Hockey: End of an era as Mark Ralph retires

Glynhill Kelburne and Scotland hockey player Mark Ralph has announced his retirement from international hockey at the age of 30, after more than 150 appearances for his country.

It signals the end of an era for Scottish hockey as the name of Ralph has featured in Scotland men's teams for the last 16 years, with firstly cousin David making his international debut in 1994 and then Mark joining him against India in Bangladesh in 2001. The playmaker represented Scotland at all age levels and played his part in Great Britain's Olympic qualifying campaign ahead of the Beijing Games in 2008. Ralph shrugged off the disappointment of his omission from the Beijing team to sign a one-year contract with Dutch club Klein Zwitzerland in the Hague.

He developed his coaching skills there, leading the Dutch club's U18 Girl's team to the national championship title. Ralph will continue to feature for his home town club Kelburne, and has accepted the post of assistant coach to the Scotland U18 Girls Team. However, the family name will not disappear entirely from Scottish team sheets as Ralph recently married Scotland Women's defender Catrona Forrest.

Meanwhile, Great Britain men won their Test series against Argentina courtesy of a 3-2 win at Lilleshall yesterday. Rob Moore opened the scoring before Argentina equalised midway through the half. A strike from Iain Mackay restored GB's lead, following neat interplay with Scotland's Niall Stott but, once again, the visitors countered. Stott was also heavily involved in the winning goal, scored by Moore with seven minutes left.