London, October 4: Banbridge travelled to Surbiton Hockey Club in London to compete in the EuroHockey League, the top tier European Hockey Club Competition. The Co. Down side secured one of two places in European Club Hockey competitions allocated to Ireland having won the EY Hockey League and EY Champions Trophy during the 2023/24 season.
The side first faced Belgium outfit Royal Leopold Club, needing a win to give themselves a chance to progress to the next stage of the competition. However, a 2-4 loss meant they would instead be playing in a ranking match to determine their final finishing position in the competition. Sealing victory against Swiss side Grasshopper Club Zurich handed Banbridge a much-deserved win and a 13th place competition finish overall.
EHL Men – Round of 16
BANBRIDGE 2 ROYAL LEOPOLD CLUB (BELGIUM) 4
Banbridge began their EHL campaign with a game against Belgium’s Royal Leopold Club. The two sides were well acquainted having previously met in the EuroHockey League in 2016, a game that ended in a draw resulting in the Belgium side being knocked out of the tournament.
Despite the Irish side dominating possession in the opening quarter, veteran Belgian international Tom Boon gave his team the lead, converting a 26th minute penalty corner. Banbridge responded quickly when Philip Brown drew the sides level from a Banbridge penalty corner just 4 minutes later. Tom Boon restored Leopold’s lead in the 33rd minute, converting another penalty corner, to put them 2-1 ahead at half time.
Leopold went 3-1 up in the 45th minute when Tom Boon completed his hat-trick with yet another penalty corner. Three minutes was all it took for Banbridge to reduce the deficit to a single goal as Philip Brown converted his second penalty corner of the match in the 48th minute to make it 3-2 to Leopold. Tom Boon finally secured the victory from open play in the 56th minute to get his and Leopold’s fourth goal of the match, sealing a 4-2 win.
BANBRIDGE: Luke Roleston (GK); Luke Witherow; Alexander Tinney (C); John McKee; Jake Rowe; Josh Moffett; Peter Brown; Fergus Gibson; Philip Brown; Mark Cowan; Louis Rowe
SUBS USED: Owen Magee (4 mins); Matthew McKee (6 mins); Mark Barlow (7 mins); Hugh McShane (9 mins); Tommy Dobson (10 mins); James Evans (10 mins)
ROYAL LEOPOLD :- Romain Henet (GK); Nicolas Poncelet; John Verdussen (C); Gauthier Boccard; Jean-Baptiste Forgues; José Basterra; Dylan Engelbert; Tom Boon; Nelson Onana; Elliott Van Strydonck; Louis De Backer
SUBS USED: Corentin De Trez (6 mins); Arthur Verdussen (6 mins); Dimitri Couvelier (6 mins); Gaspard Baumgarten (6 mins); Tanguy Zimmer (10 mins); Théo Collin (10 mins)
EHL Men – Placement Match
BANBRIDGE 3 GRASSHOPPER CLUB ZURICH (SWITZERLAND) 0
Despite the defeat to Royal Leopold Club, Banbridge had a second game to play in London to determine their ranking. The faced Swiss side Grasshopper Club Zurich, who had narrowly lost to Lille Hockey Club the day before.
Keen to bounce back, Banbridge began the game at a fierce pace, opening the scoring after just 6 minutes when Johnny McKee produced a sublime solo run and backhand finish to give his side a 1-0 lead. McKee got his second of the game in the 15th minute, this time pouncing on a deflected side to double his goal tally, and the Banbridge lead. Philip Brown put the game to bed after just 22 minutes, grabbing a third unanswered goal before halftime.
The second half saw Grasshopper grow into the game much more, finally finding answers defensively to the Banbridge onslaught. However, the Swiss side struggled to create scoring opportunities of their own, handing Banbridge a much-deserved victory and 13th place finish overall.
BANBRIDGE: Luke Roleston (GK); Luke Witherow; Alexander Tinney (C); John McKee; Peter Brown; Jake Rowe; Josh Moffett; Philip Brown; Fergus Gibson; Mark Cowan; Louis Rowe;
SUBS USED: Matthew McKee (6 mins); Owen Magee (6 mins); Hugh McShane (7 mins); Tommy Dobson (7 mins); James Evans (8 mins); Mark Barlow (8 mins)
GRASSHOPPER CLUB ZURICH: Fabian Starsich (GK); Benjamin Edd; Constantin Scheuer; Nahuel Salis ; Fabio Landtwing; Roman Richner; Lucas Harte; Timon Unger; Artur Von Ruffer; Fabian Steiner (C)
SUBS USED: Craig Turner (4 mins); Oliver Haberthuer (4 mins); Pascal Gremlich (5 mins); Imanuel Poulastrou (6 mins); Lukas Mueller (6 mins); Patrick Kruesi (9 mins)