Silver for Kelburne in Lille

EUROPEAN CLUB CHAMPIONS TROPHY –  DAY
4

Glynhill Kelburne lost 3-2 to French side Lille in the
final of the European Club Champions Trophy and had to settle for
the silver medal.  

The Paisley side were always chasing the game against the host
club, they clawed their way back to parity after going 2-0 down in
the first half, but the killer came from a penalty corner strike by
the French with just eight minutes left.  But Kelburne will
have picked up some valuable points in the drive to return to the
elite EuroLeague competition.

Although Jonny Christie hit the side net in the very first
minute, it was Lille who dominated early proceedings and went two
up after 22 minutes through Xavier Brabant and Francois Laffineur
from a set piece.  Back came the Scots, both Mark Ralph and
Willie Marshall had chances from penalty corners as Lille were
reduced to nine players with two visiting the sin-bin.  
The breakthrough finally came at an overtime penalty corner, Willie
Marshall`s initial shot was blocked but Alan Forsyth followed up to
smack home the rebound for a 2-1 half-time score.

Early in the second half Lille controlled affairs and would have
gone further ahead but for some fine saves by Kelburne goalkeeper
Mark Fulton.  The Paisley side had a glorious opportunity to
level but Christie just failed to get a touch on the ball and the
chance evaporated.  The Scots did finally equalise midway
through the second half, at a penalty corner the ball was switched
left to Forsyth who scored with a fierce drive.

Lille pressed and only Fulton`s brilliance between the posts
prevented a score, but Laffeneur finally beat the keeper with a
fierce drag flick at their fifth penalty corner of the half. 
In desperation, Kelburne pressed to save the game, but Mark Ralph
failed to penetrate the Lille defence with two late set pieces.

“I could not ask any more from the players, on another day we
could have won,” said Harry Coles, Kelburne`s manager.  “But
Lille were very quick on the break and we gave them too many
penalty corner opportunities.”

 In the women`s event in Belfast, Grove Menzieshill finished
strongly to beat Belgian champions ARA La Gantoise 2-0 to take
fifth place in the tournament.  It was a morning of
frustration for the Taysiders as the Belgians played a defensive
game throughout and hardly surprisingly the scoreline was blank
until the final four minutes.

With the game heading almost inevitably for a penalty shoot-out,
Leigh Fawcett finally broke the deadlock with an open play
strike.  The Dundonians added another two minutes later, Ali
Bell did the spade work by beating three defenders leaving Louise
Campbell to simply walk the ball into the goal.

“I`m well pleased with the final finish, we had six players
under the age of 20 in the squad and they all played well,” said
Charlotte Jones, Grove`s coach.  “The national league was more
difficult this year and there were times when had to play right up
to the end to get a result, that perhaps stood us in good stead for
Europe.”

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