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."
Both clubs are enduring tricky seasons since last year’s silverware but did finish their pre-EHL preparations on a high with Pembroke beating Loreto 1-0 last Saturday with a late Orla Macken strike to deny the Beaufort club the EYHL title.
It earned Pembroke a fifth place finish and an EY Champions Trophy quarter-final ticket. Their Madrid counterparts, meanwhile, are in eighth place in their league but beat Real Sociedad last Sunday 2-1.
Their stories are similar.
For Pembroke, five players left the team and country last summer including World Cup silver medalist Gillian Pinder.
Lola Riera, Lucia Jimenez and Patricia Alvarez are among the big name departures for Sanse,.
"Similar to us, we are EYHL champions last year but haven’t really backed up the way we would have like to and try go back-to-back. It has been harder than we would have like it to be, lost a few players that we won the league with.
"Trying to backup a title is very difficult and has proven to be so. We have had good results here and there but we are lacking consistency since losing the likes of Gill Pinder – so many caps and experience – and Aisling Naughton.
"We have young players who came in and have done a really good job. They are really excited for this opportunity."
Should Pembroke advance, they will meet the winners of either Belgium's Gantoise or Spain's Club de Campo de Madrid.
