Goals Galore On Opening Weekend Of Masters Invitational Event

Header photo credit: Kiery Horne

Nottingham Hockey Centre played host to a spectacular weekend of action as England, Scotland and Wales all descended on their pitches for a Masters Invitational Event.

The first of two weekends of action saw 218 goals scored across nine different age categories, ranging from O35s to O75s.

Check out our reviews of each competition below for more details.

Women's O35

Teams from England, Scotland, Wales and an England Universities squad played out some thrilling matches in this tournament. England kicked things off with a resounding 7-1 win over Scotland as Kate Costin scored twice while seven other players also got their names on the scoresheet.

Amelia Dunn scored twice for Wales in the following game to give them a 2-1 win over the England Universities team, for whom Renee Ojikutu was on target. The students hit back in style the next day though as they beat Scotland 3-2 thanks to goals from Fiona Small, Sophy Stonehouse and Ojikutu.

The penultimate fixture then saw England score twice in the final ten minutes through Lucy Field and Sarah Cokayne to come from behind and beat Wales 2-1 after Eve Bower had given the Welsh side the lead.

Wales and Scotland then played out an evenly contested 1-1 draw in the last game, with Dunn scoring her second goal for Wales while Ruth Cox found the net for the second time in as many games for Scotland.

Women's O40

England, Scotland and Wales were joined by an England South O35 team for this event.

Kerry Luckett opened her tournament in style by scoring four times in a 9-0 win for England over Scotland in the opening game before Claire Bowman and Nicola Burridge scored two late goals to see England South O35s to a 2-0 victory over Wales.

Kate Woolridge and Helen Stubbs repeated the feat for the South team to another 2-0 win the following day, this time against Scotland, before goals from Nicole George and Elizabeth Wheelhouse led England to a 2-1 win over Wales.

The two English teams then met to determine who would emerge victorious and it was England who claimed the gold with a 5-0 win, Luckett scoring two more goals to finish as the tournament's top scorer.

Wales secured a third-placed finish as they beat Scotland 4-0 as four different players got their names on the scoresheet.

Women's O45

Alongside the Home Nations, an England Midlands O40s team also took part in this tournament.

They opened their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Scotland, with Lucy Shepherd and Linda Kotta scoring within two minutes of each other in the opening quarter. That came after England had beaten Wales 6-2 in the first game as eight different scorers found the back of the net.

The Midlands team recorded a second successive win the next day as they beat Wales 3-2, with Shepherd and Kotta scoring again while Lorna Burns was also on target. Rachel Doherty then scored a hat-trick for England to help them to a 4-1 win over Wales.

Doherty was also on the scoresheet in an intense battle for gold, with England emerging 3-2 winners over the Midlands O40s outfit. Wales secured third place as they beat Scotland 2-0 thanks to goals from Claire Salisbury and Eluned Smith.

Women's O50

An England North O45s team joined the three Home Nations in this age category.

England kicked things off with a resounding 6-0 win over Wales, Sarah Impey the standout performer as she bagged a hat-trick. Scotland and the North O45s then played out a gripping match shortly after, the two teams only separated by Suzie Venters' late winner for Scotland as it finished 1-0.

The North O45s hit back with a 5-1 win over Wales the following day as five different players scored before England overcame Scotland 2-1 in another close encounter, with early goals from Debbie Chalcraft and Sarah Bamfield enough to hand them the victory.

England then took the gold with a third successive win as they beat North O45s 2-1, Lorraine Connetta and Impey scoring either side of a strike by Diane Bellin for the North.

That came after Scotland had earlier claimed silver with a second win as they beat Wales 5-0, Venters opening the scoring for her team before four other players also struck.

Women's O55

Alongside the England, Scotland and Wales, an England East O50s team participated in this competition over the weekend.

They suffered a 3-2 defeat to Wales in their opening game though, having come back from 2-0 down to level proceedings in the second half only for Meinir Thomas to hand the Welsh the win. The other game on the opening day saw Scotland beat England 3-1 with goals coming from Maureen White, Lil McNab and Pat Lindsay.

Scotland and the East O50s then played out a 0-0 draw on the second day of action before England secured their first victory by beating Wales 3-0, Shazz Holton scoring twice and captain Pippa Bull also on target.

A 3-0 win over Wales in their final match saw Scotland claim the gold medal, with goals in the second half coming from White, Susan Sloan and Ann Menzies. England took home the silver as they beat the East O50s 3-1 with Bull and Holton again on the scoresheet alongside Linda Webb.

Women's O60

The highest scoring event of the weekend was contested by four teams - England, Scotland, Wales and an England O65s outfit.

England kicked off proceedings with an 8-0 victory over Wales, Sue Crake notching a hat-trick while Helen Royan also scored twice. England O65s also began with a win as they overcame Scotland 3-2 in a close encounter, Mary Pawson scoring twice.

They were beaten 4-1 by Wales the next day though as four different players found the back of the net for the Welsh before England thrashed Scotland 12-0, with hat-tricks for Crake and Sue Merry while Elaine Basterfield and Gail Gerrard also scored twice.

They then put another 10 answered goals past England O65s in their final game, with Merry bagging four this time and Gerrard another two, to take the gold having not conceded a single goal in their three matches. Wales claimed the silver by beating Scotland 5-2 as Jan Poulton scored twice.

Men's O60

Teams from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland contested this event.

England began the tournament with a 12-1 defeat of Wales as Michael Pell notched a hat-trick and four other players scored twice. In the other game of the opening round, Scotland beat Ireland 2-1 as Arthur Robertson scored the decisive goal in the second half.

Wales hit back well from the heavy defeat by beating Ireland 2-1 in their second game, Riccardo Tomassoni and Adrian Williams on target for them. England then made it two wins in a row as they beat Scotland 3-0.

They made it a hat-trick of wins in their final game to secure gold by overcoming Scotland 5-0, Rob Leach setting the tone early on with two goals in the first eight minutes. Wales then claimed the silver with a second successive 2-1 victory, this time over Scotland.

Men's O65

England, Ireland and Wales were joined by an England O60s B team for this competition.

England and the O60s team played out a 1-1 draw in their opening game before Scotland and Ireland drew 0-0 shortly afterwards.

The England O60s team then beat Ireland 9-0 the following day, Gurmail Chana scoring a hat-trick and Stuart Petty also finding the back of the net twice. 

England then beat Scotland 5-1 that day - Bill Davidson scored four of those goals - before defeating Ireland 4-2 on the final day of action, with captain Graham Skinner ending up on the scoresheet twice.

Men's O75

England and a Welsh Dragons team contested a one-off fixture in this age category, with the team from Wales emerging 1-0 victors thanks to a goal from Rod Cochrane.