AIREDALE hockey prodigy Matthew Ramshaw has been picked for England Under-16s to face Holland on April 4 at Lilleshall, Shropshire in what is a three-match series.

Ramshaw, from Bradley, has been named alongside two other Yorkshire boys in Dan West and Lucas Ward, who both play for national league sides, Doncaster and Sheffield respectively.

Everyone at the Oakbank School-based Airedale club is extremely proud of what is an immense achievement from Ramshaw.

He moved to Ilkley-based Ben Rhydding this season and has featured regularly in the first team, playing in the Northern Premier League. This has helped him prepare for the step up in standard.

He has benefited greatly from the input of the Ben Rhydding coaching team in a more challenging league but still trains with Airedale, whose first team have just narrowly missed out on promotion for what would have been a third successive season.

They missed key striker Alistair Graham for the last two important games of the campaign and failed to pick up any points in away matches to league winners Grimsby and promotion challengers Harrogate, losing 3-1 and 2-0 respectively.

The men’s third team – a new team consisting mainly of local teenage players – aim to negotiate two tricky fixtures to finish safely mid-table.

The ladies seconds, in only their second season, have put together a recent string of wins to earn safety.

The development team – consisting of youngsters aged 12-14 plus not more than four adults – take on Huddersfield this weekend to determine whether Airedale or Thirsk finish second in the table.