W1 Suffer EHL FINAL8 Heartbreak
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women's hopes of reaching the Euro Hockey League FINAL4 were ended by German club Düsseldorfer at the FINAL8 stage as Surbiton lost 2-1 on Thursday lunchtime.
Düsseldorfer were playing their first match of the tournament, whilst Surbiton had beaten Slavia Prague 8-0 the previous day.
On a rainy day in 's-Hertogenbosch, Surbiton started brightly and forced what turned out to be their only penalty corner of the match in the second minute, Darcy Bourne seeing her drag-flick rebound off the right post.
The first half saw both teams settling down with a place in the semi-finals at stake, Surbiton putting together passing movements and Düsseldorfer forcing Surbiton goalkeeper Amber Walton to kick the ball away in the twelfth minute.
Izzy Petter shot past the left post as the first quarter came to an end and after the Slavia Prague players had made some physical changes in Surbiton's previous match, Alice Sharp was pushed over by Düsseldorfer's Mabel Brands early in the second quarter.
Penalty corners came at a premium in this last eight match and Düsseldorfer took full advantage of their first award after Walton's kick away was deemed dangerous.
Surbiton's task of defending was made slightly more difficult after Martha Taylor was banished to the halfway line for breaking early, enabling Lisa Nolte to deflect the retake and wrong-foot Walton and give the German side the lead in the 19th minute.
Surbiton trailed 1-0 at half time, but equalised in the 33rd minute from a penalty stroke after Alice Wills was fouled in the circle by Annika Sprink. The initial reaction of the umpires was to play on, but Surbiton used their right to video referral to have the incident checked. Sarah Wilson, the Video Umpire, confirmed that Wills had been fouled and Bourne stepped up for her third penalty attempt of the tournament, giving Femke Jovy no chance as Surbiton levelled at 1-1.
All the hard work done to get Surbiton back into the match was nullified four minutes later after Nolte, subsequently named as Player of the Match, was able to run into the circle past the Surbiton defenders and smash the ball past Walton to restore Düsseldorfer's lead with a goal that will Surbiton will be very disappointed to have conceded.
Surbiton's Martha Taylor made an excellent run in the 50th minute, but was unfortunate to mis-hit her shot enabling Jovy to make a simple save.
Düsseldorfer also made good use of their right to video referral a minute later as they were awarded a penalty corner after the ball touched Liz Thompson's back stick. The first set-piece resulted in a second award which saw Nolte denied a hat-trick by a Walton save, followed up by Selin Oruz firing past the left post as the German team tried to seal the victory.
Surbiton Head Coach elected to replace Walton with an eleventh outfield player with five minutes to play in an attempt to find an equaliser and force a shootout as happened two years ago with Surbiton drew 1-1 with Düsseldorfer before missing out on a place in the FINAL4 in Amsterdam after losing the shootout 3-1.
The tactic was slightly hindered after Eloise Stenner received a green card in the penultimate minute, Düsseldorfer successfully running down the clock to book their place in the semi-final.
Surbiton will face Real Club de Polo of Spain at 12.45 BST on Saturday (19 April) in a ranking match. Real Club de Polo lost 2-1 to Belgian club, Braxgata in the FINAL8, immediately after Surbiton's match versus Düsseldorfer.
In the first match on Thursday, Club Campo de Madrid, who had lost on a shootout to Braxgata in the FINAL12, beat Slavia Prague 4-0 in the first ranking match of the tournament.
More information about the tournament, including results, scorers and team lineups and the ability to follow games in real time, can be found at the EuroHockey Altius website here.