So close for Kelburne in the EHL

It was so close and yet so far for Bromac Kelburne in the Euro Hockey League (EHL); the Scottish champions needed only a draw against Spanish side Atletic Terrassa to progress to the knock-out stages for only the third time, but they came up short in a 3-2 tense tussle in Banbridge.

The Paisley side did themselves proud by coming so close and Terrassa certainly know they were taken to the wire by Kelburne, but in the end it is the Spanish who progress.

In the end Kelburne only finished a point behind Terrassa in the table, but the six points gained should be enough to keep Scotland in the elite EHL next season.

Terrassa drew first blood; their penalty corner shot was illegally stopped on the line by Craig Morton and Jorge Carrera beat Rory Kerr from the spot.

Within a few seconds the Scots were back on level terms, German import Jonas Nommensen sent a low drag flick into the net at their first set piece.

The rest of the first half was one-way traffic towards the Kelburne goal, but the Scots defended stoutly, giving the Spanish few actual chances, and were still on track for qualification.

The damage was done in the first three minutes of the second half – Jan Malgosa slipped the ball past Kerr when his defence failed to clear their lines, then Oriol Bach pushed the ball past Chris Nelson on the line following a goalmouth scramble to open a crucial two-goal lead.

The Scottish champions refused to give up, at a penalty corner Nommensen`s shot his a defender on the line and Josh Cairns stepped up to slot the ball home from the spot to bring the Scots to within a goal from glory.

Play became scrappy with so much at stake; a couple of chances fell to Iain Scholefield and Cairns from a penalty corner, but the Spaniards held out and started their celebrations.

 

 

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top