Reading take England Hockey League championship in last gasp thriller

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[img_assist|nid=3510|title=Champions|desc=Reading’s skipper Richard Springham holds aloft the England Hockey League championship trophy|link=popup|align=left|width=220|height=274]An Andy Watts goal from a corner after the final whistle sealed a dramatic 5-4 win for home side Reading in the England Hockey League championship game.

East Grinstead had raced away to a 3-1 lead early in the second half with two open play goals from Dave De Prez. First half open play goals had come from Nick Catlin for Reading after nine minutes and Mark Pearn for EG six minutes before the break.

Reading closed the gap to a single goal in the 49th minute with a Chris Newman goal. Their skipper Richard Springham then flicked high into the net from in close on a misfired corner routine in the 61st minute to level. But East Grinstead hit straight back through Darren Cheesman.

Reading’s fourth came from a muddle in the circle which saw a deflection which was scored as an own goal (Euro Hockey League rules were in force for the championships. That set the stage for the dramatic coup de grace. Richard Mantell flicked the corner high and hard and Watts was waiting for the rebound.

Leicester win Investec women’s hockey championship 2012

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[img_assist|nid=3508|title=Champions|desc=Leicester|link=popup|align=left|width=220|height=124]

Leicester have won the Investec women’s hockey league championship with a penalty shootout victory over reigning champions Reading.

In a high-quality shootout to Euro Hockey Leage rules (8 seconds to score starting at 25 year line) and featuring two GB goalkeepers and six GB field players, Chloe Rogers netted her second shootout goal to win the title in sudden death. Maddie Hinch in the Leicester goal capped of a strong all round performance with some athletic shootout keeping and was deserved player of the match.

The final waited 59 minutes for it’s first goal when Lucy Brown dived in from of Reading keeper Beth Storry to deflect a penalty corner high into the home side’s net.

Reading were stung into action and took advantage of Katie Long’s yellow card. for not retreating, to hit back on 62 minutes with a well worked goal to Amanda Potieger. That was how the scores remained through extra time.

Penalty shooout: Chloe Rogers (Leicester): goal; Laura Bartlett: goal; Anne Panter: timed out; Helen Richardson: goal; Crista Cullen: goal; Alex Danson missed. Sudden death: Laura Bartlett: saved, Chloe Rogers: goal.

Finals weekend in England

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[img_assist|nid=3021|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=200|height=58]The showpiece finale of the domestic hockey season takes place this weekend with national titles and prize money at stake.

The Investec women’s finals weekend at Reading Hockey Club’s Sonning Lane ground will play host to the Investec women’s championship final between Reading and Leicester, as well as the promotion tournament for entry into next season’s women’s premier division. 

It will also see the culmination of four national competitions and the men’s England Hockey League championship, with East Grinstead men awaiting the winner of Saturday’s playoff between defending champions Beeston and Reading.

Thanks to the backing of Investec, prize money totalling £10,000 will be distributed to the tournament winners, individuals and clubs over the weekend. The specialist bank and asset manager supports women’s hockey in England and for the first time, prize money will be awarded to each of the winners of the Investec regional conferences.

On Saturday, four finals will be settled.  The final of the Investec women’s trophy sees Tulse Hill & Dulwich of South London take on newly merged Oxford and in the Investec women’s vase Milton Keynes’ ladies take on Oxted.  Cheshire Club Bowdon Hightown take on Horsham of West Sussex in the first masters event, the Over 35 plate final, before the over 35 cup final is contested by Canterbury and Exe of Exeter.

The three winners of the conferences, Buckingham (Investec Conference West), Surbiton (Investec Conference East) and Beeston (Investec Conference North) are also in action alongside Slough, who finished ninth in the Investec Women’s premier division, as they seek promotion to the top flight.  Of the four, just two will earn the right to play in the premier division next season. 

The climax of the weekend comes on Sunday afternoon as the Investec women’s championship and men’s England Hockey League championship titles are decided.  Reading and Leicester women will do battle 12 months after they met in last season’s final, a match that Reading edged 3-2 thanks to goals from Jo Ellis, GB captain Kate Walsh and Emma Thomas.

The men’s final line-up will only be known on Saturday after Beeston’s match against Reading at Bisham Abbey.  The winner of that match will play East Grinstead in the final at Reading HC on Sunday.  In last season’s final, Beeston beat East Grinstead 2-1.

Tickets

 

Tickets for the weekend’s action are still on sale via http://tickets.englandhockey.co.uk starting at just £4.  Tickets will be available on the door starting at £5 for concessions and £7 for adults. 

Investec Women’s Finals Weekend, Reading Hockey Club

Saturday  April 14, 2012

10:00 – Investec Women’s Promotion Tournament Match 3 – Surbiton v Slough

12:00 – Investec Women’s Promotion Tournament Match 4 – Buckingham v Beeston

12:00 – Investec Women’s Over 35 Plate Final – Bowdon Hightown v Horsham

14:00 – Investec Women’s Trophy Final – Tulse Hill & Dulwich v Oxford

14:00 – Investec Women’s Over 35 Cup Final – Canterbury v Exe

16:00 – Investec Women’s Vase Final – Milton Keynes v Oxted,

 

Sunday  April 15, 2012

10:00 – Investec Women’s Promotion Tournament Match 5 – Slough v Buckingham

12:00 – Investec Women’s Promotion Tournament Match 6 – Beeston v Surbiton

14:15 – Investec Women’s Championship Final – Reading v Leicester

16:30 – Men’s EHL Championship Final – East Grinstead v Beeston/Reading

England U18s beat Holland in final on penalties

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England Under-18 boys won the Easter Four Nations hockey tournament in Holland in thrilling style on Easter Monday, beating their hosts on penalty strokes.

The scores were tied at 3-3 after 70 minutes, but England held their nerve and in the shootout and won 5-3.

Goalkeeper Sam Brooks saved all the Netherlands’ attempts at goal in the shootout, while Rob Farrington and Chris Proctor both scored to clinch the win.

England trailed 1-2 at half time with Chris Proctor their scorer. But two goals from Luke Taylor after the break helped push the game to penalty strokes, and England held their nerve to win the Tournament for the first time since 2004.

England Under-16 boys battled to a thrilling 6-5 victory over Germany to secure third spot in their Four Nations Tournament in the Netherlands.

1-5 down early in the second half, they managed to mount a fightback, which was all the more remarkable given that they received two yellow cards and played for ten minutes a man short.

Guy Mills scored on 43 minutes when he drilled the ball low into the bottom corner from a drag flick, and Harry Roberts added a third goal on 46 minutes when he blasted it past the keeper from a narrow angle on the right.

Oliver Nail made it 4-5 with a 58th minute flick after finding space in the D. And Roberts bagged his second – and pulled England level at 5-5 – with a diving deflection after Conor Caplan had crossed in on 61 minutes.

And the crucial last goal came on 63 minutes, Nail scoring with a deflection at a penalty corner.

England Under-18 girls also won their bronze medal match, beating Spain 3-3 on penalty strokes in thrilling style.

The match was tied at 3-3 after 70 minutes and went straight to penalty strokes.

Tied again at 3-3 after the first round, the second round of penalty strokes were sudden death and it proved decisive, with Spain missing their first while Kate Holmes scored for England to secure the win.

But England Under-16 girls didn’t have such luck, losing out 0-10 to hosts Germany after suffering from injuries through the second half which depleted their options for replacements.

England’s club sides fall in the EHL quarter finals

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Reading, East Grinstead and Beeston all fell at the quarter-final stage of the men’s Euro Hockey League over the Easter weekend.

To add to the disappointment, England’s qualifiers for the women’s top-level club competition, the European Club Champions Cup, also crashed out. Leicester and Reading, both minus their GB squad players, finished last in their pool competitions in Spain and Belgium respectively.

Back in the men’s EHL, the Belgian champions KHC Dragons defeated Reading 3-1 after a 1-1 draw in normal time on Monday. East Grinstead also lost on Monday, 3-1 to hosts Rotterdam.Dragons and Rotterdam join Uhlenhorster HC and Amsterdam H&BC who qualified for the Final Four on Sunday. The EHL double winners UHC Hamburg celebrated a massive 7-1 win over the English champions Beeston HC. The second quarter final in Rotterdam was won by the Dutch champions AH&BC who defeated last season’s Hoofdklasse runners-up Bloemendaal 3-2.

The final four will be played on 26/27 May. The semi finals will see UHC taking on Dragons with Amsterdam facing Rotterdam. EHL Board will announce the venue as soon as possible.

It’s the fourth time that Rotterdam qualify for the EHL final four. The current Hoofdklasse leaders have reached the semi finals in all four EHL editions they have participated in.

Detailed match summaries, video highlights, fixtures and results, images and much more information on the KO16 is available on www.ehlhockey.tv , the official website of the Euro Hockey League.

East Grinstead and Reading go through to final eight in Europe

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H.C. Rotterdam, Reading HC, East Grinstead and KHC Dragons qualified for KO8 on day 2 of the KO16 in Rotterdam. Monday’s quarter finals see East Grinstead facing Rotterdam with KHC Dragons taking on Reading.

KO16 host H.C. Rotterdam had given away a convincing 4-0 lead against German runners-up Uhlenhorst Mülheim. After being 0-4 down Mülheim started a stunning fight-back scoring three goals in the third quarter. The 4-4 equaliser was a penalty corner goal from Thilo Stralkowski with three minutes remaining.

The phenomenal crowd in Rotterdam’s hockey stadium saw both teams going into a penalty shoot-out. The score was still tied 7-7 after five attempts each. As Jeroen Hertzberger and Thilo Stralkowski scored at sudden-death stage, the decision came after the 14th penalty. Nick Wilson scored for Rotterdam while Benedikt Fürk failed to equalise for Mülheim. “It was a fantastic and exciting game with a lot of goals. It is always good to come up on top of a Penalty Shoot-Out”, Wilson said.

Sunday’s first quarter final will see Beeston facing UHC Hamburg. This match is followed by the Dutch quarter final with the Hoofdklasse champions AH&BC taking on the runners-up from Bloemendaal. This giant meeting will also be a battle between the Dutch legends Floris Evers (Amsterdam) and Teun de Nooijer (Bloemendaal).

Detailed match summaries, video highlights, images and much more information on the KO16 is available on www.ehlhockey.tv , the official website of the Euro Hockey League.

Lynch in form as Australia save face in USA series

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Australia 3
USA 0

Hockeyroos goalkeeper Rachael Lynch saved everything the USA could throw at her to lead Australia to a 3-0 win in the final match of a three game series on the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.

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Amsterdam and Bloemendaal set up all Dutch quarter final; Beeston to play Uhlenhorster

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[img_assist|nid=3472|title=Matchwinner|desc=Carl Smith (centre) celebrates a match-winning goal for Beeston vs Club de Campo in Rotterdam – Frank Uijlenbroek/Euro Hockey League|link=popup|align=left|width=200|height=133]Sunday’s Euro Hockey League quarter finals will see Amsterdam H&BC taking on HC Bloemendaal (2.30pm in Rotterdam, 1.30pm UK)and Beeston HC facing Uhlenhorster HC (at 12noon Dutch time, 11am UK). Bloemendaal knocked out the Spanish champions Atletic Terrassa 4-3 on day 1 of the KO16 in Rotterdam. Terrassa was the third Spanish team to be eliminated at KO16 stage as RC de Polo de Barcelona and Club de Campo have also lost their matches earlier this day. 
  
The Dutch champions AH&BC celebrated a massive 6-0 win over the Russian champions from Dinamo Kazan. Mirco Pruyser’s double strike made him the new top scorer in this EHL edtion. Pruyser is now on seven goals. The English champions Beeston HC were the first team to qualify for the KO8 after beating Club de Campo 2-1 with goals from Ben Arnold and Carl Smith. The EHL double winners Uhlenhorster HC won their KO16 match 3-0 against RC de Polo. 
  
Saturday will start off with East Grinstead facing CA Montrouge (9.30am Dutch time, 8.30am UK). This match is followed by the game KHC Dragons against Dinamo Elektrostal. The hosts H.C. Rotterdam play Uhlenhorst Mülheim at 2.30pm (Dutch time – 1.30pm UK) before the Day’s action is finished by the last KO16 encounter between Club an der Alster and Reading HC (5pm, 4pm UK time).
  
EHL would like you to click on the following link to answer a questionnaire. It is part of a graduation project researching the image and brand awareness of the Euro Hockey League. www.thesistools.com/web/?id=262173 
  
Detailed match summaries, video highlights, images, LIVE STREAMING and much more information on the KO16 is available on www.ehlhockey.tv , the official website of the Euro Hockey League.

Europe calls for England’s hockey clubs

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[img_assist|nid=3469|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=175|height=115]England’s top hockey clubs face a busy 2012 Easter weekend with rounds of the Euro Hockey League (men) and European Club Champions Cup (women) ahead.

English men’s champions Beeston (@OfficialBeeHC) play Spain’s Club de Campo at 8.30am UK time on Friday in Rotterdam (9.30am local) in an EHL round of 16 clash. A win would see them play UHC Hamburg (GER) or another Spanish side RC Polo de Barcelona at 11am Sunday, UK time (12noon in Rotterdam), for a place in the quarter finals.

All EHL games will be streamed live on www.ehlhockey.tv and can be followed on Twitter – @ehlhockeytv

Reading (@readinghc) and East Grinstead (@eghockeyclub) are also in action in Rotterdam. EG play CA Montrogue of France at 8.30am UK time, Saturday (9.30 local) for a place in the quarter finals against either Uhlenhorst Mulheim (GER) or the hosts HC Rotterdam. That quarter final will be the showcase game at 1.30pm on Easter Monday (2.30pm European time).

Reading play German champions Club an der Alster at 4pm Saturday with the prospect of a KO8 game against KHC Dragons or Dinamo Elektrosal (Russia) on Monday at 11am UK time (12noon in Europe).

Meanwhile the country’s top women’s teams face a testing cup campaign minus their GB stars. Reading travel to Brussels to play hosts Royal Wellington on Friday (3pm local time) and Hamburg’s Klipper T& HC (12.30pm local time) on Sunday) with the prospect of difficult cross-over pool game on Monday.

Leicester (@LeicesterHockey) travel to San Sebastian in Spain to play Uhlenhorrster (GER) at 12noon local time on Saturday and SHVSM Izmaylovo (Russia) at 12noon local time on Sunday. A further cross-over pool game follows on Monday.

The top two women’s sides in San Sebastian and Brussels will go through to the semi-finals to be played the last weekend of May.

US defeat Australia’s Hockeyroos in first test

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[img_assist|nid=3466|title=Wrongfooted|desc=Jill Dwyer playing for Australia vs the US – the American’s winning the first test of the series 1-0|link=popup|align=right|width=220|height=147]Australia 0
USA 1

The US women’s field hockey team have defeated Australia 1-0 in the first of three tests being played downunder.

An eight minute penalty corner goal from Shannon Taylor separated the teams in the test played on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast on Thursday night.

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