England U18s Win Against Scotland at Lilleshall

England U18 Girls and Boys played two matches apiece against their Scottish counterparts at Lilleshall over the May Bank Holiday weekend, coming away with four wins.

England U18 Girls won their matches 4-1 and 4-0, whilst England U18 Boys dominated their games 8-1 and 4-1.

England U18 Girls

Saturday 28 May 

England 4 - Scotland 1

On Saturday England raced into a two-goal lead with early strikes from Lottie Bingham and Anna Edwards. Scotland forced their way back into the game early in the second half via a converted penalty corner, but England recovered their momentum to score a third goal through Pip Jowett, before Lottie Bingham added her second. 

England U18 Girls Head Coach, John Bell, said: Following a long academic break since the challenging 5 Nations series over Easter, the U18 girls were quick to resume their high intensity defending and attacking style against Scotland. We will be looking to convert a higher ratio of attacking circle entries and penalty corners in game 2, whilst coping a little better with Scotland's pace in counter attack. 

Sunday 29th May 

England 4 - Scotland 0

The game on Sunday started in a similar fashion to the previous day, with an early goal for the home side, this time from Chloe Plumb. England continued to create chances, but found it difficult to convert until Lily Beer found the net just before half time. Two further goals were added in the 2nd half by Star Horlock and Minnie Pollock. 

England U18 Girls Head Coach, John Bell, commented: The game started with an exceptional phase of outletting through our midfield and forward lines, which was eventually rewarded with a well taken deflection from a high quality delivery outside the circle. The most pleasing aspect of the game had to be the control in which the counter-defence and defensive structure remained intact throughout the game, showing focus and a high degree of quality decision making. Overall, we have had two competitive games which have set the squad up ready to challenge France, Belgium and Holland at the end of June, in preparation for the 8 Nations in Terrassa in mid-July.

England U18 Boys

Saturday 28 May 

England 8 v Scotland 1

In Saturday’s game, England began the game well and took an early lead from Felix Tully after good build up play on the right wing. England carried on creating opportunities but Scotland defended well for the remainder of the first quarter. England doubled their lead in the second quarter when Ted Graves found the net following a breakdown at a penalty corner. England continued to create opportunities down their right flank and Harvey Edwards fired in England’s third of the afternoon. Scotland were able to create some chances of their own though but England defended well and went into half-time with a 3-0 lead.

England came out of the blocks after half-time and were able to score another 2 goals with Harvey Edwards adding to his tally before Will Petter finished smartly at the back post. In the fourth quarter, both sides traded blows but England were more clinical and managed to add 3 more goals with George Fletcher and Rob Wilson finishing from close range before Felix Tully grabbed his second. Scotland kept fighting though and managed to grab a consolation goal at the final whistle following a lapse in concentration from England. 

Sunday 29 May 

England 4 v Scotland 1

In a tighter contest than Saturday, Scotland started off the stronger side and managed to take the lead with a drag flick into the top corner. England were slow to get going but did eventually find the equaliser when Harvey Edwards converted a penalty corner towards the end of the first quarter. After making some adjustments in the second quarter, England enjoyed a better spell of possession and were able to carve out a few chances and took the lead when Ollie King scrambled the ball home from close range. England were able to give themselves a little breathing room before half-time when a good cross from the right baseline found Ollie Mallett unmarked at the far post. 

In the second half, England created more chances but were unable to find the net through a combination of good defending and some solid goalkeeping from Scotland. England were able to find a fourth goal though when Jacob Pengelly finished from a well worked penalty corner. Scotland rallied late on and won a few penalty corners but were unable to convert them with England seeing out the game.

England U18 Boys Head Coach, Mark Bateman, commented: “We set the team a challenge this weekend to play with some freedom and attacking intent and they were able to deliver that for periods over the two games. The next stage of our development is to implement that on a more consistent basis, whilst making sure we are super slick with our basics.