HDM and HTHC win thrilling EHL U14 titles
Harvestehuder THC’s boys and hdm’s girls were crowned the ABN AMRO EHL U14 champions following two thrilling days of action at Pinoké.
hdm got through their group with a 6-0 win over the Waterloo Ducks and then drew 2-2 with Germany’s HTHC. It put them through to a semi-final where they were too strong for Club de Campo de Madrid.
It set up a rematch the WatDucks in the final with the key moment coming just before half-time, Lotte Vorderman scoring in the 20th minute.
Then a Yara Akermann hat trick in the space of four minutes decided the affair en route to a 4-1 win, Alicia Bara getting the reply for the Belgian side. Akermann ended the tournament with 10 goals from four games.
The WatDucks had bounced back from their opening defeat to beat HTHC and then got by Surbiton in a semi-final shoot-out.
For Surbiton, they won a narrow game against Portadown and then drew Campo in the group and the two were inseparable in the bronze match in normal time. Eventually, they got the medal in the ninth round of a shoot-out with Charley Warren making the saves.
In the fifth place playoff, Harvestehuder won 3-1 against Irish side Portadown.
On the boys side, HTHC were too strong for their rivals in the competition as the German side swept through the group stage, scoring 14 goals in two games. They went on to beat Racing Club de France 7-0 in the semi-final to get through to the final against Surbiton
There, a tight first half saw HTHC build a 1-0 lead with John Odewald on the mark. They pulled away in the second half via John Kolzen and Odewald before Louis Reynolds-Lloyd became the first player to score against the German side.
But a second goal for Kolzen and one for Louis Zeuzem saw Harvestehuder THC succeed 5-1.
Surbiton’s run to the final saw them draw with Bloemendaal in their first game before losing 5-0 to HTHC but going through on goal difference to the semis.
There, they defeated Atlètic Terrassa 1-0 with another Reynolds-Lloyd goal.
Racing Club de France took the bronze medal in a shoot-out ahead of Atlètic while Bloemendaal were fifth and KHC Dragons sixth.