "We're really happy with that performance. We wanted to come out here and show what we're capable of."
In the other FINAL12 matches, Braxgata of Belgium needed a shootout to get past Club Campo de Madrid 4-3 after a 1-1 draw after 60 minutes. Braxgata will meet another Spanish club, Real Club de Polo in the FINAL8.
Mannheimer were too powerful for Ukrainian club, MSC Sumchanka, winning 9-0 to earn a FINAL8 meeting with Belgian club, Gantoise.
In the final match of the day, Irish club Railway Union lost 4-0 to Dutch club SCHC, three of the goals coming from penalty corners.
More information including scorers and the ability to follow games in real time can be found at the EuroHockey Altius website here.