Pool C produced a wealth of drama as Austria’s men and Scotland’s women both got their first wins of the week while France landed a dramatic win over Spain’s men.
The first game saw the Austrians eventually win 4-1 against Wales. The fixture was delayed due to thunderstorms and then also had to go on an extended break with just 10 minutes played for the same reason.
By that time, there had already been two goals with Peter Kaltenböck opening the scoring and Gareth Furlong’s corner replying for 1-1.
But the Austrians emerged stronger from the break in play and went in front via Josef Winkler before half-time, moved further clear via Fabian Unterkircher and made it safe with eight minutes to go from Alexander Bele.
France made it two wins from two with goals in the first two and last two minutes. Simon Martin-Brisac tipped into an open goal for the first but Spain fought back in a feisty affair to level via Alvaro Iglesias.
But Francois Goyet applied a brilliant touch from Timothée Clement’s corner slap to send them into celebration mode.
With one round to go, France are three points clear and will know their equation when the game on Sunday comes against Austria. Wales will need a five-goal win over Spain to avoid next summer’s EuroHockey qualifiers.
In the women’s competition, Scotland got their first win over Spain since 2015, a huge result for the side but one which ultimately sees them head to next year’s qualifiers.
They led thanks to an Amy Costello corner in the 15th minute and were flying high when Charlotte Watson burst onto a long through-ball and stayed composed to find the backboard.
Lucia Jimenez got one back in the final quarter and her side survived a Scottish stroke to keep their chances of a result alive. However, Amy Gibson saved a Spanish stroke, too, with a few minutes to go to record a famous win.
The day’s other game was postponed due to the weather conditions. Ireland will face Italy at 10am (CET) on Saturday with a number of permutations on the line.
Ireland will stay in the top division for 2025 with a win, draw or avoid losing by more than four goals. For Italy, they need to win by four to have a chance of moving above Scotland and either Ireland or Spain.
Men’s Pool C: Austria 4 (P Kaltenböck, J Winkler, F Unterkircher, A Bele) Wales 1 (G Furlong); Spain 1 (A Iglesias) France 2 (S Martin-Brisac, F Goyet)
Women’s Pool C: Spain 1 (L Jimenez) Scotland 2 (A Costello, C Watson)
