More than half a century ago, Armidale's Keith Ellis was playing hockey in Scotland.
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Ellis was studying at the University of Glasgow but his passion for hockey saw him line up for the Western Hockey Club in the city and national competition.
They experienced success on the field and formed lifelong friendships off it.
Fast forward to 2023 and only two of that team - Ellis and one other in Kieran McLernan - still pick up a stick today, albeit on opposite sides of the globe.
But at the NSW Hockey Masters in Armidale at the weekend, the pair had the chance to re-live their glory days together in the over 70s competition.
The Hockey New England team is made up of over 70s players from all around the state whose associations can't field a full team.
They had recruited a handful of ex-University of New England students, a couple of players from Parkes and Coffs Harbour but they still needed another to fill the team.
So Ellis reached out to his old friend.
"I knew of this mate from Scotland, who was coming out to visit his daughter in Adelaide sometime so it was a tongue in cheek thing," Ellis said.
"I send him an email and said 'I don't suppose you want to come and play? You would have to register with Hockey New England and play for the weekend but I can get you a run.'
"Within about five seconds I had a reply from him saying 'I will be there.'"
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While the Hockey New England team didn't get the results to put them in contention for the title, Ellis said he and McLernan worked together seamlessly when the opportunity arose, much like their days in the 1970s in Scotland.
"We only scored one goal from the whole weekend and it came from a play from Kieran and I working our way up the left wing," Ellis said.
"He knew what I was doing and I knew what he was doing.
"He threw a long pass, I got on to it, put it in the middle and one of our guys scored the goal.
"We think we contributed significantly to that."
Although they were pretty happy to have that moment on the field together, Ellis said it was "absolutely wonderful" to be back out on the field with McLernan.
"The guys in our team had a ball even though we got whipped," he said.
"I don't think you get guys our age - it is over 50 years since we played together - coming together and having a last hurrah.
"He said 'we are going to have to do this again sometime soon you know'
"We both joked and said 'we can't leave it too long because we might not be here.'
"We both understand there are limitations on what we can do at this age but we are going to do it as long as we can."
For Ellis, it won't be long until he pulls on more representative colours with a trans-Tasman over 75 series against New Zealand next month.
The over 50s NSW Hockey Masters was also in Armidale at the weekend with both the A and B division Hockey New England teams bowing out in the semi-finals.
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