Friends of Allonby claimed the silver medal position at the 2023 ECA Canoe Polo European Club Championships, as they competed in Arcos de la Frontera in Spain over the weekend.
Progressing nicely through the tournament including a thrilling 4-3 victory over Montpellier in the semi-finals, FOA came up against a strong MKC Duisburg from Germany.
The Germany side took an early lead just two minutes in, with Hoppstock finishing off the Duisburg move which ended up being the only goal of the first half.
Duisburg doubled their lead early in the second, but FOA put a fight on for the title, with Santanam McCutcheon halving the deficit just 40 seconds later to make it 2-1.
The Liverpool side pushed to get an equaliser, but Duisburg nipped in to take 3-1 lead with just over a minute left, making it difficult for FOA to pull the game back.
Friends of Allonby showed fantastic spirit to keep the game alive however, Andreas Iversen backed his side’s second goal of the game, making it a showdown finish with a minute left.
Sadly for FOA, the German side defended their tight 3-2 lead to confirm themselves as champions, with the Liverpool side claiming a fantastic second place for the tournament.
It was goals galore in Ulster Canoe Polo Club’s final match of the competition, as they beat Viking Venlo Club from the Netherlands 7-5, which claimed the North Irish side 11th place overall.
Kingston Men finished 20th after a 5-2 defeat to Netherlands side AKV Odysseus, whilst Annalong Canoe & Kayak Club finished 22nd overall.
Elsewhere, Kingston Ladies featured in the women’s tournament and finished tenth overall, ending the competition strongly with a 5-2 win over Wild Water Kayak club, and concluding their weekend with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Club Alaquas.