The Netherlands won the men's EuroHockey Nations Championships with 3-2 victory over defending champions in Manchester on Sunday.

The victory gave the Dutchmen a measure of revenge for their defeat to Spain in 2005.

The Dutch went ahead in the fifth minute when Matthijs Brouwer scored after receiving a pass from the right wing.

Spain suffered a further setback when Alex Fabregas was shown the yellow card in the 16th minute for a harsh tackle on Dutch defender Teun de Nooijer.

On the stroke of half-time the Netherlands were awarded their first penalty-corner of the match and Taeke Taekema made no mistake to convert his 15th set piece of the tournament. As a result Taekema become the highest goal scorer in a single European Championship.

Spain's Juan Lainz reduced the deficit with a fine finish, but the Netherlands were quickly back on top.

Floris Evers was fouled and Taekema lashed in another penalty to restore the two-goal advantage.

Eduard Tubau scored from a penalty-corner to give Spain hope again with six minutes remaining. But he missed a chance to equalise with a minute to go and the Netherlands were able to celebrate famous victory.