We could beat Hockey duo prepared for World Cup challenge in Barcelona

They watched Scotland defy the odds to stunningly defeat England at cricket on a memorable day in Edinburgh.

Now two Perth hockey stars are hoping to do the same when they take to the World Cup field in Barcelona.

Gordon Loudon and Les Mitchell will both pull on the Scottish over-65 jersey in the Spanish sun with the action beginning on June 21.

A test against the English is first on the schedule before tough group games against South Africa, Italy and then Germany.

“I’ve never beaten England yet,” said Gordon. “If Scotland can beat England at cricket, it’s now the turn of hockey to show we can do it as well.

“We have a tough section and have England first, which is a good thing because we will be fresh enough. Hopefully we can catch them cold.

“We lost to England 4-0 in the Home Internationals last month but we did fairly well.

“We have two central midfielders back who were missing.

“Then we play South Africa, Italy and Germany so it’s tough but that is what we are there for.

“The standard is good and gets better every year.

“Two years ago we played in Australia and were sixth.

“It’s great to have Les on board and he is a great asset to the squad.”

Les is fairly new to the international set-up but did play the Home Internationals in Dublin earlier this year.

“I’ve played in Dublin with Gordon and the best thing about it was being able to play against people of your own pace,” Les said.

“That is opposed to playing locally when the youngsters now run past you. It’s an opportunity to think that you can still play hockey.

“I’m impressed by the standard of some of the players and that motivates you to want to raise your own fitness.

“Some of the players are unbelievable for their age and are fitter and faster than me.

“I thought if he can do it, maybe I should train for a change.

“Gordon is super fit and has done a lot of training over the last five years.

“You can see the difference. He lasts the whole game and I start to tail off!

“For Barcelona it is six games in 10 days and I’ve seen the forecast. It’s up at 26 or 27 degrees which is unknown territory for me.”

Striking up a partnership on the field should not be an issue for Les and Gordon.

Les added: “Gordon and I have played hockey together since 1976, when I moved to Perth. I’ve known him since my early twenties.

“The rest of the Scottish team are good as well and, when I played in Dublin, everyone was very friendly.

“Competitive but relaxed, which is a good combination.

“You don’t want to be playing with people who take it too seriously because, remember, we are 65. But we’re motivated to qualify.”

Les is reflecting on another season with Perthshire Hockey Club. Incredibly, he has played a game for the club in all of the last 42 seasons.

He said: “I moved to Perth from Aberdeen in 1976 and I’ve played every season. If you drew a graph the goals would be going down.

“The years of 20+ goals in a season has gone and now it is maybe one or two.

“I’ve played for Perthshire for 42 seasons in a row and some of the players I