Ben Mackey earned his first cap for England U16 at the Four Nations Invitational Tournament which was held at Seville, Spain, over the Easter weekend.
The other teams in the tournament were Spain, Holland and Germany. Also at the event were England’s U18s and U21s men’s teams. Ben was picked from the England U16’s National Age Group Squad (NAGS) which has 26 players in it; this also includes Havant players Dan Faulkner and George Cairns.
England U16 topped the round-robin pool tournament with two wins, beating Spain 4-3 and Holland 3-1, plus a draw with Germany 4-4. The team was then beaten in the Gold medal final by Spain 3-2 with Ben scoring England’s second goal in the 67th minute.
Last year England U16 came away in fourth place so the team was pleased with their much improved performance this year. England U18 also made it to the final in their tournament, beating Spain 2-1 with a golden goal in extra time from a penalty corner. The England U16 squad are looking forward to more matches over the summer with games lined up against Germany in Canterbury, Ireland in Dublin, and a home four nations tournament in Scotland at the end of July.
The Havant players can all expect to play their part in the forthcoming international matches.
