England O65 World Cup

England O65s travelled to the historic fortified city of Breda in the Netherlands in search of back-to-back World Cup victories following their success in Cape Town in 2024.

The tournament opening ceremony was held in Grote Kerk (Great Church), a stunning Gothic church in the market square, and the matches were played at Bredase Hockey Vereniging (BHV) Push.

With 17 countries entering the competition in this age group, each team was seeded and allocated an initial four games, with the top eight in the table qualifying for the quarter-finals.

England started with a tough fixture against an ever-improving Welsh side. Despite having most of the possession, England were unable to break through the opposition's well-organised defence until the third quarter, with a well-taken goal by David Knapp. The final score remained 1-0.

In the next game against South Africa, an early close-range goal from debutant Rob Hurry set the scene for a rampant first half. Further first-half goals followed from Mike Pell, Rod Naughalty, Andrew Howitt, Alex Chiang and Nisar Chaudhry, with England 6-0 up at half time. Despite further chances, including a missed penalty stroke by Nisar Chaudhry, the game ended with no more goals.

England's next two games against bottom sides USA and Japan ended with England notching up an impressive 26 goals to nil across the two games. The goalscorers were: Avtar Khangure (1), Andrew Howitt (1), Rod Naughalty (1), Mike Pell (3), Manjeet Degun (3), David Knapp (5), Rob Hurry (6) and Billy Jawanda (6).

Finishing top of the pool stage meant England faced the team in eighth place in the quarter-finals. In their final pool game against in-form Argentina, Scotland showed typical determination to win 3-2 and secure the last quarter-final place.

England started the quarter-final with plenty of possession, and some skilful team play down the right was smartly finished by Chris Picken. England kept pushing, and a break led by captain Avtar Khangure, followed by an interchange of passes, was coolly slotted into the corner of the goal by Jimmy Laslett. A close-range tap-in at full stretch from Alex Chiang and a converted Billy Jawanda penalty stroke in the third quarter put the game beyond Scotland's reach at 4-0.

Old foes Australia lay in wait in the semi-final. Watched by many supporters of both teams, the game lived up to its billing: skilful, high-intensity and with no quarter given. With chances coming at a premium, the score at half time was 0-0. The deadlock was finally broken in the third quarter by a quickly taken self-pass from midfielder Colin Bradbury, who entered the circle unopposed and calmly slotted the ball home. This capped off a truly imperious Player of the Match performance from Colin. England played out the final quarter by retaining the ball in a game where the defence did not concede a short corner and limited the Australians to one shot.

Argentina deservedly made the final by beating the Netherlands in the other semi-final. With Mike Pell unable to recover from an injury sustained in the quarter-final, England knew they had to be competitive against an opposition containing former Olympian Victor Vinue.

An early goal from Avtar Khangure settled the team, and a further goal from Nisar Chaudhry in the second quarter meant England progressed towards half time in control. However, a green card for Chris Picken was followed by a period of pressure from Argentina. In the third quarter, Nisar Chaudhry grabbed his second goal and a rasping short-corner goal from Manjeet Degun confirmed England's dominance. A trademark close-range conversion from the sprightly Alex Chiang completed the scoring at 5-0.

At the final whistle, the Argentinians sportingly gave the victorious England team a guard of honour, which was duly reciprocated.

It has been said: “Attack wins you games; defence wins you titles.” This England team had goalscorers in abundance, scoring 43 goals in seven games, and a rock-solid defence that conceded no goals - a tournament clean sheet.

Apart from the attack and defence, the side is indebted to captain Avtar Khangure, who tirelessly led the team by example; the leadership of manager Imtiaz Sheikh; the calm and reassuring guidance of coach Graham Skinner; and the pre- and post-match activities led by Rod Naughalty and Nisar Chaudhry.