UKAF women's hockey players power past Dutch Armed Forces in Aldershot

The UK Armed Forces women's hockey team blasted out of the blocks in their showdown with the visiting Dutch Armed Forces.

With international fixtures for UKAF a rarity, they were eager to make up for lost time and raced into an early lead.

The opening goal of the contest came from a UKAF short corner. With Dutch Armed Forces failing to clear their lines, and the ball fizzing around the striking circle like a particle in the Large Hadron Collider, Sarah Bracey from the RAF pounced to lash the ball home.

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The home side soon added a second. This time, scintillating stick work from UKAF saw them pour forward at pace. Halton-based Bracey was on target to record a double against the Dutch.

At the other end, the Dutch were testing the home sides defence. UKAF keeper Amy Liu from the Army was doing well to keep the opposition at bay.

There wasn't much the UKAF shot stopper could do to prevent the Dutch from scoring in the third quarter of the contest. Rosalie Blaak clattered the ball into their host's backboard from a short corner to cut the deficit to make it 2-1.

With the game in the final quarter, UKAF were enjoying plenty of possession, they just couldn't convert their chances. That was until former England junior international and Army player Freya Courtaux added a third goal from close quarters to help her side enjoy a 3-1 win.

Afterwards, UKAF vice-captain Sergeant Amy Liu, said: "The Dutch come with a great reputation within hockey. They're famous for being world class.

"We were just really fortunate that with the training we've done, we were quite good as a team and I think that's why it paid off."

Next year will see the European Hockey Championships take place in London. The Netherlands are the reigning Women's European champions. It's hoped the Dutch military will be back next year in Aldershot as plans are emerging for an international military tournament to run alongside the Euro Hockey competition. 

At the prospect of further international fixtures in the future for UKAF, Liu was upbeat and said: "It has to align with everyone's commitments. Potentially we'll get to play the Dutch in the near future and rumours of Australia (Armed Forces) and New Zealand (Armed Forces) coming over as well."