Five goals from Holcombe's Jennie Hoyte helped South East ladies to a third-place finish at the England Over-50 Masters in Nottingham.
Hoyte was joined in the squad by clubmate Carmel Sutton, along with eight other Kent players, as well as several from East and West Sussex and Surrey in a newly-formed team taking part in the Masters for the first time.
Folkestone Optimists' Sharon Harding captained the side and was joined by Folkestone team-mate clubmate Natalie Harvey. Maidstone's Jenny Duggan, Sittingbourne's Claire Hales, K Sports' Karen Newman, Herne Bay's Alison Watson and Marden Russets' duo Charlotte Hope and Amanda Payne-Cook also took part.
Two goals from Hoyte sealed a 2-1 win over the Midlands in their first pool game, and she scored again in a 2-2 draw with the London region. Despite a 1-0 defeat to Yorkshire & North East in the third pool game, the South East qualified for the semi-finals as pool runners-up.
A 2-0 defeat to South Central ended their hopes of reaching the final, but two more goals from Hoyte - and one from Hales - in a 3-1 third-place play-off win against Yorkshire & North East made amends for their earlier pool defeat and secured third in the standings.
Team manager and defender Hope was delighted with her side's efforts on their Masters debut, and already has her eyes on 2023.
"The tournament was a resounding success for the inaugural South East over-50s ladies' squad, and we plan to come back even stronger next year," she said.
Read more on kentonline.co.uk
kentonline.co.uk
