Local Champions Rabat Depiro got off to a good start in the European Hockey Challenge II when yesterday they registered two victories.

In the morning, they beat the Turkish champions Kecorian Belediye 3-1 with goals from Josef Antonelli, Robert Aquilina and Jason Vella.

In the afternnoon it was the turn of the Norwegian Champions Aker to succumb by the same score with the goals coming from Josef Antonelli, who got two, and Chris Bugeja.

In the second game of the day, Serbian champions MB Tirotex registered their second win of the tournament against Swedish champions Partille SC. Tirotex now lead the standings on goal difference ahead of Rabat.

The European Club Challenge is the official competition of the European Federation for those clubs winning the championships of their respective countries.

The competition is organised with teams split into four divisions and the champions of the national competitions battle it out as to which team is to be promoted or relegated from one division to another. The team that finishes bottom of the table in one particular year, will relegate its country to a lower division, and hence the champion of that country will then play in that lower division in the following year.