Battling Kelburne earn thrilling draw

Underdogs Glynhill Kelburne took the game to Polo de Barcelona and came away with a 2-2 draw against the Spanish champions in the opening group match of the EuroLeague in Terrassa.

In the first half the Scottish champions more than held their own with keeper Mark Fulton and Scotland defender Mark Ralph excelling. They restricted Barcelona to a single penalty corner after Willie Marshall had lost the ball in a dangerous situation, but the Polo effort was comfortably saved by Fulton.

It was a cruel blow to the Scots when Gabriel Dabanch's shot swept past Fulton for Polo's opening goal only two minutes from the interval.

However, Kelburne were not to be denied and ten minutes into the second half Willie Marshall robbed a dithering Polo defender and his cross was deflected home by Alan Forsyth.

Things looked bleak again when Dabanch scored his second with a brilliant deflection, but Kelburne refused to yield. Within a minute Forsyth's goal-bound effort was saved, the ball fell kindly to Chris Nelson and his reverse stick shot eluded the defence for a second equaliser.

Jonny Christie did have the ball in the net in the final seconds but the umpire's whistle had already gone.