King's Lynn rink hockey players take on european elite in the European Cup

Lynn Rink Hockey Club took to their travels at the weekend when they visited Remscheid, Germany to compete in the European Cup.

They faced games against host outfit IGR Remscheid and RHC Lyon, of France, in a tough weekend of fixtures.

In their opening encounter, Remscheid opened the scoring with a direct free hit.

Lynn were soon rewarded for their defensive stability and were given a direct free hit of their own.

Josh Taylor stepped forward and powerfully shot the ball home to bring the game level going into the break.

The home side scored twice against the run of play at the start of the second half before Jack Tucker reduced the arrears from the penalty spot.

Whilst pushing for the equaliser, Lynn left themselves open in their defence and were punished when IGR grabbed their fourth and fifth goals in quick succession to dampen the Lynn mood.

Despite this, Lynn pulled another goal back, this time through Jamie Griffin who cleverly took the ball from the air to then finish into the net from close range to make the score 5-3 with five minutes to play.

Although Remscheid added a sixth in the dying stages, Lynn could take a lot of positives from knowing they had competed well against an established European club.

The second game of the weekend was on Saturday evening when Lynn faced RHC Lyon, of France.

Lynn were without Ryan Barnes who was unavailable for the match.

Josh Roberts, between the Lynn posts, did all he could to deny the French side with a flurry of top saves before Lyon scored twice ahead of the interval.

The second half was a carbon copy of the first. Lynn were unlucky to not find their way through after a string of counter attacks involving Under-20 players Harvey Dugdale and Joshua Futter.

The French outfit added a further two goals and Lynn did everything but score after Josh Horn created space for himself and others to get shots on to the French goal.

Overall a top quality weekend for the Lynn side who have absolutely put English club roller hockey back on the map in Europe.

For many years, an English side has not entered the European leagues and the club has shown they are no pushovers when it comes to these events.

Coach Andy Horn expressed his delight at the final whistle and reminded the squad of how proud they should be for the quality they have shown to the rest of Europe and to the watching English fans back home.

Lynn will now look to build on their European ventures and turn their attention to the Premier League where they will be looking to retain their title and bring home their seventh successive crown.

Thanks to sponsors All Signs, Lynn, John Chambers Windows, Manitowoc Cranes and Tropics Two Fish & Chips.