Spendolini-Sirieix wins World Cup bronze in Canada
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Edinburgh Reporter
an hour ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
Watson reaches 100 caps for Scotland
Charlotte Watson celebrated her 100th cap for Scotland with a spectacular solo goal, but the Tartan Hearts were broken by a 4-3 scoreline in the second of two hockey Test matches with France at The University of Edinburgh Playing Fields at Peffermill. The 27-year-old, who also has 34 caps for Great Britain and competed in the Paris Olympics last year, forced a turnover just outside the French D and drove for goal, leaving the defence in her slipstream. Then the player, who has recently signed to join English club side, Wimbledon, calmy picked her spot before firing in the net after 22 minutes. The home side were 3-0 down at the time and that sparked a comeback which lead to the Scots equalising at 3-3 with a deflected goal from Sarah Jamieson (Watsonians) 12 minutes later for 3-2 and the leveller arrived from Katie Birch with ten minutes remaining. That was just after the French goalkeeper, Violette Ferront, made a superb pad save, sticking out her left leg to send the ball to safety. The aggressive French side, who held the Scots 1-1 in the first test at the same venue on Saturday after losing a practice game 2-1 at Peffermill on Thursday, netted through Yohanna Lhopital after 52 minutes following a penalty corner to stun the home side in their last competitive outing before the EuroHockey Championships in Germany next month. Delfina Gaspari had opened scoring after 1min 52sec, capitalising on slackness in the Scotland defence, and Eve Verzura scored again seven minutes later with LHopital making it 3-0, chipping the ball over the advancing Scotland goalkeeper, Jessica Buchanan, after 19 minutes making it a long way back for Scotland. The narrow win is undoubtedly a boost for France who are ninth ranked in Europe, two places below the Tartan Hearts who open their EuroHockey Championship campaign against England on August 10 (9.15am) in Monchengladbach. Then they play Spain 24-hours later (2.30) and finish their qualifying pool by squaring-up to Belgium on August 13 (11.15). Chris Duncan, Scotland's head coach, has much to ponder as the clock ticks down towards the EuroHockey Championships, including lack of real penetration in the final third despite enjoying a large slice of possession, and also his side's failure to convert more penalty corner chances, only one taken in ten attempts. Watson confirmed it had taken over nine years to hit three figures for Scotland but the former Dundee Wanderers player does not see herself playing on to reach 200 caps. She started her senior international career during a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town in 2016 and progressed to being a member of the Scotland Commonwealth Games squad in 2018 in the Gold Coast in Australia. Her CV includes scoring the second and clinching goal in the final of the EuroHockey Championships, Second Division, in Glasgow in 2019 as the home side won gold. She then received a call from the Great Britain selectors and she made here first appearance during a Test match against Japan in Hiroshima before playing in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Now she is looking to help steer Scotland to a high placing in the EuroHockey Championships also in Munchengladbach. At her last appearance there she scored a memorable and game-clinching goal as Scotland edged Spain 2-1 to record one of their finest victories in recent times. Spain were ranked No 8 in the world at the time, Scotland were No 19, but Watson was sent clear by Dunfermline-raised Eve Pearson and she slid the ball low into the right-hand corner for 2-0. PICTURE: Charlotte Watson is applauded by team-mates as she is presented with her 100th cap by Chris Duncan, Scotland's head coach, before the second Test against France at The University of Edinburgh Playing Fields. Picture Nigel Duncan Like this: Like Related
South Wales Guardian
2 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Jack Conan reveals video from Katie Taylor inspired Lions before second Test win
Taylor, an Olympic gold medal winner and current undisputed world super lightweight champion, sent the good luck message to Andy Farrell's squad in the build-up to Saturday's second Test at Melbourne Cricket Club. The 39-year-old's words on the ability to dig deep turned out to be prophetic as the Lions emerged 29-26 winners after fighting back from an 18-point deficit. 'The video was unbelievably poignant and powerful. It spoke about being prepared to win with skill, but also being ready to win by will,' said Ireland number eight Conan, who like Taylor hails from Bray in County Wicklow. History made 🦁#Lions2025 — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 26, 2025 'That was something that was massively summed up in the game because we were not at our best at all. 'It's huge because she comes from the town I'm from. I'm incredibly proud of where I come from and I know Katie is as well. 'She's gone on to achieve incredible feats in the boxing world. To be such a superstar, incredibly humble and driven is something that we leant on as well because we knew that Australia are a hugely proud nation and they showed it in spades. 'Everyone loved it, even the English and the Scottish boys and the Welsh boy – it resonated with everyone. It was unbelievably poignant, it was class. It really hit home for us.' It took a beautifully-taken try by Hugo Keenan with 51 seconds remaining to separate the rivals in one of the greatest Lions matches ever played. Remarkably, Keenan's touchdown was the first time they led in the match. Conan admits that victory tastes all the sweeter for having been taken to the wire as Australia raised their game to a whole new level a week after starting the series with a whimper in Brisbane. 'We were not at our best by any measure, but physically the lads dug in unbelievably well,' he said. Full time scenes in Melbourne 🥹🦁#Lions2025 — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 26, 2025 'It was disappointing how we played, but we played for 80 minutes. Hugo getting over the line in the last minute was just unbelievable. 'It wasn't my best game. A lot of us weren't at the races at all, but we stuck in there. You can't fault the effort. I thought the defensive sets we put in, just whacking people and just staying in there, was unbelievable. 'It's something that will go down in history. They won't be writing the history books about how s*** we were, but they'll say that we won and that's all that matters. 'Everyone's over the moon. To be part of a Lions winning series team is incredibly special. The celebrations in the changing room wouldn't have been the same if we'd won by 20.'
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
GB's Pidcock wins European mountain bike gold
Double Olympic champion Tom Pidcock produced a dominant display to win the men's mountain bike cross-country gold at the European Championships in 25-year-old finished 36 seconds clear of fellow Briton Charlie Aldridge in Melgaco, while Denmark's Simon Andreassen was started at the back of the pack but forced his way into the top 10 by the second of nine laps and overtook Aldridge to lead the race by the fifth loop of the is his second European title, having become the first Briton to win the 2022 Great Britain's Evie Richards took silver in the women's mountain bike 28-year-old, who claimed gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, finished one minute and 19 seconds behind champion Jenny Rissveds of Sweden.
