The Volvo ERB top game of the week narrowly wins against the Harvestehuder THC at the end of the UHC Hamburg. In addition, the Hamburger Polo Club beats the Munich SC, the club on the Alster beats the TSV Mannheim Hockey clearly. The match reports:
HAMBURGER POLO CLUB – MUNICH SC 3: 1 (1: 1)
In the duel for fourth place in Season B, the Hamburger Polo Club was clearly in the lead before the game: With one game less and a five-point lead, Munich definitely needed an away win today if they didn’t want to lose sight of the quarter-final places. After a strong start to the season, the MSC failed to achieve results in the past few games.
In the last game on the pitch at Hemmingstedter Weg – polo will be played at a new facility from next spring – the guests started fresher and more alert than the Hamburger Polo Club: After two minutes, Munich had won the first penalty corner. Nikas Berendts’ shot was safely parried, but a Hamburg defender fouled him in the follow-up shot. Phillip Holzmüller put the seven-meter penalty that was due flat into the left corner and scored the early 0:1 lead for the MSC (2.7-m).
After the shock right at the beginning, the home side got into the game better. Although no compelling attack wanted to jump out, the circle of fire was at least approached. A penalty corner was won in the second quarter, but Munich put in a lot of effort to defend. The guests immediately countered, after a nice one-two Philip Bezzenberger got the shot, but Niklas Garst came out of his goal and saved the shot (18th). With the next action, however, the time had come: Munich could no longer withstand the pressure and conceded the equaliser. The goal scorer of the 0:1, Nikas Berendts, jumped the ball right in front of his own goal and Jan-Hendrik Bartels dusted off for the home side (20th). The MSC then played better for the rest of the half,
In the second half, Kane Russell converted a penalty corner to make it 2-1 for the Hamburger Polo Club. A nice hard shot, which went through the two outrunners and was therefore difficult for the goalkeeper to see, gave Benjamin Kurney no chance in the Munich goal (33’KE). A penalty corner for Munich shortly before the end of the quarter was safely parried by Niklas Garst (44′), and after a quick counter-attack, the hosts also got one. Kane Russell scored his second goal of the day and increased to 3:1 (44.,KE). Goalkeeper Kurney was already well into the right corner, but Russell still overcame him with a powerful shot into the top corner.
Kurney was the center of attention right at the beginning of the last part of the game when he parried the bat (46′). Munich had another chance seven minutes before the end, but this time it was Niklas Garst, who was once again very strong today, who was there (53′). The hosts then took the lead well over time – Polo stayed a step ahead of the men from Munich throughout the entire game, especially in terms of chances.
“We’ll definitely lose the game a bit frustrated. […] Unfortunately, we didn’t bring that little bit of luck onto the scoreboard from our game shares.”Patrick Fritsche, coach Munich SC
The Hamburger Polo Club will be playing in Cologne at the end of March for the first game of the second half of the season next year. They play the first game of the indoor season on November 26 at UHC Hamburg. The MSC starts against TG Frankenthal in the indoor round, the second half of the season starts two weeks later for Munich than for Polo – in April against the Club an der Alster.
CLUB AN DER ALSTER – TSV MANNHEIM HOCKEY 7: 2 (6: 0)
A clear gap of 14 to 4 points in the Season B table separated the Club an der Alster and TSV Mannheim Hockey before the game. After a strong start to the season, Alster had recently lost touch with the top of the table and wanted to go into the winter break victorious again with three points in this duel.
The home side also got off to a better start: after four minutes they came forward on the right flank, a long corner resulting from this attack was quickly taken and scored the goal. Chris Newman took off with his backhand and scored the 1:0 lead (4th). Alster continued to determine the game, after a counterattack the TSVMH goalkeeper fouled striker Struan Robert Walker in a shot on goal. Dieter Linnekogel converted the due seven-meter throw without any problems (9.7-m). And the Hamburgers immediately followed suit: Anton Boeckel conquered the ball in counter-pressure, put it across to Linnekogel, who continued to the right to Struan Robert Walker. Walker broke into the circle, backhanded Emiliano Bosso out and scrubbed the ball into goal (10′).
With this double whammy, TSV Mannheim Hockey was caught off guard. You kept up well as a result and defended much more securely. The game settled down midway through the second quarter when the hosts won a penalty corner. A nice corner variant from the left gave Linnekogel a completely free shot on goal, which led to 4:0 (24′, KE). At this point before the break, the game seemed already decided. Alster even increased it to 5:0. Another attack, typical of the club on the Alster, carried out at high speed and in a straight line, led to this next goal. Federico Fernandez Onega took the ball with his back to the goalkeeper and cheekily tunnelled Emiliano Bosso with his backhand (26′).
Maximilian Schnepel scored another goal for the home side from a short corner before the break. The hard, flat penalty corner went through the legs of Emiliano Bosso (29′, KE), who was a bit unlucky today. But the entire Mannheim defense had far too little to oppose in the first half, and Alster’s high lead was okay. On the other hand, TSV Mannheim Hockey managed to improve significantly after the restart: A long flick reached Nicolas Proske, who finished far too freely in the circle. The hard-hitting Argentinian backhand didn’t give Thomas Alexander a chance in the box (34′).
Flick balls continued to be the means of success for the guests. Less than ten minutes later, you came back over the left side in front of the goal. The Alster goalkeeper didn’t manage to clear the ball, but instead Max Weiher poked it over the line to make it 6-2 (39′). But Alster didn’t let anything burn in the last section and confidently defended the lead. Hamburg managed to make it 7:2 through Struan Robert Walker, who scored his second goal of the day (58th).
In the indoor season, CADA meets DTV Hannover on November 26th. On the same day, the Mannheimers play at SC Frankfurt 1880. In the second half of the season, the Hamburg team will meet Munich SC, Mannheim has to travel to Berlin.
HARVESTEHUDER THC – UHC HAMBURG 1:2 (0:1)
A last derby of the first half of the season, the Volvo ERB top game of the week : Harvestehude against UHC Hamburg. Before the game, both teams were only separated by one point in the table – so the winner of the game would go into the second half of the season ahead of the rival. In the last season the UHC had been victorious once, once they had separated 2:2 draw.
The hosts set the first scent mark with a beautifully executed counterattack down the left flank. The shot from an acute angle went well over the goal (3′). At this early stage in the UHC game there were still too many small mistakes, but the HTHC was still a bit uncertain. In the middle of the half, the hosts got back into the circle after Xaver Hasun won the ball, but goalkeeper Florian Leonhart was there (20′). In this phase, Harvestehude became stronger.
“HTHC made life very difficult for us with the handy man marking […].”Benedikt Schmidt-Busse, coach UHC Hamburg
A slow first half without any real offensive action still had a highlight to offer: the lead for UHC Hamburg. Anton Brinckmann was able to fend off a shot from Cameron Golden, but the ball jumped in front of Christopher Kutter’s bat, who reacted quickly and scored the 0-1 just before the break whistle (29′).
In the second half, too, the spectators were offered a respectable game thanks to the intensity, but without any chances to score. It was only after a good five minutes that Nqobile Mansuet Ntuli dribbled his way over the right in front of the goal and, together with Luis Holste, scored a seven-meter penalty for Harvestehude. Moritz Bretschneider in goal was in the right corner, but the hard-hitting shot from Michael Körper didn’t give him a chance (35.7 m). Bretschneider only came in for the seven-meter penalty, then Florian Leonhart took over the post again.
As a result, the derby became heated. The UHC used a double majority to exert some pressure again. Towards the end of this third quarter, Harvestehude hardly had a chance to free himself from his own half. But things went much better in the second half: A penalty corner offered a great opportunity, but Michael Körper missed the shot significantly (47th).
The last ten minutes then, as is typical of Derby, had a lot to offer for discussion. Multiple cards on both sides and heated arguments characterized this phase of the game and made the now floodlit game a real treat. Both teams now played forward with their sights open. The UHC was the beneficiary: Hannes Müller put the ball to the left onto Michel Struthoff, who dribbled his way over the baseline and flicked the ball over the goalkeeper into the near corner (55 ‘): The 1:2 lead for the guests, who were up to ended.
The UHC spends the winter in second place in Season A. Harvestehude is now four points behind in fourth place but still within striking distance. For the first game of the indoor season, the UHC Hamburg welcomes the Hamburger Polo Club on November 26th. The HTHC welcomes the Braunschweig THC. In the second half of the season, UHC will play against Crefeld and Harvestehude against Rot-Weiss Köln.
“An intensive derby awaits, […] certainly a lucky win at the end of the day, but not entirely undeserved either.”Benedikt Schmidt-Busse, coach UHC Hamburg
Photo: Marc Junge (SportsGallery)
