What the victory meant to England's history-making women

England's players give their reaction following their epic Commonwealth Games win; earning a first ever gold medal with a 2-1 victory over Australia in Birmingham.

Hollie Pearne-Webb

On the result:
“I’m absolutely thrilled. We knew we had the potential to do it as a squad. Over the last few weeks, World Cup and here, we’ve been building and learning our identity. I’m really pleased, especially with our first half performance against a top class Australian side.”

Comparisons to Olympic gold in Rio:
“In some ways, so similar, in some ways, so different. The bit that’s different is being at home in front of a home crowd, that’s been unbelievable. I’m so fortunate that’s been within my career and my lifetime. The support has been incredible. This has never been achieved by an England hockey team before, so it’s just so special. To achieve this later on in my career is really special. After a silver and a bronze in the Commonwealth Games, this is worth the wait.”

On inspiring the growth of women’s sport:
“We saw what the Lionesses did last week, they were hugely inspirational for us and we watched them. To be on that women’s team sport movement is a privilege and I’m so happy we can be part of it. We had a video message from Leah [Williamson] this morning, which was amazing.”

Maddie Hinch

On how this ranks in her career highlights:
“This is right up there, because of this stage and being at home. Off the back of so many low moments along the way, to come here and live the fairytale… I had so many goosebumps about the idea of doing this but you know the challenges that lie ahead.

“For the girls to go and win every game is just amazing, conceding two goals, none in open play. Defensively, we were outstanding all tournament and I think that set the tone.”

On the emotions:
“Sport is a rollercoaster ride. This is an unbelievable high, there’ll be many more highs and lows. You can’t take these occasions lightly, I’m so glad we stayed in the moment, didn’t get carried away and were able to bring these dreams to life.

“I don’t think the reality of what we’ve done will set in until we go home, watch it back and see our friends and families. I’m delighted.”

Holly Hunt

On the match:
“This is my old university pitch so to be back out here playing in a Commonwealth final and getting a gold medal is surreal. I can’t believe what’s just happened, it’s amazing.

On the goal:
“I didn’t know what to do. All I was thinking is ‘stop this ball and hit it as hard as I can’. Thankfully it went in and I just jumped on the spot.”

On the gold:
“There are girls in our squad who have been around for years and not even been in a final, let alone win a gold medal, so I almost feel I’ve cheated the system a bit. I’m so grateful to be part of this squad.”

Tess Howard

On bouncing back from a year out injured:

“To miss out on last summer was devastating but it gave me a lot of time to realise how much I wanted this. I didn’t think gold medal would be the dream but it was always the dream for me in rehab.

“Every hamstring bridge, every single leg jump trying to get my knee back working, the last three months have been a whirlwind. To stand here now with a gold medal a dream come true.”

Lily Owsley

On the match:
“The belief we’ve shown as a team is amazing. I never for a second in that game thought we weren’t going to win it. We had to give them respect but we had to come out fighting. Against a team that good, you have to fight fire with fire. Ralphy [David Ralph] said you’ve got to take the first swing and keep swinging. We did that and got ourselves over the line. It was a dominant performance.

On the medal:
“Every medal is special, the home ones are always more special. This is some people’s first final, we’ve not had one as GB or England for six years. We’ve not won a gold medal at home since the Euros in 2015 and the fact we get to share this with the people who got us here makes it all worth it, especially after Tokyo when we couldn’t celebrate with our family and friends.”