Scottish Hockey Masters Euro Round Up

Scotland Over 40’s, 45’s, 50’s & 55’s took part in the 3rd European Masters Tournament in St. Albans.

 

The Over 40’s with Keith Joss coaching have improved dramatically over the last year and were confident pre-tournament of claiming a semi-final spot.

 

They opened against Spain with a goal from a short corner in the first minute and had lots of possession against a very skilful Spanish side.

 

When the Spanish side equalised slightly against the run of play Scotland pressed for the winner, but were very unfortunate when a defensive slip left the Spanish Centre Forward with an open path to goal to give the Spanish the win.

 

Following another defeat at the hands of the Dutch Scotland put together a fine performance against the Irish, who went on to beat the Germans for the Bronze Medal.

 

At one stage it looked as if the three goal victory to reach the semis was on until a late Irish goal halted Scotland’s chances. Good wins over Wales and Spain in the crossover games meant that the Over 40’s finished in 5th Place overall.

 

The Over 45’s were hit by a series of withdrawals in the weeks up to the tournament and they were further hampered by injuries to key players in the opening half of their first game. Eventually down to the bare 11 players they battled on and finished on a high by beating Wales 9-0 to finish in 7th.

 

The Over 50’s failed to qualify from a group including England and the Dutch despite playing what Coach Robin Plevin described as the best hockey he had seen from a Scottish side. However the good form was continued with emphatic wins over Spain and France to claim 5th Place.

 

Victories over Italy, Germany and Wales along with close defeats against England and the Dutch left the Over 55’s collecting the Bronze Medal in their age group. This was a fantastic and well deserved result for the 55’s after a good year when they lost out narrowly to England in the Home Internationals.

 

The result was particularly pleasing due to a major reshuffle that had to take place when the squad was reduced to having only two recognised forwards. The highlight was a convincing victory over a robust German side with goals from a real team move ended by Billy Taylor and a Penalty Flick converted by Stephen Springthorpe.

 

Next up for the Masters is the World Cup in Canberra, Australia over Easter next year where Scotland will be represented at Over 35’ 45 & 55.

 

In the Grand Masters European Cup at Southgate London, Scotland Over 70 came home with the bronze medal courtesy of a 2-1 win over Germany with goals in each half by Alan Bremner and Sandy Weir, both from penalty corner moves.

 

This was the first time that Scotland had entered an Over 70 team in an international tournament and also the first time that Scotland have beaten Germany in any Over 60 age group. It was all the more remarkable because medical problems earlier in the year had cut down the initially selected squad to only twelve players, who had to survive five full matches over a period of a wee  and played their semi final match with no substitutes.

Five of the team had played in the Scotland Over 60 team which won the bronze medal in the European Championships nine years previously in Bra, Italy – the last time Scotland won medals in any Over 60 age group.

 

Scotland Over 60 also qualified for their 3rd/4th play-off on the final day of the competition on 28 August but had to settle for fourth place, going down 3-0 to Spain. Still, it is a measure of their progress that they improved on their fifth position in the last European Cup, held in 2013 in Belgium.

 

The second Over 60 team, playing in the satellite Tournament Trophy, finished sixth.

 

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