Old Georgians eased into the KO8 with a record EHL Men’s win for an English club as they proved too strong for HC Olten.

They were in control from the moment Alan Forsyth scored a penalty stroke in the tenth minute and they cruised through the gears after that against the Swiss side who were making their debut in this competition.

Henry Croft and Forsyth put further distance between the teams in Q2 before Phil Roper’s pair of close-range finishes in the 28th minute made it 5-0 at half-time.

A James Albery corner hit, a thunderous Croft strike and a second stroke from Forsyth put OGs level with the English record – held by East Grinstead for their 8-0 win against Montrouge in 2012.

And appropriately Ashley Jackson scored the record-breaking ninth goal; he scored three times for EG in that previous win.

Croft and Roper both completed their hat tricks in the closing minutes.

Elian Mazkour struck the 100th hat trick in the history of the EHL men’s competition as Bloemendaal blasted past the challenge of Banbridge.

It took just two minutes for Bloemendaal to get rolling, Zach Wallace driving at full speed into the D and then laying off to Mazkour to flick into the goal.

Floris Wortleboer’s delightful through the legs pass was the key initiative as Miltkau snatched the second goal from close range.

And then Wortleboer produced an outrageous piece of work, controlling an overhead and then playing a delicious backhand pass 60-metres up to Miltkau. He squared for Mazkour to finish off.

And the German striker made it 4-0 in the second half with a rocket of a shot from a narrow angle, an historic one as it completed the 100th hat trick in the history of the EHL men’s competition.

Sheldon Schouten added a penalty corner drag, Jan van’t Land walked in the sixth goal and then Miltkau got the final goal of the game. It was a significant one for the striker, bringing him to 37 goals in total in the EHL, back into equal-second with Tom Boon on the all-time scorers list.

Duco Telgenkamp’s double saw Kampong overcome a fierce Real Club de Polo in front of a packed house 4-2 to set up a KO8 showdown with Braxgata on Sunday.

It was an epic contest played in front of a big crowd and a lively atmosphere generated by the large home support.

And they were thrilled to see their side overcome a nervous opening to score from their first penalty corner in the tenth minute.

Telgenkamp equalised with a stunning shot on the spin in the second quarter and they were level on the stroke of half-time when Hidde Plantenga touched in Thies Bakker’s cross from a full-length move.

Polo made most of the play through the third quarter but Kampong were more effective and they had daylight between the teams when Telgenkamp finished off a corner.

They had a further effort disallowed for the ball never leaving the D from a corner injection and it gave Polo a lifeline. A Marc Miralles penalty stroke with eight minutes to go got them within one goal but Kampong won the day with 90 seconds to go when Terrance Pieters was fouled when closing in on an open goal.

Jip Janssen took the ensuing stroke to make it 4-2 and no time for the Barcelona side to make another comeback.

Braxgata’s star studded line-up showed no stage fright as they powered their way past the challenge of Western Wildcats in the KO16 as Loick Luypaert scored the 99th EHL hat trick in a 7-0 win.

Sebastien Dockier opened the scoring with a beautiful reverse-stick shot in the 13th minute as they turned over possession in a key position.

Ben Walker flicked in the next in Q2 and Thibeau Stockbroekx made it 3-0 with another classy backhand finish. Luypaert then took over with a stroke and two corners before Marc Reyné – back at his former club ground – got the seventh goal with a first time strike.

Brax will now play in the KO8 against either Real Club de Polo or SV Kampong.

The second phase of the EHL Men KO16 weekend kicks in on Saturday morning as the battle to complete the FINAL8 line-up begins in earnest with the hosts hoping to delight Real Club de Polo.

Saturday October 11th

KO16: Western Wildcats (SCO) v Braxgata HC (BEL) – 09.45 CET

Western Wildcats will play in the EHL for a fourth successive season as they continued to rule the roost in Scotland last season, taking the national title once again.

They have lost some influential players with internationals Jamie Golden and Tommy Austin moving on, offset by the arrival of set-piece expert Iain McFadden. They are unbeaten after four games but their last build-up game last weekend was postponed due to Storm Amy.

Facing them is a Braxgata team who are making their debut in the EHL but are not short on experience in the competition with the likes of Arthur Van Doren, Loick Luypaert, Pirmin Blaak and Sébastien Dockier combining for four gold, four silver and seven bronze medals. They have helped build a three-point Belgian league lead after six games.

KO16: SV Kampong (NED) v Real Club de Polo (ESP) – 12.00 CET

A fascinating encounter with the 2016 winners playing the hosts while former Polo goalkeeper Luis Calzado makes a quick return to his home club following his summer move to Kampong.

The Utrecht side is in transition; they have five points from five games in the Hoofdklasse but there is a lot of star power in their line-up like Jip Janssen, Jonas de Geus, Lars Balk, Terrance Pieters, Derck de Vilder and Duco Telgenkamp.

For Polo, they welcomed back Marc Miralles following his spell with Real Club de Polo and also add Nicolás Alvarez and Japanese Olympian Kentaro Fukuda.

KO16: Banbridge HC (IRL) v HC Bloemendaal (NED) – 14.15 CET

The six-time winners, Bloemendaal enter the weekend on a high after a dramatic 5-4 win over Kampong with new signing Elian Mazkour scoring a peach of a winning goal. He arrived along with Belgian stars Arno Van Dessel and Max Langer and EHL legend Marco Miltkau to add to their options.

For Banbridge, it will be their first EHL meeting with Dutch opposition and they have added Irish international Adam McAllister to their panel. He joins fellow Green Machine men Peter Brown, Johnny McKee, Luke Witherow, Fergus Gibson, Luke Roleston and the Rowe twins Louis and Charlie.

KO16: Old Georgians HC (ENG) v HC Olten (SUI) – 16.30 CET

Old Georgians – the 2024 bronze medalists – will aim to regain the England Hockey league title and get back into the EHL mix with a couple of standout  additions like goalkeeper James Mazarelo, striker Henry Croft and Spaniard Pablo Usoz. Sam Ward has already struck eight times in four league matches to date in England.

They meet HC Olten who will become the newest EHL side after they defied the odds to win the Swiss title last season. Since then, there have said a fond farewell to coach Chris Elste who steps away after a transformative three years in the role. The side has a healthy international outlook with Lukas Hengartner, Nico Muggli, Lorenz Gassner and Maurizio Ribaudo all part of the Swiss team

Sunday, October 12th

Ranking Match: Western Wildcats/Braxgata HC v SV Kampong/Real Club de Polo – 09.45 CET

KO8: Western Wildcats/Braxgata HC v SV Kampong/Real Club de Polo – 12.00 CET

Ranking Match: Banbridge/Bloemendaal v Old Georgians/Olten – 14.15 CET

KO8: Banbridge/Bloemendaal v Old Georgians/Olten – 16.30 CET

Cesar Curiel sent Club de Campo de Madrid into raptures as he kept his nerve in a sudden death shoot-out to send them through to the FINAL8, seeing off Royal Léopold 4-3 after normal time ended 3-3.

It concluded a fabulous match in which Léo made the early impact but Campo finished strong.

Dylan Englebert opened the scoring with a remarkable upright shot on his backhand after an overhead ball into the circle was never fully cleared in the third minute.

Either side of that, Campo had a series of good chances in Q1 with Rafael Vilallonga, Thijs van Pelt and Alvaro Iglesias all having strong efforts. Léo, meanwhile, had the ball in the goal from a Gaspard Baumgarten shot but the video review showed it hit a team mate’s body en route to goal.

The third quarter belonged to Campo who penned Léo in their own 23-metre zone for most of the 15 minutes with precious few avenues out of defence.

The equalising goal within seconds of the restart of the big break with Alvaro Iglesias touching in a cross from Nicolas Poncelet.

But they could not make further use of a set of three penalty corners, one of which Tanguy Zimmer somehow took off the line after ping-pong in the circle.

Léopold settled in the final quarter but could not find the next from a couple of corners while Campo continued to threaten but to no avail.

During that phase, Iglesias also showed an incredible piece of sportsmanship when Léo were faced with a yellow-card for Dimitri Cuvelier after a video review when his stick hit Enrique Gonzalez’s neck.

The Campo captain said the yellow was not warranted and was accidental with the umpires agreeing not to impose the sanction.

It meant a shoot-out in which Léo took the early advantage but the first series of five ended level at 3-3. The next round was blank while round seven saw Louis De Backer denied by Rafa Revila before Curiel scored for a second time for the winning moment.