Home Internationals 2016

Grand Masters Tournament (Over 60)

The four home nations took part in the 2016 Grand Masters tournament held at Southgate Hockey Club over the weekend of 1-3 July 2016, the holders defending the Linburn Trophy which they had held since the tournament was inaugurated in 2009. England did not find it as easy as they had in previous events, being put under strong pressure by both Scotland and Ireland, but still finished winners once again. Scotland put on a sterling performance, matching England for one half, and proving much stronger than the other two home nations.

Scotland, fielding three newcomers to the squad, took some time to bed in, but their performance in the final match against Wales was absolutely outstanding - on a completely different level from anything seen previously. Coach Murray's decision to make full use of the squad was proved absolutely correct in the final match as it was clear for all to see that the players had finally bought into the system, and were far fresher in the third match in three days than their opposition. Before that, the signs had been promising in the first half against England before the English stepped up a gear. It will not be so easy for England next time!

Friday 1 July

England flag England 7 Wales 0 Wales flag

Scotland flag Scotland 4 (Sturrock 3, Bishop) Ireland 0 Ireland flag
Scotland Grand Masters brushed aside Ireland in their first match thanks to a Niall Sturrock hat trick of penalty corner goals and a field goal by Hew Bishop. The first two of Niall's goals came in the sixth and ninth minutes during a period of intense Scottish pressure at the start of the match. Towards the end of the second quarter, Ireland came into the game but rarely put Chris Kalman's goal in danger. A well taken reverse flick from Hew Bishop after a good run by Glenn Paton down the right wing took Scotland's lead to 3-0 in the third quarter and Niall Sturrock completed the scoring when his first strike at a short corner was blocked by the Irish runner, Niall hitting the rebound into the net through the keeper's legs. The fact that the Scottish players were not satisfied with their performance speaks volumes for the improvement in the standard of their game. With Alastair Hay, Arthur Robertson and David Rowlands having only recently joined the squad for training, it is no surprise that it would take some time in match situations for the side to gel, and so it would prove over the weekend.

Saturday 2 July

Ireland flag Ireland 2 Wales 1 Wales flag

Scotland flag Scotland 2 (Sturrock 2) England 4 England flag

Scotland Grand Masters put in a fine performance against England in their second match of the tournament, twice coming from behind to equalise in the first half, which ended 2-2, with Niall Sturrock again supplying the Scottish goals from a penalty corner and a tap in after a good run and cross by Glenn Paton was swept past the English keeper by Bernie Morrison. This match was remarkable in that the first three English goals came from penalty strokes awarded by the same umpire who had given a disputed goal for England against Scotland Senior Grand Masters the previous day. The Scots competed well in an evenly contested first half but England stepped up their effort in the second half and put the match beyond Scotland with two goals from penalty flicks. It might have been a different story if Scotland could have kept up the intensity of play they demonstrated in the first half, or indeed if they had played England in their last match, but the result left England in pole position to retain the trophy.

Sunday 3 July

Scotland flag Scotland 7 Wales 0 Wales flag
(Sturrock 2, Connaghan 2, Bishop 2, A. Robertson 2)

Scotland Over 60s finished the Home International tournament in style, running up seven against Wales without reply in spite of going down to eight men at one point in the second half when the Paton twins (OK, père et fils) received yellow cards after a green card to Glenn was upgraded to yellow by the officious umpire who had angered Scotland teams on both previous days. Coach Murray was not happy about this decision and used some choice, unparliamentary language in his rather heated protest. He was banished to the corner of the pitch while poor Gordon Loudon had to be taken off to occupy Murray's seat in the sin bin. To make matters worse, Niall Sturrock was already sitting out a yellow card. To their credit, the remaining players kept things tight and Wales were unable to create any chances even with a three man advantage. A penalty corner goal from Niall Sturrock started the scoring in the first quarter and John Connaghan made it two before half time. Two goals followed in the second half from Hew Bishop, the second when he ran the ball all the way along the back line, took the ball across the goal and reverse sticked the ball into the Welsh net. Niall Sturrock sealed his place as top scorer with another short corner goal. The impressive Arthur Robertson added a goal to his strong midfield play to make it six and John Connaghan finished the scoring with a goal to end the match 7-0 to Scotland.

Ireland flag Ireland 1 England 3 England flag

Table

  P W D L F A Pt GD
England 3 3 0 0 14 3 9 11
Scotland 3 2 0 1 13 4 6 9
Ireland 3 1 0 2 3 8 3 -5
Wales 3 0 0 3 1 16 0 -15

Squads

England

Ireland

Scotland

Hew Bishop, John Candlin, John Connaghan, Ben Gibson, Alastair Hay, Derek Johnstone, Chris Kalman, Gordon Loudon, Gerry McBride, Bernie Morrison, Glenn Paton, Arthur Robertson, Alistair Ross, David Rowlands, Niall Sturrock, Ian Wilson.

Wales

Great Grand Masters Reports

Senior Grand Masters Reports