Commonwealth Games star Wood earns first indoor cap for England

The 21-year-old personal trainer helped England to a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games back in 2014.

Former Millais School and Collyer’s pupil Wood was selected to compete for the England indoor team at the recent Eurohockey Women’s Championships II in Cambrai, France.

The tournament took place from January 22 to 24 and the Holcombe player won her first indoor cap playing in their opening game against Russia, the eventual winners of the tournament, against whom England lost their opening match 6-2. In the remaining matches of the pool stage, England lost a close encounter with France 3-2, before sealing a much needed 9-1 win against Wales.

Wood scored two excellent individual goals in the space of two minutes and the high-scoring win proved significant in the latter stage of the tournament, when goal difference meant England finished fifth out of the eight competing teams.

The forward found the net again to score the vital winning goal in England’s exciting and closely-fought 3-2 win over Croatia.

On the final day of the tournament, England’s form slipped and they lost out 5-3 to Scotland, the latter scoring their fifth goal when England replaced their goalkeeper with a kicking back.

Wood said: “Playing in France was a great experience. Although our results were mixed and we didn’t achieve our aim of securing promotion to the top division, we successfully retained our Div 2 status.

“As a squad, working with a specialist head coach, we learnt a lot tactically about the indoor game and were pleased with the progress we made throughout the tournament.

“The close skills and decision-making under pressure required in the extremely fast-paced indoor game will, undoubtedly, help our outdoor hockey throughout the remainder of the season.”

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