Hook Hockey

Beaney treble hands Pegasus Euro glory

EuroHockey Club Champion’s Trophy final
Pegasus 4 (Suzanne Beaney 3, Vanessa Surgeoner) MSC Sumchanka 3 (Bohdana Sadova, Yevheniya Kernoz, Tetenya Salenko)
Suzanne Beaney’s 69th minute winner put Pegasus in dreamland as they claimed their fourth European club title in incredible fashion against Ukraine’s MSC Sumchanka.

It added to previous wins in the competition in 1999 in Milan and 1988 in Gothenburg, adding to 1993’s Cup Winner’s Trophy – a now defunct competition – in Amiens to boost Ireland’s hopes of a first entry in the revamped Club Champion’s Cup.

How that pans out will be decided in due course following Hermes involvement at Challenge I level in Switzerland but for now Pegs are celebrating their second trophy of the season after a real rollercoaster.

Beaney’s close-range hat-trick proved the crowning glory – bringing her tournament tally to five at Queens’ this Easter – starting the run with scarcely time for the crowd to settle into their seats.

Claire McMahon intercepted a horror pass around the back on the right edge of the circle and squared for her strike partner who eventually scrambled in at the second attempt.

Vanessa Surgeoner stamped her authority on the second soon after, again from a high turnover as Stephanie Quinn took in a loose Sumchanka pass and while the move got a bit messy, Surgeoner smashed home when the ball fell her way.

Six minutes in, it was 3-0 as Amy Cooke’s quick free slipped through to Beaney who ran through a forest of players closing in and slipped into the corner.

But almost as quickly as the lead was built, it had dissipated. Bohdana Sadova arced an excellent corner switch into the roof of the net. Yevheniya Kernoz swept home from the top with a corner strike which looked to be part of a move but no deflector got a touch.

And the comeback was complete when Tetenya Salenko finished off a great move, created by a long ball retrieved on the baseline by Nataliya Vasyukova, worked around the circle by Halyna Hilyenko.

Three a piece at half-time, the second half was more circumspect as Pegasus reorganised well in the absence of the injured Arlene Boyles and countered at the end brilliantly.

Claire McMahon set off on a brilliant run to create the chance for Beaney to hit the winner with less than two minutes remaining as Pegasus clinched the trophy and can now look forward to getting back into Europe in the coming weeks with and IHL and Irish Senior Cup campaign to come.

** Goalkeeper of the tournament: Sharon Moffett (Pegasus)

EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy, Belfast
Final: Pegasus 4 (S Beaney 3, V Surgeoner) MSC Sumchanka 3
3rd/4th playoff: Victorya Smolevchi 8 Metrostroy St Petersburg 5
5th/6th: Grove Menzieshill 2 La Gantoise 0
7th/8th: Libertas San Saba 3 Gintra Strekte Universitas 2