Home Nations Hockey round-up

The placings in the Home Nations hockey tournament were decided on a sunny Thursday at Peffermill. The Northern Irish Universities team made it three wins out of three with a sublime 9-0 thrashing over the Welsh side. A goal up inside three minutes, Philippine Berly again starred with two good finishes, the same number as Scarlett Holdsworth. Poor Charlotte Boyle was overworked in the Welsh goal, too often drawn out by an NI player for easy finishes, and by the end of the game it had become a training ground match with the final three goals coming in the space of four minutes, leaving the Welsh players to bask in the glorious play of their well-drilled opponents.

The same fixture for the men’s teams was a closer tie, goalless at half time though Wales came closest when Joe Naughlty’s shot was blocked on the line to the striker’s dismay as he believed it had come off a NI foot. The ball travelled exceedingly fast from end to end, but the defenders on both sides were playing well. The deadlock was broken ten minutes into the half when Dave Jones found himself alone in the NI D and shot hard under the keeper, who ought to have been down much sooner and helped the ball on its way in. William Robinson was left with a bloody nose as Welsh sticks flew in confidence, and Naughtly clutched his face as he sprinted forward, necessitating a spell on the sidelines. As both sides could not find the net during short corners, and petty fouls were blown up by the officials, Wales ran the clock down well and themselves notched a Grand Slam with nine points from nine available to take the title with a 1-0 win. Mark Whatling, the Welsh captain, was named player of the tournament for leading his Welsh side from midfield.

The women’s player of the competition was Scottish keeper Anna Kellner who, after her clean sheet against Wales, was made to work harder in the match against England, which also ended 1-0. England started well and forced the Scots to clear off their own line – at one stage the officials reversed a decision to give them a short corner from which nothing resulted – but the very last minute of the half saw Rosie Lickorish score for Scotland, a little against the general run of play. Desperate defending in their own D was the familiar sight for the Scots in the second half, but between them Kellner and her team kept the score at one to help them finish second place in the table. England, despite notable flair from Heathen Batten amongst others, could not make their possession count.

The same fixture for the men saw Scotland move above England in the table thanks to a 3-0 win in which the final goal, scored brilliantly by the glasses-wearing Tom Blyth, pushed their goal difference above England’s. Daniel Mills had a game to forget, putting two penalty flicks wide and was sinbinned at one stage for raising an arm at a tricksy Scottish player. While both sides had goals ruled out for infringements, it was Scotland who took the lead from a short corner, Chris Reid making amends for some poor prior performances in defence with a missile from the edge of the D. Gordon Munro was involved in the build-up to the goal right after the restart, his run forward prompting Olly Howick’s sinbin which left Scotland on the power play, but soon after the goal the officials’ patience for Munro’s backchat wore thin, and he sat out five minutes.

Returning to play, Munro instantly passed two men and fired across the English keeper for a well-taken second Scottish goal. Andy Campbell was inches away from contact when free in the England D moments later while, in their own D, David Forrester kept his sheets clean with some sublime saves on the ground and in the air, frustrating the English players who were potent coming forwards. Blyth’s goal was set up by Luke McClelland, the Scots’ sole representative from Stirling University, and his general performance was certainly sterling, leaving England clutching the wooden spoon in one of the most exciting dead rubbers one is likely to see in a hockey tournament.