Germany: Rot-Weiss Cologne New and Old German Champions

Rot-Weiss Cologne defends its title in the final of the German championship. In a tight game, they beat the Hamburger Polo Club 1-0. Florian Adrians scored the golden goal for the title. The game report:

Rot-Weiss Cologne – Hamburger Polo Club 1: 0 (0: 0)

In this year’s final for the German championship, Rot-Weiss Köln and the Hamburger Polo Club in Bonn faced each other this Sunday. Cologne had won the final 1-0 against Uhlenhorst Mülheim last year – the 9th title on the field for the Domstadt team. The Hamburger Polo Club, on the other hand, is in a final for the first time after being promoted to the Bundesliga in 2018.

The defending champions took the game into their own hands at the beginning in the style of a top team. In contrast to the semi-finals, when the first half was completely overslept, Cologne presented itself much more purposefully today. In the middle of the quarter, the Hamburgers got into the game better. In the eleventh minute, national player Constantin Staib got the first penalty corner for his polo club: Kane Russel, the specialist for these situations, didn’t even get a shot because the release was stopped (11′). A balanced quarter with a 0:0 draw at the quarter break that made you want more.

The encounter was also at eye level in the second quarter. Cologne clearly had more possession, but due to a few mistakes by the red-whites, Hamburg had the better chances. At the same time, the final was still attractive to the spectators in Bonn when it was raining. Then the Hamburger Polo Club got a good finish via Paul Smith in the 26th minute, but the Belgian Vanasch was there in the Cologne goal (26th). Cologne took the game back into their own hands in the minutes that followed, but lacked consistency in the attacking third and the last pass that could have resulted in a goal.

Probably the best chance of the game so far in the third quarter was Christopher Ruhr, of whom there was not much to see up to that point, who suddenly appeared free in front of Niklas Garst after a long flick ball. But the Hamburg goalkeeper was, like a few seconds later, the winner in the duel against the Cologne striker. Even seven penalty corners in a row for Cologne didn’t result in a goal in the 39th minute – the Hamburg corner defense was able to defuse the standard situations brilliantly (39th). Before the end of the quarter, the Hamburger Polo Club had to accept the loss of their captain Mathias Müller, who had to leave the field injured after being hit on the hand by the Cologne captain Mats Grambusch (43rd). Even though no goal had been scored after almost three quarters of an hour, both teams presented a good game and a respectable final. In contrast to the first period, there was little to see of Hamburg’s offensive in this quarter. A penalty corner for Cologne after the time had run out brought a dangerous situation again, but no goal (45′).

In the quarter break, however, Hamburg seemed to have caught up a bit and once again came up with offensive actions themselves (47th). But in the next few minutes, the picture was similar to the opening minutes, because most of the action took place in midfield. After 53 minutes played, the Hamburger Polo Club was awarded its second penalty corner, which was a great opportunity for Kane Russel to score his 32nd goal of the season: But Timur Oruz, as the first outrunner for Cologne, defended strongly and initiated the direct counterattack: Mats Grambusch drove it The ball went forward over the right, brought the ball into the firing circle for Florian Adrians, who was able to put the ball in the goal with a powerful backhand shot (54th). A big chance for the Hamburger Polo Club resulted in a bitter goal and the 1-0 lead for the reigning champions. The Hanseatic League also had another chance to score, but Staib’s shot was unsuccessful (47′). In the last few minutes, Hamburg played another power play for the Cologne team, but there was no longer a chance – Rot-Weiss took the lead over time.

Like last year, Cologne wins the final of the German championship 1-0 and thus defends the title from last year. Despite a good performance, the only thing left for the Hamburger Polo Club is the thankless second place.

Photo: HOCKEYLIGA eV / D.Markgraf