Italy picked up a big win in Dublin over Scotland to make it two wins from two while Switzerland got off the mark in men’s championship II.
In Skierniewice, there were opening wins for Croatia, Gibraltar and Poland on the first day in Championship III.
Men’s EuroHockey Championship II (Dublin Ireland)
Pool B
Switzerland 5 Türkiye 2
Switzerland got off the mark as they battle back twice to overcome Türkiye 5-2 and move up to three points.
Türkiye went in front in Q2 from a Müslüm Ekinci stroke after a long overhead wreaked havoc; Mika Conrad made it 1-1 at half-time when a defensive error opened the door and he swept home a rebound off goalkeeper Mehmet Ceyhan.
Omer Karakus smashed in another just after half-time after an innovative through the legs pass; Loris Grandchamp equalised from a low corner drag for 2-2. He repeated the trick in the 43rd minute to put the Swiss in front for the first time and Sandro Reinhard added a fourth when a set piece broke his way at the injector’s spot. Yannick Hug got the fifth with the last play of the game.
Italy 3 Scotland 2
Italy made it two wins from two as they added to their opening win over Türkiye to beat Scotland 3-2. For a second successive game, Italy took the lead inside 45 seconds, Francois Sior robbing the ball and setting up Davide Giuliani for 1-0. Jamie Golden levelled from a corner rocket from a clever change of angle at the top of the D.
Kyle White put Scotland in front in the first minute of the second half with a brilliant reverse-stick shot but it was level once again in the 37th minute. Juan Munafo’ picked up a half-cleared ball which he fired into the danger zone for Davide Arosio to touch in.
And Thomas Keenan won it with a vicious corner drive that broke through the Scottish defences for 3-2.
Men’s EuroHockey Championship III (Skierniewice, Poland)
Croatia 3 Lithuania 1
Croatia came back from a goal down to start their tournament on the right note. Arnas Ridlauskas calmly flicked the ball home in the 14th minute before the Croats fought back with Josip Jazbec’s drag-flick equalising before half-time.
And the game was decided in the 37th minute when Croatia scored twice with captain Filip Žlimen putting his side in front and, within seconds, Gergor Fujs added another corner goal.
Gibraltar 3 Malta 2
Gibraltar held off a final quarter comeback from Malta to win their opening tie in Poland in a 3-2 result having led 3-0 at one stage. Craig Bossano-Ames’s sharp rebound from a corner put his side in front and then captain Julian Lopez’s direct corner shot made it two at half-time.
A deflection from Ethan Balban put Gibraltar seemingly in the clear but Malta fought back and were on the board in the 50th minute when Zak Degiovanni cleaned up a chance. Silas Plaehn got another back late on when he slid onto a great run and pass from Luke Bajada but they ran out of time to snatch a draw.
Poland 23 Serbia 0
Poland proved far too strong for an inexperienced Serbia; Gracjan Jarzyński scored eight times in the win.
