HEREFORD hockey player Percy Steele has experienced the pain of a penalty shoot-out defeat in a World Cup final.

Steele was part of an England side which missed out on a gold medal at Great Grand Masters World Cup in Hong Kong.

To make matters worse, England’s John Land missed a flick in the first round of the penalty shoot-out which would have given them victory.

The hapless Land then missed the decisive flick in the sudden-death part of the shoot-out and Australia took gold after a 6-5 penalty-stroke win.

Steele was proud of his silver medal but disappointed that England Over 65s had failed to retain the gold which they captured in Germany in 2006.

The 68-year-old scored in England’s opening two pool matches before he picked up a wrist injury, against Germany, which needed six stitches.

Due to the injury, Steele missed the 2-0 defeat to Australia which was England’s first reverse for four years.

However, he returned for the 17-0 demolition of Japan which booked England’s final berth, on goal-difference, from Germany.

The final was a tense affair and, ultimately, it was the width of a goal-post which decided the match.

The countries could not be separated in normal time or ‘golden goal’ sudden-death and it was another disappointing penalty shoot-out result for England.

India-born Steele is a very popular long-serving player and member at Hereford Hockey Club.

England’s results: England 6, Scotland 0; England 4, Australia Senior Grand Masters 0; England 0, Germany 0; England 0, Australia 2; England 17, Japan 0; Final: England 0, Australia 0 after extra time - Australia won 6-5 on penalty strokes.