Heartbreak on Valentine’s Day as Inverleith miss out on promotion

A 4-2 loss to hosts Dinamo Elektrostal in their final match at the EuroHockey Indoor Club Champions Trophy resulted in Inverleith missing out on promotion to the Champions Cup in 2017.

Two Derek Salmond goals had given Inverleith a 2-1 lead at half-time, with Dmitrii Azarov on target for Dinamo.

However, three goals in two minutes effectively ended the Purple Robes’ hopes of promotion.

Alexander Zhirkov’s penalty stroke in the 22nd minute evened up the scores at 2-2, before the Edinburgh side were hit with a double sucker-punch in the 24th minute.

Azarov’s second goal from a penalty stroke made it 3-2, then immediately following the re-start, Marat Khairullan’s field goal strike put Dinamo 4-2 up.

Inverleith valiantly tried to break down the Russian defence but the home side held on for a vital win that sees them promoted to the Champions Cup next season.

The Scottish indoor champions finished third overall, a bronze medal, with Stephen Dick second in the goalscoring charts with 12 goals.

Amsterdam HC were the winners of the competition overall with a 100% win record.

Please visit the EuroHockey Indoor Club Champions Trophy website for a full round-up of all the results, pool standings and other stats.

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