Shoot-out blow for medal-seeking Grange

Grange agonisingly lost out on a bronze medal after losing in a shoot-out to Austrian side Arminen in the EuroHockey Club Trophy, Division One, in Portugal.

The Edinburgh side levelled the play-off at 3-3 in the dying minutes to set-up the nerve-jangling finale, David Nairn finding the net.

Earlier, the first quarter was interrupted for five minutes because of bad weather but Arminen from Vienna went ahead after 24 minutes from open play and then increased their lead with a rebound from a short corner.

Grange, the current men’s Premiership champions in Scotland, responded and Livio Belotti netted just before the end of the third quarter but the Scots rivals increased their lead to 3-1 with an open play steike.

Dylan Bean replied immediately with a strike from a short corner and Nairn grabbed the late equaliser.

Grange started the tournament with a 4-0 defeat by Irish side Lisnagarvey but rallied to beat Vinnitsa from Ukraine 3-1 and they thrashed their hosts, Lousada, 5-2 in their final pool game before the play-off with the Austrians.

Martin Shepherdson, Grange’s team manager, said it was a high quality match but Grange were obviously disappointed.

He added: “We performed well in the tournament and now look forward to a successful period to end the domestic season.”

PICTURE: Dylan Bean (white shirt, black hair band) in warm-up with Grange. Picture by Nigel Duncan