FIVE young Borders Hockey Players returned from London on Sunday, all wearing medals, having played in their final Scottish age group games of the season at the Futures Cup.

The tournament was held at Oaklands College, St Albans

Hannah Miller from Galashiels Academy and Fjordhus Reivers U17, Earlston High and Fjordhus Reivers Under 15s Livvy Hogg, Molly Byers from Selkirk High School and Fjordhus Reivers, Molly Morris from Melrose and Charlie Jack, also from Selkirk High, were representing Scotland as the Caledonian Cougars.

Andy Tenant, the Scottish Hockey Performance Director, told us: "The Futures Cup provides a great competitive opportunity for our best young players in both genders, at two key stages in our talent pathway.

"It gives our aspiring young athletes a chance to see the depth and quality of talent in other parts of Great Britain – and to compete and benchmark themselves against their peers in England and Wales.

"We are committed to contributing even more athletes to Great Britain senior programmes and teams in future and the Futures Cup is an integral part of that journey.”

The U17 girls, with Hannah Miller, made their way through to the bronze play off with 1-1 draws against both Wessex Leopards and the Saxon Tigers.

Their final game was also a 1-1 draw, but saw the Scottish girls win 3-2 on running penalties against Mercia Lynx, earning them the bronze medal.

The U15 girls, featuring Molly, Livvy and Molly, disposed of Merica Lynx 3-1 and followed up on the Friday with a Wessex Leopards 3-2, which took them in to the final. The final was a fiercely competitive game, with the girls going up 1-0, but a 30 second lapse in concentration resulted them losing two goal in quick succession which resulted in a frustrating 2-1 loss against Saxon Tigers.

Kelly Singleton Pryde-Fillingham, the girls head coach was delighted with the way the girls played throughout the tournament.

She said: “This is my first year in post as head coach with the Scottish girls, and I am delighted with the way the girls have embraced the new principles we have been developing throughout the year.

"Although we were disappointed not to lift the gold medal on Saturday, the progress that these girls have made over the season is fantastic.”

The U15 boys dominated their first two qualifying matches on Thursday and Friday, sweeping aside Saxon Tigers with a 6-2 victory, followed by a 6-1 win against the Celtic Jaguars.

Charlie Jack was on hand to put two in the net against the Celtic Jaguars.

The final was a much more competitive game with the Wessex Leopards going 1-0 up.

The Scottish boys pulled it back to 2-1 by half time with another goal from Charlie.

The second half was a fantastic end to end game with both teams scoring one apiece, leaving the final score 3-2 to the Scottish boys and a well deserved gold medal.

This is the first time that the boys have won the tournament and have also won against every Home Nation this season. Chris Duncan head Coach has been delighted with the success and progress the boys have made this year.

All four players will now be looking ahead and working hard to try and gain a place in their respective Scottish squads who will play in the European Cup next July 2020.

All the players would once again like to thank Clubsport Ettrick and Lauderdale, Clubsport Roxburgh and the Rowan Boland Trust for their continued support.

Charlie would also like to thank Live Borders ASP (Athlete Support Programme) for their support throughout this season.