WELSH HOCKEY UNION

Cardiff & UWIC had the hardest task to begin with in their Euro Hockey Trophy campaign against hosts and top seeds Montrouge. The French side worked hard to thwart Cardiff & UWIC's counterattacks and made excellent use of long accurate aerials to create chances. It was such a tactic which brought Montrouge their first goal twenty two minutes in to the match. A pinpoint accurate lob found a French in the area and force a penalty corner. This was flicked low into the left hand corner. A second goal came shortly before half time as an errant pass from defence was pounced on by the fast moving French forwards resulting in a cross into the area which was deflected past the helpless Steven Gardiner in goal.

In the second half, Cardiff & UWIC, who had been forced into mistakes by the hustling French midfield, improved and carved out chances, but they still struggled with the aerial assaults. Another penalty corner for Montrouge was well saved by Steven Gardiner, but he couldn't get close to the follow-up shot, high into net.

Late on Owain Dolan-Gray was brought down by the goalkeeper when charging in on goal, but such was the visitors luck, Tim Jones' resulting penalty flick was saved.

Cardiff & UWIC will still be confident for future games, as Montrouge, by common consensus, looked comfortably the pick of the teams today. The other two teams in the group, Roma and Arminen of Austria, drew 0-0 and neither looked in Montrouge's class, so Cardiff & UWIC will approach the next two days with confidence.

Day 2: Friday 21 March 2008

10.00	B	Glenanne	5	SK Slavia Praha	0
12.00	B	Grasshopper Zurich	0	Kolos Sekvoia	0
14.00	A	SV Arminen	2	Cardiff UWIC HC	3
16.00	A	CA Montrouge	3	HC Roma	1

Day 2: Cardiff & UWIC in Europe - report includes video

Cardiff & UWIC brought their Euro Hockey Trophy campaign back on track with a 3-2 victory against Austrian team SV Arminen. It was a game that Cardiff & UWIC had the large majority of chances, but were continually denied by the excellent form of Mateusz Szymczyk in the Austrian goal.

The opening exchanges were circumspect with few chances for either side but a penalty corner offer Arminen a chance after thirteen minutes. The initial attack produced a triple save from Steve Gardiner, but the subsequent corner he could only get half a hand to as the Austrians took the lead.

Cardiff kept creating chances and saw Alan Henderson and James Astley denied from close range by good goalkeeping, until, two minutes before half time, David Samuels managed to fire home from close range. Cardiff & UWIC continued to forge the majority of chances in the second half, with the lead coming from a long corner. The ball was worked to the far side of the area to Mark Ramage who rifled a pass to Che Makan a a yard from goal, allowing him to turn the ball into an empty net. Arminen struck back almost immediately with their only open play opportunity, a far post close range shot leaving Gardiner with no chance to prevent the equalizer.

In the last twenty minutes the game became more stretched, favouring Cardiff & UWIC's passing game. They were unlucky not to regain the lead when an Astley shot was kept out by an outstanding Szymczyk save. The Welsh team continued to pile on the pressure with running from Owain Dolan-Grey and Makan causing particular problems. Eventually the winner came as a penalty corner broke down, but with the ball finding Ramage on the right hand side of the area and his powerful shot, Cardiff & UWIC found the winner they deserved.

In the other group game, hosts Montrouge beat Roma 3-1, so a draw with the Italians on Saturday will guarantee the Blues second place in the group and maybe a shot at the Euro Hockey League next year.

Day 3: Saturday 22 March 2008

10.00	B	SK Slavia Praha	2	Kolos Sekvoia	2
12.00	B	Glenanne	5	Grasshopper Zurich	0
14.00	A	HC Roma	2	Cardiff UWIC HC	1
16.00	A	CA Montrouge	3	SV Arminen	2

Day 3: Cardiff & UWIC in Europe

This was game of few chances with both defences dominating for the majority of the game. The first chance fell to Roma when an awkward bouncing ball was latched onto by an Italian forward. However, Steven Gardiner was alert to the danger and saved at close range.

The first goal came from an attack down the right finding Roma's Albert Massaguer, whose short mazy run enabled him to fire home on the reverse stick at close range. Cardiff felt that there had been a back stick involved, but the umpires begged to differ.

Cardiff pressurised for the next few minutes and were rewarded with a penalty corner. A flick along the ground from Tim Jones was met by Che Makan at the far post to claim the equaliser.

Ten minutes into the second half Roma retook the lead with their own penalty corner. Despite three saves from Gardiner, Cardiff were unable to clear the ball and with the fourth chance falling to Massaguer to score his second.

In the remainder of the half Cardiff had the better of the play, but Roma committed most of their team behind the ball. Even when their repetitive fouls eventually garnered two yellow cards, they stood firm. Agonisingly, Cardiff's best chance, with a minute to go, was hit inches wide from a narrow angle by Jones.

Day 4: Sunday 23 March 2008

09.00	7th/8th	Grasshopper Zurich	1	SV Arminen	5
11.15	5th/6th	Cardiff UWIC HC	2	SK Slavia Praha	3
13.30	3rd/4th	HC Roma	1	Kolos Sekvoia	3
15.45	1st/2nd	CA Montrouge	4	Glenanne	5

Day 4: Cardiff & UWIC in Europe

This was a more open game than the affair, with Cardiff & UWIC very nearly taking the lead within ten seconds. A slick preplanned move between Mark Ramage and Che Makan provided an opportunity for Alana Henderson, but the goalkeeper did well to deny him.

The opening goal came from a counter-attack by Slavia, allowing David Piterak to score. Cardiff's response was quick when a move found David Samuels on the right hand side of the area, a chance he buried with some force. More half chances followed, but the half ended 1-1.
Cardiff took the lead early in the second when a forceful hit into the area by Mark Ramage was deflect deftly by James Campbell, leaving the Czech goalkeeper floundering.

Again, the equalizer came quickly with Martin Babicky scoring. The Czechs then took the lead with a goal from Lukas Vymazzal. The rest of the second half was characterized by the clear tiredness of both teams, with a long ball game emerging. Cardiff pressed hard, particularly looking for penalty corners, but were frustrated by the instance of the umpires to play the advantage, and failed to find the equaliser.

It ended a hard tournament, with the standard noticeably higher than last year's tournament in Prague. Cardiff applied themselves well but were edged out in close games. Captain Chris Shaw was named the player's player of the tournament, while Steve Perchard won the supporters vote.

The final was a cracking game, with the Irish team Glenanne beating hosts Montrouge 5-4, with Steve Butler scoring four of the Irish goals from penalty corners. If only he had been born beneath a Red Dragon!

Final Positions

1st     Glenanne
2nd    CA Montrouge
3rd     Kolos Sekvoia
4th     HC Roma
5th     SK Slavia Praha
6th     Cardiff & UWIC
7th     SV Arminen
8th     Grashopper Zurich

Last updated: 26/03/2008
Match schedule subject to amendment at the discretion of EHF or the Tournament Director.

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