Quins end on high but EHL berth in jeopardy

Irish club hockey endured mixed fortunes on the European front today after a weekend to remember for women’s clubs Railway Union and UCD was contrasted with the travails of Cork Harlequins on the men’s side. Despite a 3-2 win over Swiss champions Rotweiss Wettingen, Harlequins’ seventh place finish in Vienna – combined with Cardiff reaching the final – spells disaster for Irish club’s EuroHockey League hopes. With Cardiff falling to Polish side AZS Politechnika, it leaves Ireland level with Wales on 11.25 EHL ranking points with the dreaded goal difference equation required to divide the sides. Last year, Ireland lost out to Scotland on the same dividing criteria when hoping to land a second EHL berth and the same criteria looks set to hand the Welsh the last EHL place, dropping Ireland to 13th in the rankings. Two years ago, Ireland had two sides in the last 16 of the world’s most high profile club competition. But now it looks like Ireland will not receive any entry to the opening rounds of the competition for the 2013/14 season with Irish Hockey League and Senior Cup champions Monkstown the side destined for a second tier competition instead.

It is likely to increase calls for the two Irish European berths to come from the Irish Hockey League – the sport’s marquee event – rather than allowing one come from the Irish Senior Cup, the oldest club cup competition in the hockey world, dating back to 1893. Despite its tradition, it is seen by some as too easy a route to qualify. Indeed, Ireland is the only country to supply a route to Europe via cup competition. John Hobbs gave the Irish side the ideal start when he flicked home from a short corner switch after only three minutes. Poor concentration though, allowed the Swiss side an equaliser three minutes later when Jason Black was stick tackled and the ball fell to Benjamin Messerli at the back post who scored with ease. Quins hit the front after 22 minutes. On a counter attack, Paul Lombard released right-back Phil O’Driscoll on the right side of the pitch. He drove into the circle and smashed it past the hapless Swiss goalkeeper. Rotweiss Wettingen equalised early again early in the second half when Reto Sporri was the beneficiary of some loose play in the Quins’ defence. Goalkeeper Chris Daunt slid out to save from a Swiss forward but the ball was worked to the back post where Sporri knocked the ball home. Quins’ winner came after 51 minutes when Darren Beamish finished off a well worked counter attack. Colin Crowley released Paul Lombard on the endline whose shot hit the ‘keeper and fell to Beamish who blazed it home. That Quins found themselves in the 7th/8th place playoff owed to some ill fortune, poor short corner execution and defensive errors in the pool stages. On day one against Italy’s HC Bra, a stunner from Paul Lombard and a Colin Ross strike had them 2-1 up before Lombard missed a gilt-edged chance when he mistrapped a bouncing ball at the far post with the goal gaping.

The Italians moved into a 4-2 lead with three unanswered goals and held on with nine men against a late Quins siege – which yielded a John Hobbs corner strike – to hang on to a 4-3 win. Next up were hosts SV Arminen, but again Quins threw away a 2-1 lead, earned this time with a stunning Darren Beamish reverse and a Dave Eakins drag-flick. Heartbreakingly, the Austrians won it 3-2 from a short corner at the full-time whistle. That left Quins needing to shock pool leaders Cardiff and UWIC, but two early goals put paid to their hopes as they fell to a 2-0 reverse. Eakins hit the post with an 18th-minute penalty stroke which summed up Quins’ day. There was better news on the women’s front as Railway landed third place in the Club Champions Trophy, the second tier of European hockey, with a 2-0 win over Russian champions Izmaylovo in Antwerp with Zara Delany and Emma Smyth both on the mark.

Delany finished off a classy team move between Smyth and Kate Lloyd in the first half. Smyth made the game safe ten minutes into the second half with a penalty corner deflection to seal the medal, a repeat of their performance two years ago on home turf. And UCD followed up with gold in the third tier Champions Challenge I in Sicily when they defeated HF Lorenzoni 4-3, holding off a big late comeback. Nikki Evans’ double and goals from Irish internationals Nicola Gray and Anna O’Flanagan had given the students a 4-1 lead before the Italian side netted twice in the closing 20 minutes to make for a nervy finish. While it remains to be confirmed, the upshot is that Ireland is likely to have two berths in the second tier in 2014 which Railway and Loreto will occupy. Thanks to Brian Hayes Curtin for providing info from Vienna throughout the tournament, to Stephen Findlater for the words on Railway and UCD and to SV Arminen for the regular updates and pictures; for more of the latter check out their Facebook page here. Women EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy, bronze medal match: Railway Union 2 (Z Delany, E Smyth) Izmaylovo 0 EuroHockey Club Champions Challenge I, final: UCD 4 (N Evans 2, N Gray, A O’Flanagan) HF Lorenzoni 3 (Z Savenko 2, S Argo) Men EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy, seventh place playoff: Cork Harlequins 3 (J Hobbs, P O’Driscoll, D Beamish) Rotweiss Wettingen 2 (R Sporri, B Messerli) Pool games: HC Bra 4 Cork Harlequins 3 (P Lombard, C Ross, J Hobbs); SV Arminen 3 Cork Harlequins 2 (D Beamish, D Eakins); Cardiff & UWIC 2 Cork Harlequins 0.