Loreto stung by Belgian counter strikes

EuroHockey Club Champions's Trophy
Loreto 1 (Niamh Small) La Gantoise 4
Loreto chances of reaching Sunday's final in Rome are all but mathematically over as they fell to a 4-1 defeat to Belgian champions La Gantoise - who featured former Alex and Trinity woman Ciara Murphy - this morning.

They got off to a nightmare start, conceding in the first minute but Niamh Small cancelled out that effort within seconds to leave the game tied at 1-1 after just two minutes. She got on the end of Nikki Symmons crash ball and the latter almost gave the Dubliners the lead soon after but saw her drag-flick taken off the line.

Loreto were in the ascendancy in the first quarter but were stung after the small break, conceding from a double-switch corner in the 19th minute and the Belgians pressed home their advantage in the 41st minute.

In a fairly even contest, Loreto let three corners in succession slip by and, while piling forward, they were stung on the break with two minutes to go for a 4-1 result - a harsh reflection of a tie in which the Beaufort side won the corner count 7-3.

Izmaylova Moscow won the other group game against Scotland's Kelburne 6-0 to head the group after two games.

UCD, meanwhile, won their first group game of the Champion's Challenge I event in Prague, beating Swiss champions Rotweiss Wettingen 1-0 (more details to follow).

Also, in a correction to yesteday's posting, the tournament uses the EHL's points scoring format with five points for a win, two points for a draw and losing bonus points for close losses. The accumulation of these points go toward Ireland's European ranking with each tier of competition weighted to reflect the level of competition.

EuroHockey Club Champion's Trophy Standings: 1. Izmaylova Moscow 7pts (+6) 2. La Gantoise 7pts (+3) 3. Loreto 2pts (-3) 4. Kelburne 2pts (-6)

EuroHockey Club Champion's Challenge I Standings: 1. Royal Uccle (Bel) 5pts (+4) 2. UCD 5pts (+1) 3. Rotweiss Wettingen 1pt (-1) 4. Cambrai 0pts (-3)