Pembroke relishing chance to face Spanish opposition

Pembroke's Ellen Curran is relishing the prospect of a realistic change of progression when they take on Spanish side Sanse Complutense in the opening game of the Euro Hockey League Women’s FINAL8 on Thursday.

It is a draw which offers Ireland their best chance of reaching a European top tier club semi-final since Pegasus in 1982, particularly as it ends a string of dates with almost unstoppable Dutch opponents.

Dating back to 2017, the Irish entrant into Europe’s top tier has ended up drawn with opposition for the world number one country.

Last year, Pegasus endured a tough outing against Den Bosch 9-0; wearing a Hermes-Monkstown shirt in 2017, Curran faced the Brabant giants in another 9-0 defeat, an experience she enjoyed despite the outcome.

"It makes a nice change not to be playing a Dutch side first," she said.

"As a young player, it was such a cool opportunity though. We had Den Bosch in the first game and lost 9-0 but it was cool trying to make tackles on such talented players, being up against Maartje Paumen."

A year later with UCD, the Ireland international faced AH&BC Amsterdam while, in 2019, Loreto fell to Amsterdam. Instead, first time EY Hockey League champions Pembroke will meet a Complutense side in transition.

"We have managed to get a bit of research done on them and a bit of video together," Curran says of the prospect of facing the Spanish champions, a side she met before in 2017.

"Like most Spanish sides, they will be very skillful and fast which is something we will have to manage. But I definitely think we can pose threats. We have been very good defensively between this season and last season and we are also confident if we win corners, we will get opportunities and are fully focused on that first game."