2019 Four Nations Grand Masters Hockey Tournament

Aberdeen 24-26 May 2019

For the first time, the 2019 Four Nations Grand Masters Hockey Tournament included an Over 60 Tournament Trophy as well as full International tournaments in the Grand Masters (Over 60), Great Grand Masters (Over 65) and Senior Grand Masters (Over 70) age groups.

Participating nations were England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. England were the current champions in each of the international age groups and Ireland were runners up in both the Grand Masters and Great Grand Masters competitions held in Dublin in 2018. Ireland did not participate in the 2018 Senior Grand Masters tournament and Wales were runners up.

Teams representing the four nations fought it out for the inaugural Four Nations Tournament Trophy. Scottish Thistles finished in the highest place of all the four nations (second) in the 2018 World Cup after overcoming England LX on penalties in the semi final.

England continued their domination of the competition, adding the inaugural Tournament Trophy to their haul through England LX, all three international sides retaining the respective trophies. Scotland Grand Masters and Great Grand Masters improved their positions, finishing runners up in two out of the three international tournaments, Senior Grand Masters staying static and finishing third, and Scottish Thistles claimed a runner up spot in the Tournament Trophy.

On the first day of the tournament, the Scottish sides had mixed results: wins for the Over 65s against Wales (2-1) and for Scottish Thistles against Welsh Dragons (5-1) being counterbalanced by defeats for the Over 60s against Ireland (0-1) and the Over 70s against England (0-4).

Scotland Great Grand Masters put on a very stuffy performance against England in the opening match of the second day but went down 3-1, while Wales cruised past Ireland 5-0. Grand Masters beat Wales 1-0 in a tight match, Gurdial Duhre scoring the decisive goal to make the score 1-0. A win over England by two goals or more on the final day might still not be enough to win the trophy on the final day if Ireland beat Wales by a big score. A single goal made the difference in the Over 70 match against Wales, but it was scored by Wales and Scotland Senior Grand Masters went down 1-0. Their task on the final day was to beat Ireland to claim third place while Wales and England fought it out for the trophy. Scottish Thistles found Ireland B a tougher nut to crack than Welsh Dragons and their match ended in a 1-1 draw, leaving Thistles with the task of beating a strong England LX side to win the inaugural Tournament Trophy.

Scotland Senior Grand Masters finally managed a win on the last day of the tournament, beating Ireland 3-1 with goals by Murdoch Shirreffs, Sandy Weir and Alan Auld. England complete a hat trick of wins, beating Wales 4-0 to win the Over 70 trophy with Scotland third.The Great Grand Masters side could not overcome a stuffy Ireland team and finished their tournament with a 0-0 score, the result giving them second place behind England. Scottish Thistles could not match England LX this time and went down 3-0 to finish second behind the English. In the final match of the tournament, Scotland Grand Masters played out of their skins against England and only a missed penalty kept them from recording their first ever win over England - a 1-1 draw while Wales and Ireland drew left Scotland in second place on goal difference with Ireland in third place as England retained the trophy.

Four Nations Programme Results

The main pitches were at Countesswells, where all matches took place on Saturday 25 May. All Over 60 and Over 65 International matches were at Countesswells. The Over 70 matches on Friday 24 May were at Rubislaw and the Tournament Trophy matches on Friday 24 May and Sunday 26 May at Aberdeen Sports Village.

Key to pitches: Countesswells Pitch 1 - C1; Countesswells Pitch 2 - C2; Rubislaw - R; Aberdeen Sports Village - A

Friday 24th May

16.00 – 17.30

C1 WAL 65 1 SCO 65 2

C2 IRE 65 0 ENG 65 3

R SCO 70 0 ENG 70 4

A SCO Thistles 5 WAL Dragons 1

18.00 – 19.30

C1 SCO 60 0 IRL 60 1

C2 WAL 60 1 ENG 60 2

R IRL 70 0 WAL 70 2

A IRL B 0 ENG LX 2

Saturday 25th May

10.00 – 11.30

C1 ENG 65 3 SCO 65 1

C2 WAL 65 5 IRL 65 0

12.00 – 13.30

C1 WAL 60 0 SCO 60 1

C2 ENG 60 3 IRL 60 0

14.00 – 15.30

C1 SCO 70 0 WAL 70 1

C2 IRL 70 0 ENG 70 11

16.00 – 17.30

C1 IRL B 1 SCO Thistles 1

C2 WAL Dragons 0 ENG LX 12

Beach Ballroom

Civic reception 19:00

Tournament Dinner 20:00

Sunday 26th May

09.15 – 10.45

C1 IRL 70 1 SCO 70 3

C2 ENG 70 4 WAL 70 0

09.45 – 11.15

A WAL Dragons 3 IRL B 3

10.55 – 12.20

C1 SCO 65 0 IRL 65 0

C2 WAL 65 0 ENG 65 3

11.30 – 13.00

A ENG LX 3 SCO Thistles 0

12.35 – 14.05

C1 SCO 60 1 ENG 60 1

C2 IRL 60 1 WAL 60 1

14.15 – 14.30

Closing Ceremony & Awards Countesswells

 

Full results, tables and reports:

Grand Masters (Over 60)

Great Grand Masters (Over 65)

Senior Grand Masters (Over 70)

Grand Masters Tournament Trophy (Over 60)