Bloemendaal claim Dutch national title - highlights

Suffering from hockey withdrawal symptoms? Bloemendaal began the Dutch national championships last weekend, getting the better of HGC 2-1 in the first match of the three game grand final. Here's edited highlights of the game.



* If you have seen any other good Youtube/Vimeo clips in recent times, especially ones from the Irish season gone by, drop me an email or leave a comment and I'll put up a post with the best selection.

Blakeney adds Italian title to Irish and Aussie success

Peter Blakeney became one of a rare few in world sport as a national champion in three different countries as he helped HC de Sisti Roma to the Italian ‘Serie A’ title, adding to prior victories in Australia with the West Australia Thundersticks and in Ireland as part of Three Rock Rovers club championship season in 2008.

With job opportunities scarce in Ireland, Blakeney agreed to join the Italian club in the spring for the second half of their season on a semi-professional basis.

And while he soon got a job offer that would keep him in Ireland, the Killiney man decided to fulfil that agreement and travel back and forth to games each weekend.

He scored four times on debut as Roma surged to the top of the rankings, entering last weekend’s ‘final four’ playoffs as top seeds.

They won a thrilling semi-final against city rivals Butterfly Roma 4-3 on Saturday. Bouyed by a text from Francesco Totti – part of the club’s affiliate football team – his side went on to claim national glory and an EHL place with a 2-1 win over HC Bra.

It was achieved the hard way. A rush of blood saw Roma skipper Federico Ardito give up a corner and a ten minute sin-binning which Massimo Lanzano converted to put Blakeney’s side on the back foot at half-time.

But Luca Settimi levelled matters before Blakeney played a pivotal role in assisting the winner 13 minutes from time, again converted by Settimi to secure the club’s sixth national crown.

“Australia was the highest honour, winning their national championships; beating any side with Jamie Dwyer in it was pretty good. Italy, in terms of standard, it’s probably not up there but the setup is pretty good.

“It was all on television and they create a very nice atmosphere to play in with everyone taking it pretty seriously while playing a national league means you get to travel quite a bit.”

Roma now go for a league and cup double against Lazio in the Italian Cup next Saturday. As for next season, Blakeney remains undecided as yet whether he will be around for their run at the EuroHockey Club Trophy given the heavy toll flying over to Italy every week took after a week’s work.

The travelling Irish have regularly secured national titles abroad in the past decade. Stephen Butler, Graham Shaw and Joe Brennan helped Antwerp’s Dragons to the Belgian league as well as helping Glenanne to Irish Senior and Club championship success while Pembroke’s Ronan Gormley was part of Club de Campo’s Spanish Cup winning side among his many medals.

Former Mossley man Johnny Jackson, meanwhile, is a multiple English indoor winner with Loughborough University but has yet to taste success in Irish club competition.

International teams set for hectic summer

The international summer gets underway later this month as Ireland compete in 55 fixtures across eight squads from late June to the end of July with the boys and girls U-16 panels taking part in their major event, the European Nations Cup in Barcelona, both competing at A division level.

The women’s senior team will play nine internationals in a month, starting with a high quality four-nations tournament in Essen, Germany when they will challenge world cup finalists Australia, Germany and India.

The Aussies then follow on to play a three-game series in Belfield before Scotland come visiting in late July, giving Gene Muller plenty of scope to assess his squad’s make-up ahead of a hectic 2011 which will see the panel prepare for European championships and an Olympic tilt.

On the men’s side, Paul Revington’s side is in a similar phase of their development and will begin the task of attempting to replace the retired Stephen Butler and Graham Shaw the summer begins with the Celtic Cup in Le Touquet.

France come visiting a week later for a four-game schedule at Coolnafranky – Cookstown’s new state-of-the-art facility. The venue will also host both the men’s and women’s U-21 Celtic Cup.

Finally, the Irish U-18 boys and girls both have a busy couple of months ahead with nine fixtures each on home soil. These include series against Scotland and Belgium before taking on the Home Nations in Garryduff.

ESB Ireland Senior Women
June 25: Ireland vs Australia, 7pm, Four-Nations; Essen, Germany
June 26: Ireland vs Germany, 5pm, Four-Nations; Essen, Germany
June 27: Ireland vs India, 12pm, Four-Nations; Essen, Germany

June 30: Ireland vs Australia, 8pm, Belfield
July 2: Ireland vs Australia, 7.30pm, Belfield
July 3: Ireland vs Australia, 4pm, Belfield
July 23: Ireland vs Scotland, TBC
July 24: Ireland vs Scotland, TBC
July 25: Ireland vs Scotland, TBC

Senior Men
June 25: Ireland vs Scotland, 3pm, Celtic Cup; Le Touquet, France
June 26: Ireland vs Wales, 3pm, Celtic Cup; Le Touquet, France
June 27: Ireland vs France, 2pm, Celtic Cup; Le Touquet, France
June 30: Ireland vs France, 7.30pm/8pm, Cookstown
July 1: Ireland vs France, 6pm, Cookstown
July 3: Ireland vs France, 6pm, Cookstown
July 4: Ireland vs France, 6pm, Cookstown

Ireland Women’s A/U-21
June 29: Ireland A vs Scotland U-21, 6.30pm, Lisnagarvey
June 30: Ireland A vs Scotland U-21, 6.30pm, Lisnagarvey
July 2: Ireland vs Wales, 4pm, Junior Celtic Cup, Cookstown
July 3: Ireland vs France, 2pm, Junior Celtic Cup, Cookstown
July 4: Ireland vs France, 4pm, Junior Celtic Cup, Cookstown

Men’s Ireland U-21/A
July 2: Ireland vs Wales, 6pm, Junior Celtic Cup, Cookstown
July 3: Ireland vs France, 4pm, Junior Celtic Cup, Cookstown
July 4: Ireland vs Scotland, 4pm, Junior Celtic Cup, Cookstown
July 8: Ireland A vs Scotland U-21, TBC, Cookstown
July 10: Ireland A vs Scotland U-21, TBC, Cookstown
July 11: Ireland A vs Scotland U-21, TBC, Cookstown

Ireland U-18 girls
June 29: Ireland vs Belgium, 4.15pm, Belfield
June 30: Ireland vs Belgium, 4pm, Belfield
July 1: Ireland vs Belgium, 2pm, Belfield
July 3: Ireland vs Scotland, TBC, Jordanstown
July 4: Ireland vs Scotland, TBC, Jordanstown

July 5: Ireland vs Scotland, TBC, Jordanstown
July 17: Ireland vs Wales, 6pm, Home Countries, Garryduff, Cork
July 18: Ireland vs England, 6pm, Home Countries, Garryduff, Cork
July 19: Ireland vs Scotland, 11am, Home Countries, Garryduff, Cork

U-18 Boy’s
June 25: Ireland vs Scotland, 8pm, Lisnagarvey
June 26: Ireland vs Scotland, 4pm, Lisnagarvey
June 27: Ireland vs Scotland, 12.30pm, Lisnagarvey
June 29: Ireland vs Belgium, 6.15pm, Belfield
June 30: Ireland vs Belgium, 6pm, Belfield
July 1: Ireland vs Belgium, 4pm, Belfield
July 17: Ireland vs Wales, 2pm, Home Countries, Garryduff, Cork
July 18: Ireland vs England, 2pm, Home Countries, Garryduff, Cork
July 19: Ireland vs England, 1pm, Home Countries, Garryduff, Cork

Girl’s U-16s
July 3: Ireland vs Wales, 6.30pm, Belfield
July 4: Ireland vs Wales, 1pm, Belfield
July 12: Ireland vs Ukraine, 8pm, Euro Nations, Barcelona
July 13: Ireland vs Spain, 6pm, Euro Nations, Barcelona
July 14: Ireland vs Russia, 8pm, Euro Nations, Barcelona
July 16/17 playoffs: Euro Nations, Barcelona

Boy’s U-16s
July 12: Ireland vs Netherlands, 10am, Euro Nations, Barcelona
July 13: Ireland vs Austria, 12pm, Euro Nations, Barcelona
July 14: Ireland vs Russia, 12pm, Euro Nations, Barcelona
July 16/17: playoffs, Euro Nations, Barcelona

Corithian ladies looking for new coach

Corinthian ladies first eleven are looking for a new coaching team in the wake of Stuart Walker and Andrew Cronje being unable to continue the role and are now advertising for the position of coach.

Key skills for the job would be technical and strategic ability, interpersonal and organisational skills. The applicants must be able to provide the commitment levels required for coaching a division one team. It is also desirable that the applicant would have coaching experience at this level.

If you are interested in taking on the role, please contact clubcaptainladies@chc.ie for details or expression of interest.

Leinster stars feature heavily on Awards night

Railway Union's ladies, the Watkins family and Glenanne were the big winners at last night's Irish Hockey Awards, held in the Burlington Hotel with nearly 400 people in attendance, including former world super-bantamweight champion boxer Bernard Dunne, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport Mary Hanafin and compered by RTE's Darragh Maloney.

Brother and sister Gareth and Chloe Watkins followed in the footsteps of Gordon and Trevor Watkins as family members to earn the coveted awards, taking the Men's Club Player and ESB U-18 Female player of the year, respectively.

Chloe was a potent factor in St Andrew's claims for the School Club of the Year win, too, having helped the Booterstown outfit to a trio of senior girls titles to match their boy's senior cup win.

Railway Union ladies, meanwhile, capped their treble-winning season with the Club of the Year crown while Mick McKinnon took the Coach of the Year having led his side to their second Leinster league title and the club's first ever national titles - the Irish Indoor Trophy and the recent ESB IHL triumph.

The Glens, meanwhile, had a number of club members honoured on the night. Shane O'Donoghue was the recipient of the Boy's U-18 Player of the Year after becoming the club's first team top scorer from play this term, netting 18 times in total - including one in the Irish Senior Cup final win.

Kieran Bolger was rewarded for an excellent season with the whistle to take Umpire of the Year while Graham Shaw was presented with his 150th cap - earned in Argentina in the World Cup Qualifiers.

North Kildare were the winners of the Development club of the Year in a season where they opened their floodlit astroturf pitch at The Maws and achieved their women's highest ever league finish in division two.

Botanic, former Development club winners, took the Youth Club of the Year title and are another side to have funded and built a new astro in the past season with the benefits extending to St Mary's, Glasnevin - nominees in School of the Year category.

The senior player of the year sections, nominated by the Irish senior international panels, saw Mikey Watt and Bridget Cleland named by their peers as the top performers in the past 12 months which included Champion's Challenge, European Championship and World Cup qualifying events.

Cork Harlequins were double winners; Dave Egner rewarded for his work at club, school and provincial level to receive the U-18 Coach of the Year while Karen Bateman - a driving force in her club's run to the IHL final - was given ESB Women's Club player of the year.

School of the Year: St. Andrews College, Dublin.
DVD Centre developing club of the Year Award: North Kildare
Trilogy Technologies Youth Club of the Year Award: Botanic
Local Lotto Volunteer of the year award: Ciaran Delaney (Knocknacarra)
Dixon Rose Umpire of the Year award: Kieran Bolger
O’Driscoll O’Neil U18 Coach of the Year Award: David Egner (Cork Harlequins)
O’Driscoll O’Neil Coach of the Year: Mick McKinnon (Railway Union)
ESB Club of the Year: Railway Union Ladies Hockey Club
ESB U18 Female Player of the Year: Chloe Watkins (St Andrews, Hermes, Ireland)
Samurai U18 Male Player of the Year: Shane O’Donoghue (High School, Glenanne, Ireland)
ESB Senior Women’s Club Player of the Year: Karen Bateman (Cork Harlequins)
Samurai Senior Men’s Club Player of the Year: Gareth Watkins (Monkstown)
ESB Players Player of the Year Awards: Bridget Cleland (Ireland)
Samurai Players Player of the Year Award: Michael Watt (Ireland)
President’s Award: John Smyth
2010 Hall of Fame Inductees: Margaret Gleghorne (Ulster); Mary Geaney (Munster); Eddie Cummins (Munster) and Billy McConnell (Ulster)

* To see Tristan Seaton-Stedham's photos from the Awards night, click here

Smyth and McCandless resign from U-18 post

Irish U-18 coach Andy Smyth and manager Chris McCandless have from their posts with immediate effect this week following a stand-off with the IHA over funding and their views on the long-term good of the sport.

But the IHA have quickly denied to the Hook and BBC Radio Ulster that any Junior Age Group team will be “scrapped”, as suggested was the cause for the resignations by a Belfast Newsletter article yesterday.

With Irish Sports Council funding reduced by roughly €275,000 in the past two years to a new level of €425,000 and the Council’s expressed intention that greater focus go on elite level sport from a more youth-based brief in that time, the funding of the Junior Age Group teams was always likely to feel the pinch.

But the administration of the new structure, which will see every international from U-16 to senior pay a contribution every year regardless of their upcoming programme, has left Smyth and McCandless at an impasse they feel cannot be bridged

Andy Smyth outlined his decision to step down following 12 years of coaching national teams from U-16 up to senior level.

The contention is that the manner in which this levy has been administered could make the sport increasingly ‘elitist’ and unavailable to more people in society.

“I have witnessed many decisions taken which were based on what was best for the players, the parents, supporters of Irish hockey and also the sport itself in order that we move forward and develop.

“Recently, I have serious doubts over whether this is still the case.”

Smyth said: “Figures supplied to me from the IHA for this season are requiring a player contribution of €425 [to include a target of local lotto sales of €175] to play.

“When we received our budget for the year, myself and my manager Christopher McCandless sat down and tried to come up with cost cutting measures to keep these costs down to a minimum. All of these were rejected.

“We asked for the programme to be reviewed. I advised, as an FIH coach with years of experience in Junior Age Group coaching, that we did not need a large program in a non-European year.

“We were advised by the High Performance Director that the programme we had was in his opinion the minimum requirement for this age group. The programme was costing €10,500 and yet they were giving us €4,000 with the rest was to be funded by parent contributions and local lotto.

“We asked for a review of funding allocation. We felt that, as the Irish U-16s are going to Europe, they should get the majority of the matches.

“Currently, they have none going into a major tournament whereas [the U-18s] have nine in a non-European year.

“This review was also rejected under the point that 'contracts' had already been agreed to play these other countries.”

Smyth does believe, though, that in these financially constrained times, such a player contribution is a necessary evil but how it has been conducted has made his position untenable.

“I am not opposed to pay to play. I feel it is necessary in order to secure Junior Age Group hockey in Ireland.

“What I am opposed to is the blanket charging for every squad regardless of what phase of competition we are in.

“We asked that player contributions be pro rata to the amount being held in a squad. We had to raise €4500 euro in player contributions.

“We asked that this be shared between 24 players and not 18. This would help with developing ‘two-year’ players and wouldn't limit the size of the squad.

“We were told that this could not happen. Regardless of squad size we were to charge €250 per player and the excess could underpin squads for the future.

“I am not adverse to charging players if I felt that everything and every avenue had been exhausted with regards keeping the costs down. In my opinion this has not been the case.”

Smyth and McCandless called for cost-cutting reviews of the upcoming series of against Scotland and the Home Countries tournament in July as well as the allocation of kit where a partial agreement was reached.

Speaking in support of Smyth’s decision, McCandless added: "The programme for the U18 boys was set prior to any certainty concerning funding. This has resulted in a 'cart before the horse' scenario with the resulting shortfall in funds being expected from parental contribution.

“I do not and will not accept that the fund raising i.e. local lotto is anything other than an additional levy upon players and their family. This is inequitable and unreasonable especially in light of our head coaches [Smyth] opinion that a reduced program would be acceptable in 2010. His opinion and authority has been undermined and this is completely unacceptable to me.

“The decision to levy may cause hardship and embarrassment to certain players and their parents and contribute to our sport becoming elitist in the future.

“This is not a policy supported by the vast majority of the hockey playing and supporting public and I believe a policy that could cause long term damage at grass roots level at a time when we should be encouraging youth into our sport as one open and accessible to all."

Pakistani influence sees Ports bounce back

Portrane, one of the country’s oldest clubs, bounced back from last season’s relegation to division four as they landed the division five title in the final match of the season, defeating long-time leaders Naas to take top spot for the first time.

The club earned just one point from their opening four games of the campaign but their fortunes turned with the arrival of former Glenanne and Dublin University player-coach Nasir Munir and Mukhtar Ahmed from Clontarf (pictured, right, with Adrian Henchey).

The pair proved a massive influence on the pitch with their array of skills and goal-scoring presence which club stalwart Adrian Henchey described as “levels of hockey never before seen in our club and in every game, between them, they had contenders for goal of the season.

Munir’s positive influence on the club also saw former Sandford Park players Richard Tector and Andrew Collings join the club having experienced his coaching at the school in recent years.

The side was captained by Peter Conway who was a strong defensive presence whilst chipping in with corner goals while bagging his first competitive hat-trick of a long career when his side met St James’ Gate.

Sutton Park goalkeeper Tom Fee enjoyed a strong season between the posts, aided by veteran defenders Ken Davis and Dave Eustace.

The season also marked a special achievement for Henchey who doubled as the Swords ladies coach in reaching top spot in division five – their highest ever league finish.

He paid tribute to what he called “by far our most enjoyable season for a long, long time”.

He added that “the priority for our club is to firmly re-establish our colts and fillies section which is going very well. Also, the construction work of our new water-based pitch is commencing in two weeks time and is due for completion in April 2011”

* For a few more photos of Portrane in action in their final league tie against Naas, click here. I'm still looking to post final round-ups on division four, six and eight. If you were involved in the title race in either of these divisions, please email me on stevie_findlats@yahoo.com with details to celebrate your club heroes.

McInroy steps down; UCD look for new boss

UCD men are on the lookout for a new coach following John McInroy’s decision to pursue a new business venture in his native South Africa, leaving with the club’s blessing.

Speaking in the wake of his one year tenure, the player-coach said of the student club: “I believe UCD can become the most powerful team and producer of international hockey players in the country.

“It is a very exciting time to be taking over the team - the team is ready to push on and keep enjoying their hockey and improving."

As a result, the club are now welcoming expressions of interest for the position of the first eleven coach for the upcoming 2010/11 season.

The club’s committee is welcoming applications from individuals who can give the required commitment to a division one team, who demonstrate ambition, good organisational and interpersonal skills and desirably have previous experience coaching at this level but all applicants will be assessed on their individual merits.

A club statement adds that “UCD are an ambitious club whose league performance has improved every year over the past four seasons and, under John McInroy, achieved their highest ever Leinster league position this season, finishing in eighth place, and will be looking to improve on that performance aspiring to reach the IHL in the next two seasons.”

Interested applicants can send a short résumé, detailing coaching qualifications, previous experience and any other information they feel is relevant to their application to Stephen Tennant Humphreys at stephenvth@gmail.com; for more information call Stephen on 086 154 7330.

Ireland clubs demoted despite Loreto fifth

The myriad machinations of women’s European club competition has seen Ireland’s two representatives drop a division despite Loreto’s fifth place finish in Rome earlier this week.

Ireland’s second seed, UCD, were relegated from the third tier European Champion’s Challenge I competition on Monday following a 2-1 defeat to Czech hosts Slavia Praha.

Rachel Burke got a superb deflection to Kerry McComish’s guided corner strike to tie the game at 1-1 but the Czechs struck in the last quarter to a share of fifth place and condemn the students to a share of seventh place and relegation to next year’s Challenge II event for Ireland’s second European entrant – Loreto as Irish Senior Cup winners.

And after the jigs and reels of a complex EHF ranking system, despite Ireland remaining 12th in the overall list of European performers, they have lost their place in the Club Champion’s Trophy.

How this is arrived at is based on a two-tone approach. Ranking lists are derived from the combination of results from the past three years of European club competition in the Club Champion’s Cup and Trophy.

Meanwhile, this year’s three challenge events used a direct promotion/relegation for the Champion’s Challenge events.

The combined system, though, creates the anomaly that while Azerbaijan’s second team, Baku, finished rock-bottom in the Champion’s Trophy, they stay in the division courtesy of Atasport claiming fourth in the top tier to earn enough to maintain their second team’s berth in the Trophy.

As a result, Ireland were the unfortunate country to make weight with Belarus producing two strong showings and earn two places in next season's Trophy.

As such, Railway Union will compete in next season’s Champion’s Challenge I event which will be a promotion/relegation affair while Loreto drop two divisions to play in the Challenge II.

On the men's side, due to Pembroke, Glenanne and Three Rock's performances in the past three years in the EuroHockey League, Ireland has risen another place to sixth in the overall, season-end rankings but it is very tight between sixth and ninth with less than one ranking point separating the sides.

* For more information and clarification on how the ranking systems work, follow the links on the homepage of www.eurohockey.org

Monks eye U-21 Cup three in-a-row

Avoca U-21 Cup final: Monkstown 7 TRR 0
Monkstown retained the Avoca Cup at Whitechurch with an emphatic win over Three Rock Rovers on IHL Sunday.

The game was effectively over in the first four minutes when an attacking blitz saw the Town put three past Stephen West.

Strikes from a solo run by Frank Ryan, an opportunist reverse by Theo Kirwan and a deft flick by Andrew Ward stunned Rovers in the early stages from which they struggled to recover.

Richard Sykes added the fourth before the break with a rising penalty corner as the Town continued their slick, fast-flowing hockey.

Rovers did come out stronger in the second period, with Jamie Haughton crashing off the crossbar while Tom Samuel drove his side forward.

But a strong Town first-team midfield of Stephen Cole, Cian Speers and Billy McEnery were always in control and they added three further goals.

A fine deflection by David Watkins, a tap-in from Sam O,Leary and a rocket to the roof by Andy Ward completing the tally.

Captain Nick Dee – who is the only player dropping off for next year’s three in-a-row bid – collected the U-21 cup from Leinster Branch President John Flannery, a title first won by Monkstown in the competition’s inaugural year in 1972.

Students denied by extra French goal

EuroHockey Club Champion’s Challenge I - Day Three
UCD 0 Cambrai 1 (Gwenaelle Dutel)
UCD fell to a second defeat in two days to miss out on a final shot as Cambrai grabbed the only goal through Gwenaelle Dutel struck from play in the 19th minute.

In combination with Royal Uccle’s win over Rottweiss Wettingen, a draw would have seen the students advance to one of Monday’s twin ‘finals’ but they were unable to get back on terms.

As a result, the French side’s victory left both teams level on seven points with an equal goal difference but the French side progressed courtesy on a tie-breaker of goals scored.

UCD had several opportunities to win the game but could not find the all important goal as they were frustrated by the French defence and in particular their goalkeeper, Maite Minet. UCD now play the Czech hosts Slavia Praha - who lost all three of their group games - at 10.45am on Monday in the 5th to 8th place play-offs.

Standings: 1. Royal Uccle 15pts (+6) 2. Cambrai 7pts (-2) 3. UCD 7pts (-2) 4. Rottweiss Wettingen 4pts (-2)

Apologies for any errors in the standings. There seems to be a number of inconsistencies on the EHF site, some but not all of which have been updated, but think above is the correct version.

Loreto finding magic touch for fifth

EuroHockey Club Champion’s Trophy - fifth/sixth playoff
Loreto 3 (Nikki Keegan, Lizzie Colvin, Nicci Daly) Alta Boryspol (Ukraine) 1
Loreto finally found their scoring sticks in the second half of their fourth EuroHockey Club Champion’s Trophy to end their campaign on a high, finishing fifth with an impressive win over Ukraine’s Alta Boryspol, outdoing their pre-tournament ranking by three places.

A frustrating first half with plenty of missed chances ended scoreless despite a corner count of 4-3 in favour of the Irish side. Nikki Symmons flashed wide from close to the stroke spot in the first minute while an excellent move saw the Irish international play in teenager Carly Baker whose cross just evaded sticks racing in.

A facial injury to Caitriona Tipping did see Loreto lose a little shape in the second quarter while a lengthy goal-mouth scramble also went a begging.

But the second half proved a different story with Nikki Keegan breaking the deadlock in brilliant fashion. In the 40th minute, she hared down the left flank, starting on the 25 metre line, cutting in on the baseline and finding a way to the net.

After that, it was all one-way traffic. Lizzie Colvin banged home from the top right of the circle eight minutes later before Nicci Daly applied a similar finish with 13 minutes to go for 3-0.

Boryspol pulled one back from a soft corner in the closing minutes but never threatened a comeback, leaving the Irish side as the fifth placed finishers in Rome.

UCD undone by Uccle double

EuroHockey Champions Challenge I
UCD 0 Royal Uccle 2 (Magali Demeyere, Sofia Ambrosoni)
UCD remain in second in Pool A of the EuroHockey Champions Challenge as they failed to augment their 1-0 win yesterday with victory today against Belgian’s second ranked side; goals from Magali Demeyre and Sofia Ambrosoni giving the Belgian outfit Royal Uccle the win.

Uccle got off to a flyer, scoring after two minutes following an error in the UCD defence, forcing a penalty corner and the resultant straight strike by the impressive Demeyere put the Belgians one up. They subsequently controlled the game for the first 15 minutes with Grace O'Flanagan called on to make some fine saves.

UCD did force two corners in quick succession in the 16th minute but failed to covert either chance and in the 24th minute the Belgians had two of their own but both were saved by O'Flanagan.

The students did net inside a minute of the turnaround when nice work down the left channel involving Laura Wilson, Rachel Burke and Lisa Jacob led to another corner but this attempt was deemed high.

UCD were frustrating Uccle with their more physical play and the pressure told on the Belgians when they were reduced to nine players following two yellow cards for not retreating in quick succession.

No tangible advantage accrued with the best chance falling to Jacob who had her reverse stick effort saved.
Uccle even managed two corners of their own with O'Flanagan having to make a fantastic reaction save to her stick side to keep the score at 1-0.

UCD were helped further when in the 13th minute of the half a third yellow for the Belgium side saw their captain spend ten minutes in the bin for a stick tackle.

During this time, the Dublin club had their clearest opportunity when a move started down the right by Megan Tennant Humphreys through Jacob ended with a reverse stick strike from Orlagh O’Shea hit the post with the keeper well beaten.

With Elaine Collins marauding runs down the right flank and Valerie Sexton always a threat up front, the Belgian's were hanging on. But in the 26th minute UCD saw their own yellow when Kerry McComish was sin-binned and the Belgians got the killer strike when Sofia Ambrosoni took the ball off O'Flanagan's pads to score the Belgian's second putting the result beyond doubt.

The only consolation for UCD was a losing bonus point which could prove vital. Rotweiss Wettingen drew 0-0 with Cambrai in the day’s other game.

Standings: 1. Royal Uccle 10pts (+5) 2. UCD 6pts (-1) 3. Rottweiss Wettingen 2pts (-1) 4. Cambrai 2pts (-3)

Loreto claim third in dramatic fashion

EuroHockey Club Champion's Trophy
Loreto 0 Izmaylova Moscow 3
Loreto again struggled to convert possession into goals but managed to take third place in the group – meaning they will finish above their pre-tournament ranking of eighth seed – courtesy of an amazing late three goal from La Gantoise in the group’s other game.

Moscow scored from their first corner following a trio of saves from Louisa Healy and Nikki Symmons and were stung again by a superb reverse-stick shot from the left of the circle for 2-0.

Catriona Tipping saw one effort well-saved while corners in the 11th and 12th minutes were also kept out and the Dubliners were made to pay just before the break when they were dispossessed playing the ball around the back for the Russian side to notch their third just before the break.

In the second half, Loreto earned a further four corners to pull back a goal which would have earned a losing bonus point. One of those resulted in a 60th minute stroke but Symmons hot streak from the spot was ended.

It left Loreto on tenterhooks, hoping for the Belgians to win by three clear goals against Kelburne to escape Sunday’s wooden spoon play-off.

The Ghent club achieved that target with 55 minutes gone but, needing to win by six to top the group, took off their keeper in a bid to go through, further raising the nervous tension in the stands.

No matter, La Gantoise notched three goals in a whirlwind finish to take first place with while placing Loreto third. They find out their opponent later this afternoon but will play at 9.45am on Sunday.

Standings: 1. La Gantoise 12pts (+9) 2. Izmaylova Moscow 12pts (+9) 3. Loreto 2pts (-6) 4. Kelburne 2pts (-12)

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)