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KO16 Rotterdam Day 4: Moritz Fürste’s UHC Hamburg defeated Euro Hockey League champions HC Bloemendaal in a simply stunning quarter final clash that was decided by a penalty shoot-out. Jamie Dwyer and Ronald Brouwer both missed their shoot-out efforts as 2008 EHL champions Uhlenhorster claimed sweet revenge against a side that beat them in the 2009 final. The result gives UHC a third successive appearance at EHL Final Four, where they will face RC Polo Barcelona – the conquerors of Christopher Zeller’s Rot-Weiss Köln – in the semi final stage. The day’s other semi final saw a brilliant performance from H.C. Rotterdam, who got the better of Xavi Ribas’ Atlétic Terrassa in another high class encounter. Like UHC Hamburg, the win secured a third consecutive place in the Euro Hockey League semi finals, with their next opponents being fellow countrymen Amsterdam H&BC. The full reports can be found below, with video highlights available on www.ehlhockey.tv
H.C. ROTTERDAM MARCH INTO EHL SEMI FINALS WITH ATLÉTIC VICTORY
EHL Quarter Final 3: H.C. Rotterdam (NED) v Atlétic Terrassa (ESP) 5-3
H.C. Rotterdam reached the Euro Hockey League semi finals by defeating Spain’s Atlétic Terrassa 5-3 in the first match of the day. A fantastic contest was played in front of a sell-out crowd, with Simon Child, Sjoerd Gerretsen, Jeroen Hertberger (2) and Ryan Archibald scoring the goals. The win means that a Dutch team is guaranteed to feature in the tournament final, with Rotterdam facing rivals Amsterdam H&BC at next month’s EHL Final Four.
Cheered on by their many fans, H.C. Rotterdam started the match in electrifying style and took an early lead when New Zealand striker Simon Child deflected a marvelous cross from Jeroen Hertzberger into the net. A second goal arrived in the ninth minute through midfielder Sjoerd Gerretsen, who fired a spectacular strike from a tight angle following a mesmerizing run from Dutch international star Robert van der Horst. Rotterdam were simply sensational, although Atlétic came close to pulling a goal back when Xavi Ribas sent wonderful pass through to Inyaki Freixa whose audacious chipped effort sailed over goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak and into the side netting.
The home favourites started the second period in exactly the same manner as they did the first, and could easily have added another three goals to their tally through Gerretsen and Jeroen Hertzberger. It was an incredibly professional and high quality display from Rotterdam, showing exactly why they have reached the semi final stage in the last two Euro Hockey League tournaments. As the end of the quarter drew near, Jeroen Hertzberger slammed a reverse stick effort into the roof of Cristian Penalba’s net to give his team a 3-0 lead. It was a crushing blow for Atlétic, whose misery was compounded when a late penalty corner was overturned by the video umpire.
Despite being 3-0 down, Atlétic never gave up believing that they could rescue the match. The Spaniards worked hard to create a number of openings, and eventually they grabbed a goal back thanks to a close range finish from Pere Castello. Atlétic went close on two further occasions towards the end of the quarter through Albert Sala and Sergi Enrique, but the Rotterdam defence held strong.
The fourth quarter saw H.C. Rotterdam re-establish their three goal advantage with a breathtaking goal from Ryan Archibald, who showed quick hands to beat three Terrassa players before delighting the home crowd with a powerful finish. Atlétic hit back almost immediately to make the score 4-2 when Albert Sala touched home a cross from Oriol Peremiquel, but Jeroen Hertzberger killed the contest when he flicked a 67th minute penalty corner into the net. There was still time for Atlétic to add another goal to their collection, but Maxi Falcioni’s last minute effort proved to be no more than a consolation. Rotterdam were deserving winners of the contest, and will be aiming to go all the way in this year’s Euro Hockey League.
UHC HAMBURG GAIN REVENGE OVER CHAMPIONS HC BLOEMENDAAL
EHL Quarter Final 4: HC Bloemendaal (NED) v UHC Hamburg (GER) 3-3 (UHC Hamburg win on penalties)
Moritz Fürste’s UHC Hamburg have beaten Euro Hockey League champions HC Bloemendaal in a simply stunning quarter final clash. The German side claimed a famous victory in the most dramatic of fashions, with the match being decided by a penalty shoot-out after normal time finished 3-3. Jamie Dwyer and Ronald Brouwer missed penalties in the shoot-out before Jonas Fürste won the match with a brilliant finish to send the UHC team and fans into raptures. It was sweet revenge for 2008 EHL champions UHC Hamburg, who were defeated in the 2009 final by Teun de Nooijer’s men. The result gives UHC a third successive appearance at EHL Final Four, where they will face RC Polo Barcelona – the conquerors of Rot-Weiss Köln – in the semi final stage.
UHC took the lead against the run of play in the eighth minute when Bloemendaal keeper Jaap Stockman failed to effectively clear a cross into the circle before teenage Germany international Florian Fuchs fired home from close range. Bloemendaal deservedly levelled the scores through Ronald Brouwer, who scored in spectacular style following a stunning reverse stick pass from WorldHockey Player of the Year Jamie Dwyer. The Dutch side moved into a 2-1 lead just before half time through Teun de Nooijer, who got a vital touch on a shot from Martijn van Mierlo. Few could argue that Bloemendaal were worthy of their lead, but UHC Hamburg were greatly impressing the majority of the 3200 onlookers in the stadium.
Six minutes after the break UHC brought the scores level once again when the impressive Patrick Breitenstein sent a penalty corner flick into the bottom left corner of Jaap Stockman’s goal. UHC Hamburg were in the ascendency, and began to play some excellent attacking hockey with Moritz Fürste and the livewire Carlos Nevado beginning to have an influence on the game. However, a Yellow Card given to Jonas Fürste hindered the Germans, and back came the ever impressive Bloemendaal to score arguably the best goal of the match. Jamie Dwyer picked up the ball on the right before cutting inside and beating three players before passing to Tim Jenniskins who ferociously smash the ball into the goal to give advantage to the Dutch side once again. Incredibly, UHC Hamburg were level just a minute later, when Moritz Fürste’s searching ball into the danger area was deflected into his own net by Floris de Ridder. It proved to be the last goal of the match in both normal and extra time, meaning that the contest would be decided by a penalty shoot-out.*
Moritz Fürste kept his head to score the first effort for UHC Hamburg, dribbling around Stockman before forcing the ball over the line to give his team the advantage. It was then the turn of Bloemendaal’s Jamie Dwyer, who charged towards goal only to be thwarted by Jacobi, who slapped the ball away from the striker before he could get his shot away. Ricardo Nevado then missed for UHC, before Ronald Brouwer did the same for Bloemendaal giving Jonas Fürste the responsibility of sending his team through to a third consecutive EHL Final Four. Despite a superb initial block from Stockman, Fürste turned and smashed an unstoppable shot into the bottom left corner of the goal. The 23-year-old wheeled away in celebration chased by his joyous team-mates, breaking the hearts of every Bloemendaal player and fan in the stadium.
* The Euro Hockey League employs a one-one-one penalty shoot-out system where the attacking player starts at the 23m line and has just eight seconds to score.
EHL KO8 (Quarter Final) Results – Monday 5th April 2010
H.C. Rotterdam (NED) v Atlétic Terrassa (ESP) 5-3
Man of the Match Presented by ABN AMRO: Robert van der Horst –H.C. Rotterdam
HC Bloemendaal (NED) v UHC Hamburg (GER) 3-3 (3-5 APS)
Man of the Match Presented by ABN AMRO: Teun de Nooijer – HC Bloemendaal
Line-up for EHL Final Four
RC de Polo de Barcelona (ESP) v UHC Hamburg(GER)
Amsterdam H&BC (NED) v H.C. Rotterdam (NED)
Matches to be played over 22nd and 23rd May 2010 at a venue yet to be announced.
