- Competitions & Events
East Grinstead win in Europe
After 3 days of competition in France, East Grinstead’s women lifted the Euro Hockey Indoor Club trophy yesterday after being unbeaten in 5 games.
The West Sussex based team completed the first pool phase with a 5-0 win against Swansea, followed by a 3-3 draw against the Austrian side WAC. In that game they were 3-1 up going into the fourth quarter, only to be pegged back by 2 goals in quick succession by WAC. Pool B concluded with a 2-2 draw against hosts Cambrai, and they finished on 9 points, comfortably qualifying for the next phase to determine 1st to 4th place.
East Grinstead lined up in Pool D against WAC again, Clydesdale Western from Glasgow and Railway Union from Dublin. The format meant that they carried their draw against WAC over into the pool.
First up on Saturday were Clydesdale, East Grinstead raced to a 4-0 lead with goals from Courtney Hansford, Chloe Brown and a brace from Pip Lock. Clydesdale pulled two goals back in the 3rd and 4th quarters before Chloe Brown got her second to extend EG’s lead again for a 5-2 victory.
Railway Union had beaten WAC which set up a one game final with East Grinstead to see who would finish in first place. In the final game of the tournament, East Grinstead again exerted their dominance to go 3-0 up, with goals from Pip Lock, Courtney Hansford and Lydia MacDonell on 5, 20 and 32 minutes. Railway Union got a consolation goal back in the fourth quarter to make it 3-1 but the 3 points and title were East Grinstead’s. They finished top of the team goal scoring table with 18 goals, Chloe Brown led the way with 4 goals. It was a double celebration for East Grinstead as Amy Thompson also picked up the award for player of the tournament.
The win also means that the England women’s club representative for 2024 (2023 Super 6’s winners Repton) have been promoted to play in the top tier competition, the Euro Hockey Indoor Club Cup.
To catch up on all the results from the weekend : https://eurohockey.altiusrt.com/competitions/303 All games are available to rewatch on www.eurohockeytv.org