BEESTON 6-0 Euro Hockey League WIN
EURO HOCKEY LEAGUE Round 1.1 in Barcelona. October 12/13th. Beeston 6 – 0 W.K.S. Grunwald Poznan (Poland) - Friday 12th October
The encounter between the England Hockey League leaders and the top-ranked team of the Polish Hockey League was goal-less for almost 45 minutes until David Ames opened the scoring.
Just two minutes later Benjamin Arnold doubled the lead when he smashed the ball into the Poznan goal from near the circle-line. A Simon Egerton double-strike secured a convincing 4-0 lead after the third quarter.
Egerton got his third goal in the fourth quarter with Harry Martin scoring in the last minute to secure a huge victory. Heavy rain occurred with ten minutes being left on the clock but the match continued.
Earlier, Beeston had started off well winning their first penalty corner in the second minute but the shot went wide. Afterwards the first quarter did not see much action in the circles and was battled out in midfield.
Poznan’s most promising attack came in the 17th minute when Artur Mikula passed on to Waldemar Rataj who was stopped by Beeston goalkeeper George Pinner. Beeston failed to score from another penalty corner at the end of the first quarter.
Beeston were close to scoring when Simon Egerton started a counter-attack but Benjamin Arnold failed to convert. At the end of the first half Egerton could have taken the lead but Grunwald goalkeeper, Mariusz Chyla saved the flick with his glove.
Pushed forward by their fans, Beeston created several opportunities in the third quarter and it seemed just a matter of time before the lead would be taken.
The Bees now sprang into life. Four goals in a five minute spell left Grunwald reeling and the Bees heading for a famous victory. David Ames opened the scoring in the 45th minute, Ben Arnold crashed home two minutes later and Simon Egerton collected a brace immediately after.
The final quarter saw Beeston playing fluid attacking hockey. Egerton completed his hat trick in the 60th minute and harry Martin rounded off a brilliant performance with a minute to play. Beeston completed a perfect start to the EHL season by playing all 18 members of the squad and keeping a clean sheet without conceding a penalty corner.
Man of the Match, full back, Ollie Willars summed up the victory, “We kept the game extremely tight for the first half and then unleashed a whirlwind that left Grunwald chasing shadows. We have the ability to know how to step up a gear when required. “
Grunwald need to win against Dutch champions, Amsterdam H&BC now to keep their chances open for a Round 2 qualification.