Hockey: Inverleith’s promotion hopes are ended

Published on Monday 20 February 2012 03:30

Inverleith’s promotion hopes vanished following a disappointing 5-2 defeat at the hands of Ukrainian side Kolos-Sekvoia Vinnitsa in the European Indoor Club Trophy.

The Edinburgh side slipped back into third place behind Belgian side Racing Club Bruxelles after they trounced Rakovnik of the Czech Republic 16-3 in an earlier match.

Stuart Neave’s side failed to cope with the clinical finishing of a well-drilled Kolos outfit, while at the other end several good chances were missed.

Inverleith were caught cold in the opening minutes with goalkeeper Allan Dick saving from the spot before they fell behind to a goal from Artem Ozerskyi. After three more crucial saves by Dick the Scots retaliated, a Stephen Dick shot was saved on the line by a defender before Inverleith equalised through a low shot from Callum Duke.

The Scots then had several chances to take the lead but failed to take any before Ozerskyi put Kolos 2-1 ahead..

However, just before the interval, Inverleith equalised following a solo run by Moodie before allowing Kolos to take a 3-2 lead into half time when Lurii Moroz scored from a rebound at a penalty corner.

The second half was a catalogue of missed chances, five penalty corners came to nothing, Stephen Dick had a couple of efforts blocked and uncharacteristically Derek Salmond failed to find the net. Perhaps the turning point came three minutes into the half, Dick’s set piece snap shot was illegally saved by a defender on the line, but Chris Duncan’s shot from the spot hit the post.

Kolos then went 4-2 ahead when Ozerskyi secured his hat-trick and with three minutes left Vitalii Bondarchuk made it five from a penalty corner. In an effort to save the contest and with Kolos reduced to five players, the Scots pressed but were thwarted by some fine saves from the Ukrainian keeper.

With Racing Club Bruxelles winning their final game against the Portuguese side Lousada, Inverleith’s final clash with top side Lille had no further bearing on the promotion stakes.

They recovered some of their lost composure by destroying Lille’s perfect record with a 5-4 victory, but it was too little too late for promotion. The French side opened with a goal in two minutes, but Tom Cousins replied with a rebound goal after Moodies initial shot had been blocked. In a whirlwind last four minutes to the first half, Salmond hit the post, Dick scored from a penalty corner, Moodie bundled home after a scramble and then John Harris made it 4-1 from the spot.

Within 20 seconds of the restart Moodie made it 5-1 but thereafter the Edinburgh side fell out of the game allowing Lille to get back to 5-4 and it took a great save on the line by MacKenzie to secure the win.

On Saturday Inverleith enjoyed a 5-2 victory over Danish side Slagelse before crushing HC 1972 Rakovnik to maintain second spot in the pool competition, and keep promotion hopes alive.

The only goal of the first half against Slagelse came from Salmond before Inverleith opened out more in the second period. After four minutes a run down the right by Stephen Dick created an opening and his pass was lashed home by Salmond. Slagelse pulled one back, but the two goal lead was restored when Dick’s shot at Inverleith’s first penalty corner was illegally saved by a defender and Chris Duncan slotted past the keeper from the spot.

The result was virtually sealed when John Harris fired a low shot home and Inverleith went into a 5-1 lead when Callum Duke fired a rocket into the roof of the net.

Inverleith then defeated Rakovnik from the Czech Republic 10-3 in their second game of the day. The first half was all Inverleith with MacKenzie enjoying a hat-trick of penalty corners and Salmond picking up two with Graham Moodie scoring the goal of the game with a reverse stick shot into the net.

The Edinburgh side eased up in the second half but still added strikes through Harris and Dick while MacKenzie picked up his fourth and Salmond notched his hat-trick.

Elsewhere, German side Club an Der Alster won the elite European Cup in Hamburg with a 7-2 victory over HDM from Holland in a final umpired by Scotland’s Martin Madden.

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