SHANDON hockey star Fiona Burnet has spoken of the “incredible feeling” of winning European gold in front of a home crowd.
Fiona, a former pupil of Lomond School in Helensburgh, was part of the Scotland women’s hockey team who triumphed at the Women’s EuroHockey II Championship at Scotland’s national hockey centre on Glasgow Green last week.
The Scots’ performance also saw them promoted to the top tier of the EuroHockey Championship and a place in the 2021 finals in the Netherlands.
Scotland made a blistering start to their assault on the championship, beating Ukraine 7-0 in their opening fixture in Pool B of the tournament – with Fiona hitting the Scots’ fourth goal after just 24 minutes.
READ MORE: Local ladies ready to take on hockey MastersA much closer game followed against the Czech Republic, but a 3-2 win set the Scots up perfectly for their final group match just 24 hours later – and the team showed no sign of fatigue as a 3-0 defeat of Austria earned them a place in the semi-finals of the competition.
After a day’s rest, the ‘Tartan Hearts’ were in top form in their semi-final against Poland, with a 3-0 win securing their final place.
And Fiona’s proud parents, Colin and Louise, were among those watching from the stands as a vocal home crowd cheered them on to a 2-1 victory over Pool A winners Italy and joyous scenes after the gold medal presentation.
After the ceremony, Fiona said: “We are all absolutely delighted to come away with the win.
“We came into the tournament with two clear aims - to get promoted and to win gold.
“It is an incredible feeling to walk away having achieved both of these aims, especially in front of an amazing home crowd.
READ MORE: Helensburgh's Hockey Fling is a storming success“The support we’ve received throughout the tournament from every single person who braved the weather to cheer us on, sent us good luck messages and watched us online has been fantastic.
“We played some really exciting hockey throughout the week and now we’re all just looking forward to seeing how we can build from this.”
Fiona, who first played for Scotland in Germany in October 2014 and won her 50th cap for her country in May of this year, now plays her hockey for Wimbledon Hockey Club in London.
She was also part of the Scotland squad at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games last year alongside another local player, Helensburgh’s Nicki Skrastin.
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