Both German women’s Bundesliga leaders Mannheimer HC and Düsseldorfer HC restarted their outdoor season with six-point weekends on home turf.

For both, it is an upbeat way to continue their build-up to the EHL FINALS in Den Bosch. There, MHC will face MSC Sumchanka while DHC await the winner of Surbiton and Slavia Prague.

Domestically, Mannheim maintained their five-point lead with a 2-0 victory over Harvestehuder THC on Saturday with national team player Stine Kurz giving them the lead with a corner in the 13th minute.

And they secured all three points from Nadine Kanler’s late second half goal in the 56th minute. They followed up with a 2-1 win over Club an der Alster.

Aina Kresken gave them a 1-0 halftime lead and they were two clear early in the final quarter via Lucina von der Heyde before Lina Cobano got one back late in the contest.

Champions Düsseldorf completed their six-point weekend with a narrow 3-2 win over Berliner HC before a much more comfortable 3-0 victory against Zehlendorfer Wespen with goals from Sophia Schwabe, Lisa Nolte and Annika Schönhoff.

They are in second place after 14 rounds of matches.

Menno Boeren’s cracking strike on the run earned HC Rotterdam a memorable 4-3 win over Bloemendaal in the men’s Hoofdklasse topper on Saturday evening.

In a spectacular match, they earned just their second victory over the sparrows in eleven matches, a vital one which keeps them within range of the top four playoff spots.

Pepijn van der Heijden put the home team ahead, but Casper van der Veen equalized. Jeroen Hertzberger put Rotterdam back in the lead and Olivier Hortensius increased the margin to 3-1.

Things got exciting when Bloemendaal came back to 3-3 via penalty corners by Marc Miralles and Zach Wallace before Boeren won the day.

“I hardly ever score,” joked Boeren. “I don’t get into the circle that often either.”

It was the third league victory in a row for Rotterdam while Bloemendaal suffered its third defeat in the last five matches.

That run saw them relinquish top spot on Sunday afternoon to AH&BC Amsterdam after they ran up a 3-1 win over Klein Zwitserland with goals in quick succession from Dayaan Cassiem, Sam Steins Bisschop and Thije Harm.

Rotterdam are level with fourth-placed Kampong on 30 points; Amsterdam are on 38 with Bloemendaal and Den Bosch on 37.

Old Georgians produced a big comeback to defeat Surbiton on Sunday, a day after assuring they will top the English men’s Top 6 phase of the league, earning them a return to Europe next season.

On Saturday, they were too strong for Oxted in a 6-2 result which put them out of range of the chasing pack in this phase of the competition.

Sam Ward got a double with Ian Sloan, Chris Proctor, James Carson and Alan Forsyth all getting in on the act.

A day later, the clash between the two EHL-bound sides was a suitably high octane battle which swung back and forth.

Jacob Payton put hosts Surbiton one up only for Phil Roper to level it within a minute for 1-1 at the end of Q1. The seals built a 3-1 lead via Jacob Smith and a Conor Williamson stroke early in the second half.

But OGs forced their way back into the contest with an Alan Forsyth stroke and then a corner goal from Sam Ward.

James Albery got the ultimate winner in the 59th minute to make it 15 wins out of 15 for Old Georgians, ten points ahead of Surbiton.

The sides will now both have one more round of league matches before facing into their finals weekend and Easter’s EHL. Wimbledon and Holcombe will be the other English final four teams.

Railway Union put Loreto’s potential title celebrations on hold as they produced a remarkable 4-0 win over their title rivals in Ireland’s EY Hockey League.

A win for Loreto would have secured them the regular season title with three games left on their agenda.

But reigning champions Railway picked off one of the biggest results of their season, kickstarted by a Róisín Upton drag-flick in the first quarter.

Lily Lloyd picked out the top corner with a reverse-stick shot early in Q2 and they pulled further away in the second half courtesy of a Niamh Gowing strike and another from Niamh Shaw.

The win sees Railway reduce the gap to two points to Loreto although they have played a game extra played.

For Loreto, they have still to play Catholic Institute and UCC before closing out the season on April 12 against Old Alex in the final round of the competition which brings one European spot in Ireland.

Railway will be hoping for them to slip-up on that run a couple of times while landing wins over UCD and Pegasus ahead of their EHL debut at Easter.

Real Club de Polo will have to plan for next season without the services of goalkeeper Luis Calzado who will switch to SV Kampong next season.

The 2024 FIH Goalkeeper of the Year nominee will step into the spot vacated by David Harte who confirmed this week his decision to move on from the Utrecht club.

“I’m incredibly excited to join Kampong” said Calzado. “The club has a great reputation and I can’t wait to train with the team and contribute to the club’s success. I hope to contribute with my experience and passion to the team that we can achieve great results.”

Tim Oudenaller, head coach of Kampong , adds: “Our goal as a club is to always look for ambitious players. Luis’ talent, experience and his drive for the highest possible fit in perfectly with this.”

He will move in the summer following what is shaping up to be a big second half of the season for Polo who lead the MGS league in Spain.

On Sunday, they face a huge tussle with EHL-bound Club de Campo de Madrid as first plays second. Polo returned to the outdoor scene last week with a 2-0 away win over UD Taburiente with goals from Teo Hinrichs and Arnau de Bruijn to stay two points ahead.

For Campo, they won their derby against Sanse Complutense 3-2 with a double from Quique Gonzalez.

On the women’s sides, the sides also meet in Barcelona with both sides also looking forward to EHL action at Easter.

Campo lead the competition on 29 points following a 2-2 draw with Junior FC last weekend with Polo six points back in third place; they beat Sardinero 2-0 away from home with goals from Alina Piccardo and Patricia Alvarez.

Iconic SV Kampong goalkeeper David Harte is set to move away from the club next season following 13 incredible years in Utrecht.

He was hailed as “the most important purchase ever” by long-time team mate Constantijn Jonker – with whom he won the EHL in 2016 – in an item with RTV Utrecht.

During his time at Kampong, he also won the Dutch title three times (2017, 2018 and 2024) as well as winning the FIH Goalkeeper of the Year gong twice.

Speaking to hockey.nl this week, he said it has been an incredible journey in the Netherlands, one which started with a two-year stint with SCHC after an “open letter” to Dutch clubs to see if anyone would take a chance on him.

“I sent this email to all the Hoofdklasse clubs as a young goalkeeper;” he said. “I really wanted to end up at a Dutch club, to develop myself in the best competition in the world.

“Of course, I never thought it would be this great. I have reread this email many times because I must never forget how it all started.”

Since then, he has become one of the most iconic figures in the club’s history, ingraining himself in the culture of the city. He subsequently got married in the cathedral in Utrecht while his two daughters were born in the Netherlands.

As such, it is with a heavy heart that he will move on, a decision made for family reasons.

“I told the club two months ago that I am not an option for next season’, says Harte. He clears his throat: “It hurt to say that. We are going to Belfast with our family, the city my wife Lyn comes from.

“This is the moment to make the move. My eldest daughter will go to primary school there next season.

“[Managing family life] was already a puzzle last year leading into the Olympic Games. Even longer away from home, even more arrangements.

“You know that I missed a few matches in the Pro League because we didn’t have a babysitter. You don’t want a situation like that to last too long. That’s why it’s good now. More space. More time together. And more family nearby.”

He now has Easter’s EHL to look ahead to in Den Bosch and the push for another Dutch championship with Kampong over the next two months.

“That would be wonderful. However it ends, I have made friends for life here. And that counts more for me than all the cups and titles put together.”