Promotion still on ice for Western

It was a day of mixed fortunes for the Scottish champions, the 8-4 win over Hungarian side Epitok put them on the road for promotion but in the second game Western went down 7-6 in a close contest to host side Lousada. Although Western are in second spot in the promotion pool, they need either a win or a draw at worst against Slovakian side Raca on Sunday to confirm promotion. At the moment Raca are a point behind Western and with a much poorer goal difference.

 

WESTERN 8 EPITOK (HUNGARY) 4

Western finished top of their pool with maximum points after seeing off Hungarian champions Epitok 8-4, but this was a much sterner test for Vishal Marwaha`s charges. The contest was finely balanced early in the second half at 4-4 before Western gradually pulled away.

But importantly this result is carried forward to the promotion pool and so Western start the new competition with a win under their belt.

After the game Vishal remarked: “Yes, this was a tougher game. We didn`t start well losing two goals very early which put us on the back foot. However, we came back into the game quickly and played well scoring some nice goals.

“Very important to get the win going into the promotion pool. In this format there is no semi-final or final, so every game matters.”

So Western will now play host side AD Lousada (Portugal) and KPH Raca (Slovakia) in the promotion pool with the top two qualifying for the second tier Trophy competition next year.

It was a shock to the system when the Hungarians marched into an early two goal lead through Samuel Bosch and Zsigmond Szoga. But three minutes later a double from Andrew McConnell restored parity – and all in the opening six minutes.

Western then stretched their lead before the end of the first quarter through a penalty corner conversion by Fraser Moran followed by an open play strike from Callum Duke for a 4-2 lead.

However, the Hungarians refused to be flattened and pulled one back at a penalty corner by Benedek Kozari. The Western goal machine seemed to have dried up in the second quarter and 4-3 was the score at the interval.

Three minutes into the second half Hannes Hessler levelled for Epitok…and it was game on!

Western responded with panache, Joe McConnell restored their lead from open play, and with the Hungarians a player short Callum Duke made it 6-4 at a penalty corner.

Four minutes into the final quarter Andrew McAllister effectively sealed the five points with a goal from open play – his first of the tournament. Western`s final goal came from a penalty corner scored by Fraser Moran.

Bizarrely with two minutes to go the Hungarians replaced their keeper with an outfield player at 8-4 down – the gamble such as it was failed to pay off and there was no further scoring.

 

WESTERN 6 AD LOUSADA (PORTUGAL) 7

The opening quarter was far from ideal for Western Wildcats, Andrew McConnell put them ahead in only two minutes but Lousada replied with a vengeance with a rapid-fire double from Ricardo Teixeira followed by Jose Santos for a 3-1 lead.

Western pulled back some of the deficit in the second quarter, McConnell scored from open play for his own second and just before the interval Fraser Moran added a third from a penalty corner, but in between Goncalo Marques got one for the Portuguese for a 4-3 lead at half-time.

The third quarter produced an exchange of penalty corner strikes, Fraser Moran levelled at 4-4 only for Jose Santos to put the Portuguese 5-4 ahead seconds later.

Then came a crazy three minutes in the final quarter, Andrew McAllister levelled at 5-5, within a minute Ruben Da Silva Teixeira and Jose Santos put Lousada 7-5 ahead, to be followed by a penalty corner goal from Fraser Moran for 7-6…but that was the end of the scoring.

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