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Surbiton men’s European run in the ABN AMRO Finals will go on after a narrow 1-0 quarter-final victory over Belgium side KHC Dragons in Amstelveen on Friday. Luke Taylor’s goal in the third

quarter proved decisive, converting a penalty corner to break the deadlock and eventually decide the match, knocking out the 2013 runners-up in the process. Fresh from Wednesday’s 7-2

preliminary round victory over Saint Germain which booked their slot in the last eight, the English side were once again at the top of their game in the Netherlands and deservedly reached

the semi-finals. It was a tense affair at Wagener Stadium but with just over six minutes to play in the third quarter Taylor found the corner of the net with a powerful stroke from a PC, for

his third goal of the tournament. What followed was a heroic Surbiton defensive effort to see out the tie, Jamie Golden saving a certain equaliser with a remarkable clearance on the

goal-line and goalkeeper Ore Ogunlana also making some crucial stops. Despite a tense final few minutes Surbiton survived, and the 2020 domestic champions will now face the winner of the

clash between Rot-Weiss Koln and Kampong for a place in the 2022 Euro Hockey League final. Meanwhile, Friday morning saw Surbiton women suffer a closely fought 2-1 defeat to Gantoise HC in

Amsterdam to exit the women’s ABN AMRO Finals. The newly crowned Vitality Women’s Premier Division champions put up a strong performance against the number one side in Belgium but bowed out

in the first quarter-final. It was a difficult start for the Surrey-based side with their opponents converting a penalty stroke inside the first minute, Stephanie Vanden Borre firing past

Sabbie Heesh. However, Brett Garrard’s team responded in the best way possible ten minutes later, Darcy Bourne with a fantastic field goal, intelligently spinning away from a defender before

levelling the score. Surbiton were level for only a minute, Emilie Sinia finishing off a classy counter-attack for Gantoise to make it 2-1, all goals coming within the first quarter. Good

chances came and went, in a thoroughly entertaining tie, but unfortunately for the English outfit that is where the scoring ended, with the task made harder when Steph Elliott received a

late red card. Gantoise progress to semi-finals, while Surbiton’s European adventure will conclude against Pegasus in tomorrow’s ranking match. Over in Italy, the women’s Euro Hockey League

Club Trophy competition got underway with East Grinstead getting off to a dream start with a 5-2 win over MSC Sumchanka of Ukraine. An Ellie Rayer hat-trick and field goals from Sophie Bray

and Autumn Bowden proved decisive, sending Jason Lee’s team to second spot Pool B. They are back in action in Milan tomorrow, taking on Belgium’s KHC Dragons who also started their campaign

with a win, with a 1.30pm push back time. East Grinstead will need to top the table to reach the final, with the format of the Club Trophy seeing the two sides who finish first in Pool A and

B going straight through to the final on April 18. Last of the English quartet to take to the field were Hampstead & Westminster, flying the flag in the Men’s EuroHockey League Ranking

Cup. But their chances of lifting silverware in Terrassa, Spain ended after a shootout defeat following a 3-3 draw against an impressive Mannheimer HC. The London outfit can be proud of

their performance having produced a remarkable comeback to take the tie to the wire. Huw Stevens’ team refused to give up, reducing a three-goal deficit at the halfway stage back to 3-2,

thanks to penalty corner strikes from Sam French and Matt Guise-Brown. Their efforts looked to be in vein as the match entered the dying minutes. But with just two seconds left on the clock

Teague Marcano scored a last-ditch field goal to level the match at 3-3, and send the quarter-final to a shootout. On this occasion it was not to be for the English side, losing cruelly 5-4

despite conversions from Will Calnan (twice), Rupert Shipperley and Marcano.