Loreto begin Euro campaign with draw

Women's EuroHockey Club Champion's Trophy
Loreto 2 (Nicci Daly, Nikki Symmons) Kelburne 2
Loreto began their European campaign with a draw to leave things all tied up in Group A after day one - the Beaufort's club's Russian and Belgian rivals playing out a 3-3 draw earlier - as Nikki Symmons penalty stroke earned her side a draw.

Nicci Daly had earlier broken the deadlock with her side's first circle penetration of the game, played under a 23 degree Roman sun, in a lively period in which the sides halved eight corners. The Scots, though, tied the game up by the break before taking a 2-1 advantage in the second half.

Symmons stroke garnered a point and her side had two corner chances in the closing two minutes go awry which could have taken three points. The midfielder - along with Clodagh Grealy and Sarah O'Meara - had earlier been yellow-carded.

Earlier, Izmaylova Moscow and La Gantoise - club of former Trinity and Old Alex player Ciara Murphy - drew 3-3.

The format of the tournament sees the Irish representatives play three group fixtures, leading to Sunday's playoff day where the top sides in the two groups meet in the grand final. Loreto's final position will also determine how many points Irish clubs receive in the European ranking list, determining at what level the nation's representatives compete at in 2011.

UCD get their campaign underway in the Club Champion's Challenge I tomorrow in France. They have been grouped with Belgium's Royal Uccle, France's Cambrai and Switzerland's Rottweiss Wettingen. Their group stages subsequently lead into crossover play-offs

Club Trophy Day One Standings: 1. Izmaylova Moscow 1pt (0) 2. La Gantoise 1pt (0) 3. Loreto 1pt (0) 4. Kelburne 1pt (0)

Fixtures (Irish time):
Friday, May 21: Loreto vs La Gantoise, 9am, Rome; UCD vs Rottweiss, 3pm, Prague
Saturday, May 22: Izmaylova Moscow vs Loreto, 9am, Rome; UCD vs Royal Uccle, 1pm, Prague
Sunday, May 23: Trophy Playoffs (Rome); UCD vs Cambrai, 11am, Prague
Monday, May 24: Champ's Challenge I playoffs, Prague

UCD panel: Grace O'Flanagan (GK), Leigh Pelow, Kerry McComish, Elaine Collins, Rosie Carrigan, Megan Tennant Humphreys (VC), Orlagh O'Shea, Caitriona McGilp, Lisa Jacob (Capt), Rachel Burke, Julie Garvey, Laura Wilson, Emily Menzies, Rachel O'Reilly, Val Sexton, Stella Davis (GK)
Coach: Mary Logue
Assistant Coach: Nicola King
Manager: Joan Morgan
Physio: Keith Thornhill

* The Hook is on tour in Paris for the next seven days and so may be a bit slow in posting stories or responding to emails. Please bear with me during this time. Thanks for the interesting story ideas and so forth that have been sent through in the last two days, I will get round to dealing with them in due course. Also, apologies for any accuracies in the above report but was as close as I could manage from the available data. If anyone has knowledge of live streaming or photos, drop me a mail at stevie_findlats@yahoo.com