It will be the end of the pier show for Cemex Tenerife, when the CERS European Cup winners begin the defence of their roller hockey title in Herne Bay on Saturday October 18. Group C also includes Bassano of Italy and Reus of Spain, but it will be the clashes between Kent coast and Canarian holiday island that really capture the imagination.

Herne Bay United to give them their full title, play out of a sports pavillion on the pier and run a full programme of teams at all age levels, as well as artistic skating classes. It’s a bit of a contrast to Cemex Tenerife who play out of the delapidated Pancho Camurria sports hall, just along from the main bus station in Santa Cruz, in front of crowds of barely 100.

At the start of this season the European authorities ruled that the Pancho Camurria is not up to standard for the European games, so the club have to hope that the council splash some cash on a quick make over or they will need to find an alternative venue. Tenerife Guanches, the in line hockey team used to use the same venue but moved to the new Las Galletas sports hall 2 years ago, that could be a suitable escape route for Cemex.

It’s a hard life for Cemex, like most Tenerife sporting teams, they play in a national league, in their case the Ok Spanish League, and have to fly to away games every other week, very time consuming and expensive. If you want to take in a game, the home season starts on Saturday September 20 at 6pm against Reus.

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