Harvestehuder prove too strong for Grange in opening EHL match

 

Grange’s return to EuroHockeyLeague (EHL) action for the first time in three seasons saw the capital outfit lose 6-1 to Harvestehuder in their opening Pool B match in Hamburg, Germany this afternoon.
Two goals apiece for Michael Korper and Nicholas Spooner, added to strikes from Brendan Creed and Leon Willemsen gave the Round 1 hosts an expected win in front of their home support. Grange’s consolation goal came from Todd Harmsworth.

Grange will meet debutants HC Wien tomorrow (16.00 BST) before Harvestehuder play Wien on Sunday.
The opening goal came from a penalty corner set-play, Michael Korper’s fizzing drag-flick deflecting off Greg Hopkinson’s stick into the net after only three minutes.
Grange were afforded a half-chance shortly after, but Frank Ryan advance into the circle and subsequent shot was well blocked by the home side’s defence.
A resolute first quarter performance by the Stags restricted the hosts to only one further speculative opportunity during the opening period, Kilian Pohling’s reverse stick effort striking the angle of post and cross-bar, leaving Harvestehuder to retain a slender advantage at the end of the first fifteen minutes.
The second period was dominated by the home side however, with three goals coming before the half-time break, a reward for retaining the bulk of possession and exerting pressure on the Stags’ defence.
The second Harvestehuder goal featured excellent close stick control from George Farrant, enabling the attacker to evade the attentions of the Grange defence first of all, then find Korper able and waiting at the back post, where the Austrian international flicked the ball into the air to coolly knock the ball past goalkeeper Sean Hadfield.
Hadfield could count himself unlucky to be picking the ball out of the net for a third time in the 25th minute following his superb save from Tobias Hauke, only to helplessly watch on in agony as the ball broke to Brendan Creed, who fired the resulting re-bound into the bottom right corner.
Sixty seconds later, Nicholas Spooner had the easiest of tasks of securing the fourth goal of the contest, tapping the ball into the empty net from a couple of yards out after the ball had been worked around the circle.
The South African-born striker delighted the home crowd with a superbly take second goal of the match shortly after the half-time break, executing an exquisite deflection onto Creed‘s low cross from the right touchline that flashed past the despondent Hadfield into the back of the net.
In the 44th minute, Leon Willemsen was left with a simple opportunity of adding the sixth goal after Hadfield and his defence failed to deal with a cross from the right of the circle.
Despite facing a heavy defeat going into the last quarter, Colin Clarke’s charges rallied to produce a consolation goal of the highest quality, Todd Harmsworth contorting his body into a scoring position and brilliantly deflecting the ball past goalkeeper Daniel Von Drachenfels after Andrew Campbell’s speculative drive had found the Australian running into space.
Finn Kohler thought he had given the Germans a seventh goal shortly before full-time but the effort was ruled out by the video umpire for illegal use of a foot by the attacking side.

Grange’s return to EuroHockeyLeague (EHL) action for the first time in three seasons saw the capital outfit lose 6-1 to Harvestehuder in their opening Pool B match in Hamburg, Germany this afternoon.

Two goals apiece for Michael Korper and Nicholas Spooner, added to strikes from Brendan Creed and Leon Willemsen gave the Round 1 hosts an expected win in front of their home support. Grange’s consolation goal came from Todd Harmsworth.

Grange will meet debutants HC Wien tomorrow (16.00 BST) before Harvestehuder play Wien on Sunday.

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(Harvestehuder proved to be too strong for Grange. Photo Credit: EHL/Franck Uijlenbroek)

The opening goal came from a penalty corner set-play, Michael Korper’s fizzing drag-flick deflecting off Greg Hopkinson’s stick into the net after only three minutes.

Grange were afforded a half-chance shortly after, but Frank Ryan advance into the circle and subsequent shot was well blocked by the home side’s defence.

A resolute first quarter performance by the Stags restricted the hosts to only one further speculative opportunity during the opening period, Kilian Pohling’s reverse stick effort striking the angle of post and cross-bar, leaving Harvestehuder to retain a slender advantage at the end of the first fifteen minutes.

The second period was dominated by the home side however, with three goals coming before the half-time break, a reward for retaining the bulk of possession and exerting pressure on the Stags’ defence.

The second Harvestehuder goal featured excellent close stick control from George Farrant, enabling the attacker to evade the attentions of the Grange defence first of all, then find Korper able and waiting at the back post, where the Austrian international flicked the ball into the air to coolly knock the ball past goalkeeper Sean Hadfield.

Hadfield could count himself unlucky to be picking the ball out of the net for a third time in the 25th minute following his superb save from Tobias Hauke, only to helplessly watch on in agony as the ball broke to Brendan Creed, who fired the resulting re-bound into the bottom right corner.

Sixty seconds later, Nicholas Spooner had the easiest of tasks of securing the fourth goal of the contest, tapping the ball into the empty net from a couple of yards out after the ball had been worked around the circle.

The South African-born striker delighted the home crowd with a superbly take second goal of the match shortly after the half-time break, executing an exquisite deflection onto Creed‘s low cross from the right touchline that flashed past the despondent Hadfield into the back of the net.

In the 44th minute, Leon Willemsen was left with a simple opportunity of adding the sixth goal after Hadfield and his defence failed to deal with a cross from the right of the circle.

Despite facing a heavy defeat going into the last quarter, Colin Clarke’s charges rallied to produce a consolation goal of the highest quality, Todd Harmsworth contorting his body into a scoring position and brilliantly deflecting the ball past goalkeeper Daniel Von Drachenfels after Andrew Campbell’s speculative drive had found the Australian running into space.

Finn Kohler thought he had given the Germans a seventh goal shortly before full-time but the effort was ruled out by the video umpire for illegal use of a foot by the attacking side.

Please visit the EHL website for the full schedule and more information.

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