- England National Teams
U16 Boys and Girls Win Series Against Scotland
The England U16 Girls and Boys squads played Scotland’s Emerging U17 squads in a series of two training games over the weekend in their preparation for their summer tournaments.
Wearing black ribbons and armbands in memory of former England Age Group player, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, the squads observed a minute of silence to mark the tragic events in Nottingham earlier in the week.
U16 Girls Head Coach Don Vinson addressed the players about Grace’s competitive spirit and passion for the game – as well as her relentless desire to score goals.
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Saturday 17 June: England U16 Girls v Scotland Emerging Girls
England 4 – 2 Scotland
A very young England U16 Girls squad kicked off their campaign with an erratic and sometimes chaotic game. Going 1-0 up through a well-taken penalty corner in the first minute, England seesawed between attacking with intent and allowing Scotland back into the game.
The scoreline reflected this as Scotland equalised twice. The difference proved to be two goals from Biba Mills. The first was scored was a penalty corner drag flick and a well-taken open play goal through her tenacious goal hunting and effective positioning. The precise finishing of Emily Barrett accounted for the next two goals. The first was another powerful penalty corner and a further decisive touch on the back post. The game finished 4-2 with the England girls determined to put in a better performance the next day.
Sunday 18 June: England U16 Girls v Scotland Emerging Girls
England 4 – 2 Scotland
The second game started like the first with a quick England goal, after Cecily Moorhead delivered a beautiful ball across goal for Izzy Yonge to finish.
A second followed from Barrett after she converted a penalty corner with a potent drag flick. Following Saturday’s pattern, Scotland duly equalised with a penalty corner and a field goal from a swift counterattack, and England needed to reassess and sharpen up their ball handling.
Continuing her excellent form that saw her named Player of the Series, Mills finished a circle scramble with a forceful volley into the netting and then found her second after converting a penalty stroke, having been taken down by some frantic goalkeeping.
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Saturday 17 June: England U16 Boys v Scotland Emerging Boys
England 6 – 0 Scotland
Following early exchanges with a well-organised Scottish team, in what was a competitive open quarter, the boys took the lead through Harry Montague from a well worked PCA.
Further goals from PCAs swiftly followed from Marcus Lake and Jake Holland. The second half saw further intent and applied pressure in the press. Goals from Ollie Stone and two further goals from Marcus Lake saw Lake complete his hat trick and the game finished 6-0.
Sunday 18 June: England U16 Girls v Scotland Emerging GirlsEngland 2 – 1 Scotland
On Sunday, a fired-up Scotland applied a huge amount of pressure on the England boys, forcing turnovers in possession.
Showing resilience and robustness on the counter, England scored two goals in the second half through Marcus Lake and Jake Holland.
Scotland did score a deserved goal in the final seconds of the game, as a reward for their endeavours throughout the two games.