Three Rock secure promotion in EuroHockey Challenge

THREE Rock Rovers sat through a tense waiting game before finally having their promotion up to the second tier of European indoor hockey copper-fastened on Sunday in Puconci, Slovenia, reports Stephen Finlator.

It came following a whirlwind weekend of six games in three days, finishing in second place overall at the EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge I, lifting them back to the Trophy event in 2026 when they will again represent Ireland.

The seven-team tournament began in inauspicious fashion with the team’s sticks, goalkeeping and penalty corner defensive equipment getting lost in transit between two flights to Zagreb.

It meant the side trained with borrowed equipment on the eve before the tournament and fell to a sluggish loss in their first game against Welsh champions Cardiff & Met.

Rovers had started well, going 3-0 up, but subsequently laboured as Cardiff roared back to win 6-4. It put the campaign on the back foot.

The response was strong, however, as they picked up a 4-3 win over Valchisone ASD on Friday evening with a strong comeback.

Evan Jennings and Ross Canning built a first half lead only for the Italians to eke out a 3-2 lead going into the final quarter.

Canning’s second gained parity and then Rex Dunlop – with his first European goal – won the game with time running out.

They added an 8-6 win over host club Triglav Predanovci.

The Slovenian side had lost both their first games by double-figures and it was expected Rovers would run up a big score but it did not pan out that way, finding themselves 6-5 down with eight minutes left.

The Rathfarnham side eventually got over the line with Canning, Jennings and Jody Hosking providing the goals.

The evening session saw the Dublin 16 side produce their highest quality performance and against a very slick Danish side, Slagelse.

Tiny margins defined this one with the game level on four occasions, but the eventual tournament champions prevailed 6-4 in the final reckoning.

It left Three Rock fourth going into the final day of action, eight points off the leading duo and knowing they had to end joint leaders Western Wildcats’ perfect record to have any chance of a top two finish.

The 2-1 win duly arrived as coaches Scott Crombie and Liam Canning switched up the plan to play a counter-attacking cat and mouse format which played dividends.

Ross Canning gave Rovers an early lead which they held until Q4 as smart, deep defence served them well.

They also hit the post twice and Western did so once before Hosking made it 2-0 before the Scottish side made things tight down the closing stretch.

That opened up a wide range of permutations, most of which required them to run up a huge win over Swedish side SLF Mesaicos and then hope for two other results to go favourably.

The earlier narrow win over Triglav meant Three Rock were a long way back on goal difference but a ridiculous 29-0 win over Mesaicos redressed the balance.

It lifted them to temporary first place with their series of games complete.

A draw between Western and Slagelse, however, in the next fixture could have seen both promoted.

And it looked like it might go that way when their first half ended 1-1 but the Danes put in a sterling performance in the second half for a 5-2 win.

Valchisone could then overhaul Three Rock if they could record a 10-goal win over Cardiff.

They did score three early goals to raise the possibility but the Welsh side stormed back for an 8-5 win, confirming second spot for the Irish champions who could finally celebrate.

Canning ended as the tournament top scorer with 17 goals in six games, bringing his tally beyond 50 goals in European competition.

It concludes the indoor phase of the season with Rovers winning their 12th national title since 2008 and now have another European campaign to look forward to in 2026.