Women’s EuroHockey Challenge I – Alanya (TUR)
SK Slavia Prague and Watsonians earned promotion to EuroHockey Trophy level in contrasting fashion as they saw off Gaziantep Poligücü and Clydesdale Western, respectively.
For Slavia, they eventually prevailed in the seventh round of a shoot-out with Nikol Babicka scoring the vital goal while goalkeeper Andrea Vančurová kept out the last effort from the Turkish side.
Earlier on, it had looked like it would be a comfortable day for the Czech side when they built a 2-0 lead in the first 14 minutes with Katerina Horeškovská and Michaela Kučerová.
But Gazinatep got a lifeline in the 45th minute when Fatma Songul Gültekin scored a corner, her fourth of the weekend. And, with four minutes left, they salvaged a shoot-out chance when Natalya Sazontova equalised for 2-2.
Goalkeepers were mainly on top in the shoot-out which advanced to 2-2 after the first series five rounds; both sides scored in round six before Slavia held their nerve.
The second promotion game was in marked contrast with Watsonians winning the Tartan tussle 5-1 against Clydesdale Western, making it five trophies for the season for them.
Katie MacCallum got them a lead in the second minute which they were never to relinquish. Emily Dark netted her fifth goal of the tournament soon after from a corner.
Bronwyn Shields halved the gap in Q2 but it was a brief respite as Katherine Holdgate made it 3-1 with just 18 minutes played.
And they pulled away further in the second half with MacCallum getting the fourth and Sarah Jamieson returning from the sin bin to close out a sublime first European tournament for Watsonians.
In the relegation games, Šiauliai Ginstrekte ŠSG edged by AHTC Wien 1-0 thanks to Karolina Raulinaitytè’s 35th minute goal to keep Lithuania at tihs level for 2024.
Catholic Institute maintained Ireland’s place at this level with Olympian Naomi Carroll scoring four times – including a triple in a two-minute spell – saw them ease by Italy’s Argentia.
** All results, pools, and game stats below from the EuroHockey Club Challenge I, Women, Alanya, Türkiye
