Mo has worked hard to recover from a knee injury which has kept her out of the game for the last year or so. She travelled to New Zealand in November to take part in the World Cup, representing Scotland in the O65s team. She has had a fantastic and memorable experience and scored 3 goals! Well done, Mo!

Here is Mo's account of her experience of a lifetime..

The tournament was held at the North Harbour Hockey Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand and was very special indeed. The camaraderie and culture from 23 different countries was truly exceptional from start to finish.

The event itself was very well organised, the pitches & facilities were outstanding - including the amazing catering vans who produced food for all nationalities.

Over two and a half thousand players from ages O45s up to O70s in the women’s section (61 teams) & the men starting at O45s to O60s (78 teams) competed.

At the Opening Ceremony our ex-international player Maggie McLellan had the great honour to be the flag bearer along with a player from the men’s teams.

Unsurprisingly, Scotland stole the show with their singing & dancing in their kilts as we paraded round the stadium. The team pulled out all the stops and made a great impression.

Day 1
Our first game was against Argentina. Scotland won the pass back & from the whistle immediately attacked their circle. A penalty corner was awarded but despite playing well, Scotland didn’t manage to score. The game flowed from end to end with Scotland creating more chances & shots on goal but just couldn’t get the ball in the net.

Seconds from the whistle to end the first quarter Argentina were awarded a penalty corner, and after a goal line scramble they scored. Scotland Captain discussed the legality of the goal with the umpire. The game continued & unfortunately Scotland were unable to score despite several chances. Our GK never otherwise touched the ball as the pressure was in the Argentina circle.

Although a disappointing start to the tournament - this result had an impact on our final position in our section before the cross over ties - the team played well.

Later video footage confirmed that the ball did not come out of the circle therefore the umpire should not have allowed the goal.

Day 2
Scotland went into their next game with even more determination. This was against the Alliance. This is a team made up of players from all around the world including players we knew from Scotland.

In the first quarter, Scotland immediately put the opposition under pressure and had many shots at goal but just couldn’t score. Alliance broke and shot at goal, the ball pinging off a defenders stick up on to the GK’s helmet and into the top corner. 0-1

The remainder of the game was controlled by Scotland and in the last quarter, were rewarded with a goal from striker Yvonne Wilson, - good equaliser.

Scotland continued to put the pressure on the Alliance defence when I was lucky to pop the ball past the keeper just minutes before the final whistle to win 2-1.

This was a much improved performance from Scotland and deserved to celebrate their win.

Day 3
Scotland took on Wales. They beat Scotland at the Home Nations in June so we were determined to beat them this time.

Scotland started well getting an early penalty corner but missed the goals by inches. Each quarter was hard fought by both teams.

We had 1 min 57 seconds left on the clock before the end of the match when Wales was awarded a penalty corner. Wales kept the pressure on and scored the winning and only goal of the match.

A disappointing result for Scotland, but again the team gave it everything they had. So close but sadly LOST 0-1

Day 4
A well earned rest day for the team after three consecutive days of tough games.

Day 5
Our next opposition was USA - Scotland again started well getting penalty corners in the first 5 minutes but just couldn’t get the ball in the net - Scotland had 80% of the pressure but could not score. 0-0 draw resulted at the final whistle.

Day 6
A great improvement today from the team resulted in a 7- 0 win against Canada. It was 5-0 at half time - I was lucky to get 2 goals myself- 1 from a penalty corner and assisted in others so very pleased with both the team & my own performance.

Dah 7
Another rest day for the team before our last classification game to determined 5 or 6 place in our age group (O65s).

This was against a strong NZ team but Scotland was determined to keep their winning streak going and managed to beat them 1-0 - brilliant game and performance by Scotland to end the tournament. We dominated for 75% of the game - we gave away no PC’s and our GK touched the ball only a few times.

Fifth place out of 10 teams was a respectable result. Out of the five games we only lost 3 goals against us & 10 goals for.

What an achievement! Congratulations, Mo!