Skip to main content

Drama galore on the opening day of the EuroHockey U21 Championships in Terrassa as a massive 51 goals came in eight games in the blistering Sunday heat.

On the women’s side, England, Germany, the Netherlands all ran up comfortable wins as did France’s men against newcomers Türkiye.

Elsewhere, Germany and Belgium played out a thriller in Pool A while the Netherlands have the early edge in Pool B with a 3-2 win over England while Spain and Ireland drew 3-3.

Monday sees four more games with men’s Pool A showcasing Türkiye against Belgium (10.00 CET) and France against Germany at 12.15 (CET). In the evening session, Belgium play the Netherlands (17.00 CET) before Spain take on France (19.15 CET) – all four games will be streamed live.

Women

England began the tournament and Pool A with a confident 8-1 win over Austria – back on this stage after a 40-year wait – with seven different goalscorers on the mark.

Georgie Gardens edged them in front in the first quarter and the lead extended to 3-0 in by half-time. Franzisca Frey’s goal for Austria was a brief respite as the English side ran up four final quarter goals.

Germany, meanwhile, raced into a two-goal lead inside the first four minutes against Ireland to set up a 4-0 win. Julia Schedl and Lynn Krings were on the mark in those early phases and Martina Reisenegger and Marie Fischer put the game out of sight.

After the afternoon break, the Netherlands made their first statement of intent with a 3-0 win over hosts Spain to start Pool B. Trijntje Beljaars powerful drag-flick set the tone in the first quarter and an Iris de Kemp near post touch from a right-wing cross built a solid lead at half-time.

The game was settled by Pam van der Laan when she was picked out on the left baseline and her ball across goal found its way over the line.

Belgium’s Young Red Panthers, meanwhile, will top the group overnight as they defeated France 4-0. Goal machine Astrid Bonami did the major damage in the third quarter with two goals to her name, adding to Alix Marien’s first half strike and a late one from Ophélie Vincent.

Men

Junior World Cup finalists France began the day with a storming performance against debuting Türkiye as they ran up a 13-1 win with hat tricks from Victor Saint-Martin and Gabriel Piole.

Belgium and Germany followed up in the second game of Pool A with a 3-3 thriller. The Germans raced into the lead with Ben Hasbach’s neat flick and a Jakob Brilla drag-flick making it 2-0.

Hugo Labouchere and Lucas Balthazar’s corner goals levelled the game and they thought they had won it thanks to a brilliant Nathan Rogge first-time deflection. But Brilla scored another corner inside the last two minutes to share the points.

In Pool B, a 52nd minute penalty stroke from captain Timo Boers earned the Netherlands a 3-2 win over England. They were in good shape in the second quarter when they built a 2-0 leas through Casper van der Veen and Danilo Trieling.

But the English got on the board via Rory Penrose and were level through Harrison Stone in the third quarter to set up a big finish with Jong Oranje eventually prevailing.

The day closed with another cracking tie between Spain and Ireland which ended 3-3 as the hosts missed out from a final second penalty stroke.

Spain went in front when Anton Serrahima swept home from close range but a John Cunningham stroke and Adam McKee’s first of the day swapped in the lead. Still in Q2, Bruno Avila tied it up once more from a corner and they had the edge in the second half when Serrahima score again.

But that was only until McKee’s low shot hit the backboard with five minutes to go. Spain did get a late stroke but it was pushed wide to keep it locked at 3-3.