Nicola's Golden shot!

Nicola White sends a United States player crashing to the ground in the group stages

THOUSANDS of Oldhamers will be glued to their televisions tonight hoping to cheer our very own Olympic star to gold.

Local hero Nicola White faces the biggest match of her life when she and her Great Britain hockey teammates go for glory in the Olympic final.

A win will see them go down in history as the first British women's team to claim gold at any Olympics following on from a bronze medal at London 2012.

They are the form side of the tournament having won all seven of their matches so far and they are looking for "one more" against reigning champions Holland in Rio - live on TV at 9pm.

Backing her all the way is the Mayor of Oldham Councillor Derek Heffernan and pupils and teachers from her old school Hulme Grammar.

Cllr Heffernan spoke for the borough when he said: "This team did so well in London so for them to go even further is a great thing for the team and a great thing for Oldham. We had the privilege of meeting Nicola a few weeks ago and she is a lovely young lady.

"It is 96 years since they last won gold so they are making history. It is clear how hard they have worked hard for this.

"I have made room in the diary to watch tonight."

Nicola and the squad are guaranteed a silver medal following their 3-0 defeat of New Zealand on Wednesday led by Kate Richardson-Walsh.

Standing in their way, though, are Holland, who have not lost an Olympic hockey game since the 2004 final, reeling off 21 successive wins and now standing one victory away from completing a Games title hat-trick.

Team GB have achieved their best performance in hockey history despite players Crista Cullen and Georgie Twigg suffering blows to the head.

Nicola would just love to get her hands on gold having won silver at the Champions Trophy, silver at the Commonwealth Games and bronze medals at the World Cup and European competitions.

Hulme Grammar School's deputy principal John Dalziel said: "We have followed her every step of the way.

"She brought her bronze medal into the school and we have kept in touch with her in the meantime.

"We wish her all the best tonight.

"Many of us have been watching the hockey and she is doing really well and very much a core member of the team.

"As soon as she is back, we hope that she will come and visit us.

"She is of course an inspiration to our pupils.

"We are so proud of the fact that someone from our humble school in Oldham has made it to Rio."

Nicola's Shaw-born mum Gill said: "For Nicola this is certainly a dream come true.

"I know they will be focused and prepared for the biggest match of their lives.

"Let's hope they make it eight wins in a row and bring that gold medal home."