Quote Originally Posted by Loramski View Post
Both the Welsh hockey teams have qualified for the 2027 Euros in London, the women by finishing second in the B division in Poland while the men won their B division in Porto today by beating Ireland in the final after a shoot-out.

For the men, the week changed in the group game against Scotland when Wales were trailing 2-1 to the better side with only 5 minutes left. The Scottish players and coaches were shouting 'no cards' but one lad didn't get the memo and stupidly got sin-binned for the rest of the game. Wales immediately took their keeper off to give them an 11-9 outfield player advantage and used the extra space available to get an equaliser with 14 seconds left.

The Scots still had a goal difference advantage in the group so Wales needed a big score against Croatia to avoid finishing second and having a harder route to the final. They decided to change the warm-up routine, hoping that a more intense and aggressive session might help them get off to a good start. This seemed to work as they went 7-0 up inside 15 minutes and 12-0 by half time before winning 14-0 to give them the group.

A routine 5-0 win against Italy in the semi final ensured qualification for the next Euros, the final win against a higher ranked Ireland side was reward for a strong finish to the tournament.

Credit to the team for punching above their weight yet again despite a chronic lack of funding. They were invited to an excellent tournament in Malaysia earlier in the year but had to pay around a grand each to compete, nearly doubling the amount they have to pay already.

A former GB captain tagged along for coaching experience in Malaysia and was staggered by the lack of funding. He was only there as a one-off but cleared his diary to get out to Porto as well. Hopefully he can use his contacts to push for some sponsorship, especially after the success of both Welsh teams this week.

The coach of England and GB is now a Welshman but any hopes that he might help divert some of the lottery funding from England to Wales (and Scotland) instead seem to be wishful thinking. He tried to poach Wales' best player for England but the lad (who was with City's academy a decade or so ago) turned him down despite the big financial difference it would've made to him. He was out in Porto winning the Player of the Tournament award. Top man.

Your post is part heart warming and part sad. I reckon the lack of sponsorship is partly down to not enough people knowing about both teams’ achievements. It probably won’t help at all, but I’ll put your message in my blog piece for yesterday’s game - you never know, someone who could help in some way might get to read it.