It’s hockey gold for Holly and co.
BELPER’S England hockey captain, Hollie Pearne-Webb, said her team got a good luck message from Lionesses football skipper Leah Williams before they went out to beat Australia 2-1 in their Commonwealth Games gold medal match.
Second-quarter goals from Holly Hunt and Tess Howard delivered glory less than 24 hours after the men suffered semi-final despair at the hands of Australia.
Ambrosia Malone struck a consolation for Australia inside the final 20 seconds.
“We saw what the Lionesses did last week and they were an inspiration to us,” said PearneWebb, part of the Great Britain side that won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and who began an illustrious career in the game with Belper HC.
“To be on that whole women’s team sport movement is an absolute privilege. This has never been achieved by an England hockey team before and it is so special.
“We knew they would come out hard and I think we surprised them by putting them on the backfoot a little bit.
“I’m really pleased how we started that first half. We stepped off our game a little bit, but we got there in the end.”
England, one place below Australia at fourth in the world rankings, came into the goldmedal match as slight underdogs, but the Hockeyroos were outthought, outfought and outplayed by tenacious hosts.
The capacity crowd at the University of Birmingham Hockey Centre lapped up every moment on a scorching afternoon, roaring as the final seconds were counted down.
The Hockeyroos were also unbeaten in eight games against England, a run stretching back to 2013.
Goalkeeper Maddie Hinch was unemployed at the other end, the semi-final shoot-out hero not touching the ball once in the first quarter.
England’s growing superiority told when Flora Peel crossed from the right and Hunt controlled smartly to smash home.
Peel was the provider again for England’s second, this time popping up on the left to set up Howard’s clever finish.
Anna Toman, also originally from Belper, almost put the issue beyond doubt with a penalty corner shot that hit the post but England held out until it was too late for Australia’s goal to matter.