EHL: Austrian champs Arminen start new season on front foot – EHL

Austrian champions SV Arminen began their league season in fine form as they defeated AHTC 4-2 to start on the front foot in the Bundesliga.

Florian Steyrer started the ball rolling but they were pegged back twice to leave the game level at 2-2 going into the final quarter.

But late goals from Oskar Rathkolb and Florian Hackl saw them emerge with the points and start their EHL build-up in confident form.

Indeed, this season the Vienna club will play in the EHL for the ninth time following their incredible 10-0 final win over Post SV in last year’s Austrian championship final.

It secured the club’s 22nd outdoor title and their 50th in total when combined with indoor.

Arminen take on the challenge this year, though, without three important figures from their club history with Alex Schneeweis-Bele, Patrick Schmidt, and Michi Minar retiring after last season, the latter duo to take up important roles off the pitch at the club.

Indeed, Minar and Schmidt both won 19 national titles with the club with Bele winning 13; they amassed over 500 caps between them. All three were part of the famous 2014/15 EHL campaign when they defeated Kelburne and eliminated Atlètic Terrassa before pushing eventual champions Oranje-Zwart all the way in a 2-0 KO16 encounter.

Their current vintage is coached by Darren Cheesman who played in several EHL campaigns with East Grinstead and Reading before coaching took him to Germany and then Austria.

His panel features Florian Hackl, Florian Hagen, Benjamin Kelner, Max Kelner, Oskar Rathkolb, Christoph Sandbichler, Moritz Zotter and Florian Steyrer who are all part of the current Austrian setup.

Mateusz Nyckowiak makes his return to his boyhood club Arminen after stints with Post SV and Blau-Weiß Berlin in the last couple of years.

They began their season’s preparations by hosting Rot-Weiß Wettingen from Switzerland in test games before playing Hamburger Polo Club, Zehlendorfer Wespen and Münchner SC in the Hermann-Minar Trophy at their Waldstadion home turf.