Having been frustrated by a scoreless draw with the Eagles of Gibraltar on Saturday, Pembroke Wanderers committed themselves totally to beating the hosts, Rotweiss Wettingen, 3-1, to storm into the final of the European Club Championship (B division) in Zurich yesterday.
Needing no less than a win in the deciding Pool B match, Pembroke played resolutely and patiently to build up a 2-0 half-time lead. Stephen Stewart opened the scoring from a drag flick and then the embattled Gordon Elliott - having recovered from a collision with the perimetre fencing in the game against WAC of Austria on Friday - tucked away the second goal.
Rotweiss exerted a lot of pressure in second-half surges but Duncan McKeen, leading by example, and goalkeeper Stephen Doran were especially defiant in the Dubliners' defence.
Elliott sent Justin Sheriff darting through to increase the margin and a late reply by Rene Schmidli could not change the outcome.
European Club Championships (B Division, Zurich) - Pool A: Saturday: Lille 4 Dinamo Ekaterinburg 4; Slavia Prague 3 Kolos Vinnistsa (Ukraine) 1; Yesterday: Ekaterinburg 6 Kolos 0; Lille 7 Slavia 0; Final placings: 1 Lille; 2, Ekaterinburg; 3 Slavia; 4 Kolos. Pool B: Saturday: Pembroke Wanderers 0 Eagles (Gibraltar) 0; Rotweiss Wettingen 4, WAC (Austria) 2; Yesterday: WAC 4 Eagles 2; Pembroke Wanderers 3 (S Stewart, G Elliott, J Sherriff) Rotweiss 1; Final placings: 1, Pembroke; 2, Rotweiss; 3, WAC; 4, Eagles. Today: final: Pembroke v Lille.
