Dundee's Gavin Byers and Ross Stott, part of the Scottish hockey team which beat China 5-3 in the penalty shoot out to win the bronze medal at the World Cup qualifier event in New Zealand, arrived back home today exhilarated by the experience.

The Scots, who were seeded fifth, had drawn 2-2 with China before the shoot out.  It was Stott who produced the winning strike at 4-3 up, triggering a spontaneous pitch invasion.

“That was certainly my major highlight, scoring the winning penalty to get the bronze medal,” said 21 year old Stott, who plays for Kelburne.  “I didn’t realise that if I scored I would win and didn’t know I’d won it until I saw everyone running towards me. 

“It was great to get the bronze medal. We went there to do our best so to go two places above where we were meant to go was a pretty decent effort.”

With the Delhi Commonwealth Games a year away, Stott and Byers believe their recent experience will help spur them on to a higher level.

“Playing in an event like that sharpens you up to strive for a new level,” said 20 year old Byers, who plays for Menzieshill. 

“When you see the level that everyone else is playing at you know that’s where you want to get to.  It makes you train harder. 

“The next ten months is leading up to Delhi then four years away is Glasgow.  There are a lot of young boys here that in four years time could be the main part of the team so it’s quite exciting.”

Byers and Stott are both supported by the Tayside & Fife Institute of Sport (TFIS), which provides high performance expertise to Scotland’s potential world class talent.

The TFIS organises up to three pitch sessions a week for players as well as supervised Strength & Conditioning training and medical support.  Byers, who suffered a fractured wrist in the summer, has been helped back to fitness with help from the TFIS. The support will help both players as they strive to reach the next level.

Winning the bronze medal was a personal triumph for interim coach Russell Garcia, whose squad for the event included a bunch of raw youngsters.

“We took a development team to play some of the better teams in the world and the consensus was we wanted to get some results out of the lower classified teams,” he said. 

“We managed that, we bonded really well, came third in the tournament and our performance rose steadily through the tournament.

“The young guys did really well and Ross Stott was voted by the team as our best, most consistent player through the tournament.

“We need to keep putting in a lot of time, a lot of hard work and with the right mixture and right timing, success will come.”