The opening game of the final day at the EHL in Barcelona featured probably one of the most interesting, as in equally matched of the day.
Following the opening minutes with no real opportunities it was Sam Ward for OG who got the first shot on goal. The pressure in Q1 was definitely on the Belgian goal. The Belgians content to throw aerials to a forward. The high press from Old Georgians was certainly more entertaining. Nevertheless no goals were scored the opening quarter.
The first corner of the game went the Old Georgians way after 2 minutes. But the strong stick save by Vandenbroucke from his top right corner prevented the opening goal.
After 20 minutes we finally saw the Belgians turn up the pressure a bit. Forcing OG in their own quarter they won a first corner. With Charlet on top of the D the corner was converted with a well placed low flick to give Waterloo Ducks the 1-0 lead. For the fans probably against the run of play. But Waterloo Ducks had been in control.
Sam Ward equalised with a great deflection the first time the OG made it back to the Belgian D.
The final minutes we went back to the English fighting spirit and Belgians quality defending.
Based on the first half it was an A for effort for the English and an A for efficiency for the Belgians.
And a equitable 1-1 at half time.
The opening minutes of Q3 the Waterloo Ducks were in control and putting the pressure on Pinner’s goal.
The first corner of the second half was logically for Waterloo Ducks. The third retake saw Charlet push his team to the lead again: 2-1.
While Waterloo Ducks are clearly technically better on the ball, it’s their poor receiving all game long that gets them in trouble. With the corner for OG as a result shortly after. When the first one was “stopped” by the mask of a defender. The second corner hit the foot of the line defender and from the stroke Forsyth brought Old Georgians back in the game: 2-2. Rattled by the equaliser the Belgian team lost control.
Quarter 4 started with a 2-2 and some confusion. Vandenbroucke, goalie for Waterloo Ducks, was still fixing his helmet on the sideline when the game started. He ran on 10 seconds later causing his captain Charlet to get a green card. The corner by OG following this was high and off target. However a clearly disorganized Waterloo Ducks conceded the 2-3 shortly after with another beautiful deflection by Proctor. With 10 minutes on the clock OG smelled blood and kept the pressure on. A strongly contested corner with 7 minutes to go on the other end, gave Charlet a chance to get back in the race only to be denied by Pinner.
With less than 4 minutes on the clock an unneeded charge in the back of his opponent saw Ward get the yellow. Meaning Waterloo Ducks had the extra player for the final minutes. Earning them a corner with 1 minute to play. Charlet missed his target much to the delight of a celebrating Pinner.
In the end a well earned 2-3 victory for Old Georgians. A rather different game from their easy win over the Germans from Mannheim 2 days earlier. But Waterloo Ducks have only themselves to blame for a poor display of skills that cost them the game.
