Tjep Hoedemakers goal 25 seconds from time send HC Rotterdam through to the Dutch men’s Hoofdklasse final as they stunned Bloemendaal at ‘t Kopje.
Bloemendaal had won the first leg 2-1 but they were rocked in the third minute when Olivier Hortensius got in behind the defence to crack home a backhand shot.
They had to repel a number of Teun Beins corner shots before Thierry Brinkman restored Bloemendaal’s lead on aggregate
Rotterdam stormed back, Joaquin Menini slipped a great ball through to Dylan Lucieer for 2-1 on the day and 3-3 overall in the second quarter.
And they had the clearer chances to go ahead, Jorrit Croon taking one off the line and Maurits Visser making a huge save.
The crucial goal came in the final minute when Hoedemakers got his stick to a bobbling ball from the right wing. Bloemendaal did have one last corner but could not find the target and so Rotterdam advance to the final, 4-3 on aggregate.
There, they will meet SV Kampong who were 5-2 winners over Oranje-Rood overall. Leading 1-0 from the first leg, the mountaing for OR to climb grew further when Finn van Bijnen scored for the Dutch side in the fourth minute.
Thibeau Stockbroekx replied quickly but two Jip Janssen goals put the outcome beyond doubt at 4-1 overall going into the final quarter, Duco Telgenkamp adding extra daylight between the teams.
Next weekend’s final sees Rotterdam host on Saturday afternoon at 4pm (CET) with the return leg being played SV Kampong’s Klapperboom, also at 4pm.
Both Rotterdam and Kampong qualified for the EHL as a result; next weekend’s overall winner will go direct to the FINAL8 while the loser plays in the KO16.
