Three Rock on brink of EHL second round

Peter Blakeney pulled Three Rock Rovers’ EuroHockey League hopes out of the fire with a 57th-minute strike that saw his side claim a 1-1 draw with Belgian champions KHC Leuven in Lille this afternoon. Having notched up a remarkable scoreless draw with Spain’s Atletic Terassa yesterday, Rovers knew that if they avoided defeat they would stand a better-than-even chance of progressing from Pool H. But despite another fine performance between the sticks from Charlie Henderson, Rovers’ hopes took a knock when Pau Quemada’s powerful drag found the net on 40 minutes. The Leuven marksman went close on a number of occasions as the Belgians looked to seal the deal, but it was Rovers who came out fighting in the final quarter. Blakeney directed a reverse through the legs of Leuven keeper Manu Leroy, but a slight deflection off the keeper’s foot took the ball narrowly wide. The former Western Australia Thundersticks man wasn’t to be denied though. Teenger Kyle Good surged into the circle only to see Leroy get a hand to his attempted lob, but Blakeney was on hand to collect the rebound and fire home a reverse from a tight angle. Rovers’ fate is now out of their hands, however, as they must now await the outcome of tomorrow’s clash between Leuven and Atletic Terassa, with a number of permutations attached. A win for either side, or a scoreless draw, will see Rovers progress; a 1-1 stalemate will ensure a penalty strokes competition between the Dubliners and Terassa to determine who goes through, while a high-scoring draw (2-2 or more) would cruelly dump them out of the competition despite remaining unbeaten. Highlights available here