Czech Republic claims gold medal over Poland in EuroHockey Nations Championship II
Men’s EuroHockey Nations Championship II has concluded in Vinnitsa, Ukraine on Sunday, August 14 where the Czech athletes defeated their Polish counterparts by 2-1 on penalty shootouts as the match was remained at 1-1 level after the seventy minutes of play
before the extra time in which the game also was not decided. With the victory the Czech athletes have qualified for the 2013 EuroHockey Nations Championship.
Earlier in the tournament both the teams had faced each other in the group stage match where the Polish Men defeated their similar opponents by 2-0 in a quite a convincing fashion but this time it was Czech Republic with an impressive revenge.
As the result showed the match remained evenly balanced between the sides where the first thirty five minutes went goalless in spite of some good scoring opportunities while in the second half the two sides could manage to tick the scoreboard only for once
before the final whistle was rung. After the seventy minutes of wonderful hockey the match entered in the extra time but the result was not decided in that period that led the teams into penalty shootouts where the Czech athletes scored a narrow victory by
converting an extra penalty into goal winning it 2-1 and claimed the gold medal.
The first half started slowly as both the teams seemed on a defensive mode for most of the time in the first thirty five minutes. However, as the game progressed they gained the momentum and the pace but that was not proved enough to bring the score board
into play. Eventually the interval reached with both the teams scoreless.
The second half remained the replica of the first half for most of the period as the first twenty five minutes of the second part of the game also went scoreless before the Polish Men opened their account in the 55th minute when Szymon Oszyjczyk
scored a wonderful field goal and put the team ahead of the Czech athletes. But the lead lasted only for seven minutes and the Czech replied in the 62nd minute with Jakub Kindl converted a penalty corner into the equaliser.
The match went in extra time and also remained at the same score, 1-1 before it was decided on penalty shootouts where the Czech athletes converted two of their penalties into goals while the Polish fell short of one converting only one into goal. The match
concluded at 2-1 to Czech Republic.
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