EHL Weekend Round-up

This weekend was a double-header for the clubs in the Women’s Premier Division. Slough moved ahead of Canterbury by beating Doncaster away on Saturday (3-0) and Leicester away this afternoon (4-2). Second place Canterbury had a mixed weekend, drawing 2-2 to Old Loughtonians, followed by a 1-0 victory at home to Bowdon Hightown. In the Men’s Premier Division Cannock retain the lead with a 7-1 win over bottom placed Belper. Reading is the only club in the Women’s South Division with a team in the men’s Premier League and it is starting to show. Under the experienced eye of former Reading star Mani Kochar they have picked up fifteen goals from five matches and have only conceded one goal. Yesterday (Saturday) they met Woking, who were occupying the fourth slot. Despite a deficit in penalty corners, Reading opened their tally early in the match when Claire Kerr found herself unmarked in the ‘D’ and slipped the ball past the stranded ‘keeper. Ten minutes later it was Kerr who was again on target, this time from one of Reading’s few first half penalty corners. The picture changed somewhat in the second half, when it was Readings turn to win the corners, but despite several opportunities and a missed penalty stroke, the score stayed resolutely at 2-0. It was not until the closing seconds of the match that Reading struck again from open play, giving Kerr a much deserved hat-trick. The result keeps Reading ahead of the pack, with St Albans and Swansea (who dropped their first points yesterday away to St Austell) chasing on 12 points each.

A full set of league tables is available on our web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk. Go to the News page and follow the links.

NO REST FOR ENGLAND STARS IN DUTCH LEAGUE by Bill Colwill

Barry Middleton took just ten minutes in his opening League game for his new club HGC to open his goal account in their opening game on October 8^th in a 2-2 draw against Oranje Zwart. Middleton scored twice in Friday’s nights encounter in HGC’s 4-2 win against Pinoke. HGC’s other goals coming from Canada’s Rob Short and Conner Grimes. Middleton has now netted five times in his first four games. HGC are currently in second position behind Bloemendaal whose German star Christopher Zeller has netted 13 times in four games. Ben Hawes scored twice in Amsterdam’s 3-3 draw with bottom club Kampong.

Home-grown talent is leading the way in the Dutch women’s league. In their last round of games Kim Lammers scored six times in Laren’s 8-0 victory over Victoria whilst former Dutch captain and centre forward, Mijnije Donners netted five times as Den Bosch beat Pinoke 6-0.

[Our weekly EHL review will appear tomorrow (Sunday). Our featured match is the Women's South meeting between Woking and Reading.]

Weekend Roundup for 21st/22nd October

Canterbury got off to a storming start in their opener in the Women’s Premier League on Saturday against newly promoted Sutton Coldfield with three goals in the first six minutes, one apiece from Hayley Brown, skipper Lucy Barnes, and Sarah Kerly (does that surname sound familiar?). Canterbury added a fourth in the fifteenth minute courtesy of Christina Houslop. But if Canterbury had their foot on the gas pedal, it soon became apparent that there was not much in the tank. Katie Long fired a warning shot for Sutton when she converted a penalty corner just before the break, and as the match progressed there seemed every possibility that Sutton might get back into the match. Missing their recently returned internationals, Mel Clewlow and Jenny Wilson, Canterbury struggled to stay in control of this match and might consider themselves lucky to have held onto the 4-1 lead. It was not so much a game of two halves as a game of one half. In a double header event at the Polo Farm ground, Canterbury’s men faced Cannock in the men’s Premier Division forty-five minutes later. Canterbury made some of the early running, and Cannock would have been one down in the opening minutes had it not been for a fine save by James Fair. Going behind to a field goal by Hardeep Jawander and then a penalty corner strike by the same player, did not seem to seriously dent their prospects. A classical David Matthews corner conversion and a field goal by Matt Harper sent the two teams into the break on level terms. The second half seemed a different proposition, with Cannock taking control of the match. Hero of Monchengladbach, Martin Jones, scored just after the break. Minutes later, a Cannock player was upended in the ‘D’ and Simon Ramsden stepped up to convert the resultant stroke. Cannock made it five when Ramsden coverted a penalty corner. These results put Canterbury women at the top of their table and Cannock at the head of the men’s premier. Other results in the Men’s Premier Division have almost turned the tables on their head, with lowly Beeston going to third place after a 6-1 victory over fellow strugglers, Belper. East Grinstead’s 5-4 win over front runners Reading propels them into second place and Reading slip back to fifth.

Today (Sunday) saw Round three of the men’s Cup, where the remaining teams are joined by the EHL Div 1 clubs. There were no real surprises except for Exeter University’s 3-0 win over Bath Buccaneers. The students are currently in 8^th place in the EHL South Division, whilst Bath are 5^th in Division 1.

EHL Weekend Roundup

Despite pre-season concerns over the retirement of key players, Reading have got off to a good start to the season with six points from two games, the latest a 3-2 win over Cannock. Second place, also on maximum points, are Loughborough Students, who recorded a 2-1 win over East Grinstead. Interestingly, after only two matches, there is no team in the men's Premier Division that does not have at least a point.

Bowden have made a fine start in Men's Div. 1 with nine points from three matches, the latest scalp being against second place Havant. Near the basement end of the Division, today (Sunday) saw an intriguing battle between Holcombe and Southgate. Although Holcombe had the lions share of the first half action, it was Southgate's Dan Shingles that caught the home defence napping in the ninth minute. Shortly after the restart Holcombe served notice that they were not beaten when South African internation Denzil Dolley shaved the near post, followed minutes later by a superb penalty corner goal by Chris Bassano-Harper, our man of the match. Both goalkeepers saw plenty of action in the second half with a number of super saves, and despite end-to-end action, neither team could break the other's defence, and the match finished one apiece. The draw leaves Holcombe and Southgate in eighth and ninth place respectively, with Teddington propping up the table.

In the Women's Division One, University of Birmingham beat mid-table Poynton to stay top on maximum points, whilst second place Barnes Hounslow added more misery to newly promoted Horsham, who are now in botttom place on nil points and a goal difference of -12.

Oxted put seven past St Albans in men's South Division to take top position ahead of Indian Gymkhana. In Women's South Divsion, Reading beat St Austel and Swansea beat Southampton and are first and second respectively. Hapless Southampton recorded their fourth straight defeat and stay bottom. In the North, Sheffield University Bankers men defeated Leek 2-1 and stay on maximum points and Cannock lead the pack in the women's division after a 3-2 win at Preston.

A full up-date of the league tables will take place tomorrow (Monday) on our site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk

THR News back with the action on Sunday

After the excitement of the Women's World Cup in Madrid, THR News Blog will be back tomorrow (Sunday) with a round-up of the weekend's news from the EHL. Our featured match will be the Div 1 clash between Kent side Holcombe and Southgate.

CHELMSFORD TRIO SALVAGE ENGLISH PRIDE by Peter Savage, pitchside in Madrid

It is only a couple of season's ago that I was complaining that Chelmsford had some potential world-class players in their squad who ought to be playing for England. Clearly someone was listening because three from the Essex club were very much to the fore in the 7th/8th place match in the Samsung Women's World Cup in Madrid this afternoon. It was Chelmsford's young Chloe Rogers who opened the scoring against Germany in the 16th minute, but just on the stroke of half-time it was another Chelmsford player, Lisa Wooding, whose blast was deflected into the goal by Rachel Walker - Walker earning her 100th cap in this match. It looked as if England were in control of this match, by Germany managed to pull one back from a goal by Maire Stoeckel. Then potential disaster struck, when Germany were awarded a penalty stroke. Rinne stepped up to the spot but her shot was saved by Chelmsford's Katy Robers in the England goal. Final score: England 2 Germany 1.

Looking back at the last few days, it looks very much as if a semi-final place for England hung very much on one goal - or rather the lack of it. However, it is clear that England have a quantum leap to take before they catch up with the likes of Holland, Australia or Argentina. The absence of an out-and-out striker is the most obvious shortcoming, and although Rogers is showing an eye for the back of the net, she is still comparatively inexperienced at this level.

THE FINAL BETWEEN the Netherlands and Australia was hardly a classic, although it picked up in the second half when the Dutch were temporarily pegged back by a penalty stroke. But the Dutch have been the standout side in this tournament, and eventually they ran out as worthy winners. Argentina, who were far too strong for their Spanish opponents, took the bronze medal.

After the final the FIH announced their woman player of the year award, which goes to the Dutch captain Minke Booij. The Young Player award went to Mi Hyun Park of Korea.

We have some super photographs from the last three days of competition in Madrid and these will be appearing on our web site in the next few days. The October edition of TalkHockey Radio will feature the women's World Cup and includes interviews with Lisa Wooding and Katy Roberts.

USA FADE TO GIVE JAPAN FIFTH SPOT by Peter Savage, pitchside in Madrid.

The talk in Madrid this morning was about the penalty corner which led to the extra time golden goal penalty corner that gave Australia a place in finals against the Netherlands on Sunday. Local television have shown the incident that led to the corner and from what I can see the umpire was spot on. Although the ball was rising when it hit the defender, it does not look as if the ball was ever going to clear shin-pad height and the umpire decided, rightly in my view, that the ball was not dangerous. Hence the corner.

Today's action at the Campo ground was to decide some of the lower placings. England can take some small satisfaction from at least one of today's matches. Some of the USA's recent promise faded when they were beaten by an increasingly confident Japan, who now take the 5th place. Korea beat China to take the 9th place, and India put a single goal past South Africa to take the 11th place and leaving South Africa with the wooden spoon. Photographs of the USA v Japan and India v South Africa matches will appear on our web site later next week.

Thoughts now turn to tomorrow and the hope that England can lift themselves to beat an equally demoralised Germany and take the 7th place. But the big attractions of the day are the promise of an all Latin affair when Spain play Argentina for the Bronze medal, followed by old adversaries, Australia v the Netherlands, in the final. It is interesting to note how national fortunes either follow or otherwise the progress of the men's teams in Monchengladbach. We have one team in the finals (Australia) and one team in the bronze medal match (Spain) from the same nations, but certainly the fortunes of the Netherlands and Germany are quite different to those three weeks ago.

GERMANY GO DOWN IN SHOCK DEFEAT BY USA by Peter Savage, pitchside in Madrid.

England will not be the only team to go away from these finals feeling that they have been bested by a team they should have beaten. One of the shocks of todays play was the 1-0 defeat of Olympic champions Germany by the USA. The host side, Spain, also nearly pulled off a surprise against the Australians, reaching full time with no score on the board, but falling to a stellar penalty corner conversion after a few minutes of golden goal time.
So Sunday's final will be between the usual suspects, Netherlands - who beat Argentina 3-1 this afternoon - and Australia. England will play Germany in the 7th/8th play-off on Sunday, with both teams looking to take away something from this tournament, which has been a disappointment for both sides. 5th/6th match between USA and Japan will be played tomorrow (Sunday).

Our pictures are from the England v Japan game this afternoon. Further pictures will appear on our site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk in a few days time.

PACKED DEFENCE UNDOES ENGLAND'S HOPE OF A 5th PLA CE, by Peter Savage pitchside in Madrid.

If matches were won on possession England would have been the out-an-out winners of this game, but that's not how matches are won and England paid the price for a lack of scoring ability. Japan gave early notice in this 5th/8th crossover match in the Samsung Women's World Cup in Madrid, bruising the upright from a breakaway in the first few minutes. Despite a massive advantage in possession, England had very few scoring chances. After the match, which finished 2-0 in favour of Japan, England coach Danny Kerry was gracious about the Japanese and the effectiveness of their defence and pointed to a packed defence as the cause of England's failure. England will now go into the 7th/8th play off against a team to be decided. There will be a further blog report later today, hopefully with some photographs of the England v Japan match.

ENGLAND NEED CONFIDENCE BOOST TO BEAT JAPAN by Peter Savage in Madrid

Danny Kerry described the draw against Spain yesterday as one of the lowest moments of his life, but I think that he is failing to do justice to the achievements of both him and his team. The England Women meet Japan for a place in the 5th/6th play-off in the Samsung Women's World Cup here in Madrid tomorrow, and if they emulate the men by coming 5th they have achieved all that could reasonably be expected of them. They were placed in a particularly tough pool, with Netherlands and Germany the teams to beat. They achieved the latter by beating Germany, but the surprise of Pool A was Spain, who managed to take the scalps of Germany and China before coming up against the Dutch. Englands 1-1 draw against Spain was no disgrace and I think England need to get a sense of proportion before moving on to the all-importand game agains Japan.

I bumped into some of the England squad shopping in Madrid this afternoon. They looked relaxed and this is the approach they need to take with them for their match toorrow. They have beaten the Japanese as recently as August. With that memory fresh in their minds they should do well. It is true that there have been times that England looked in awe of their opponents, particularly the Dutch, but this is a comparatively young side. Kerry would do well to put yesterday's game behind him and look to a promising future.

ENGLAND MISS LAST SEMI-FINAL PLACE

England's last chance of winning a semi-final place in the Samsung Women's World Cup was lost this afternoon when they failed to overcome the host nation, Spain. A Mel Clewlow penalty corner strike put the teams at 1-1 when the final hooter sounded, but this gives Spain the remaining semi-final place and relegates England to playing for the 5th/8th place. Their first match will be against Japan on Friday morning.

TalkHockeyRadio will be in Madrid from Friday and this blog will be updated from pitchside, hopefully with photographs.

ENGLAND WIN CREATES WEDNESDAY HEAD-TO-HEAD

The remaining semi-final place will be decided tomorrow (Wednesday) when England meet Spain in the Samsung World Cup for Women in Madrid. Earlier today, England scored a notable victory against Olympic Champions Germany, the only goal of the match coming from a Helen Richardson penalty stroke after Lucilla WRIGHT's shot hit a defender's leg on the line.

Under the format in Madrid, tomorrow is 'Super Wednesday' with each of the nations playing their final pool match. England current stand on seven points, two behind Spain who are in second place. England must win to book a place in the finals and by chance they find themselves playing Spain in this all-important match.

If England qualify they will play either Argentina or Australia, who are both on ten points and similar goal difference in Pool B. These two play each other tomorrow and if England win their match they will play the winner to decide a place in the finals.

AUSTRALIA AND ARGENTINA BOOK SEMI FINALS PLACE

Despite their surprise draw against Japan today, Australia have booked themselves a place in the semi finals of the Samsung Women's World Cup in Madrid. They are joined by Argentina, who head the table by virtue of goals scored. England's group play tomorrow, but with two matches outstanding in this pool it is theoretically possible for any team to qualify. The Netherlands look certain to be in the top two unless they trip over in their remaining games, with the second place going to either Germany or Spain, although England and Korea are not entirely out of the running at this stage. England play Germany tomorrow (Tuesday), with the Dutch meeting bottom placed China, and Spain playing India

DISALLOWED GOALS LEAVE ENGLAND AND INDIA WITH A DRAW

Despite having lost their previous two matches, India have looked like the sort of side that could cause an upset and a draw against England this afternoon was a scalp of sorts. India started out the match packing their defence but Surinder Kaur made some dangerous runs into the England twenty-five. It was a foul on Kaur that led to the first penalty corner of the match, although India were not able to make anything of it. England had a chance in the 15^th minute, when a Mel Clewlow shot from penalty corner rebounded off Innocent’s pads and Jo Ellis narrowly missed scoring from the rebound. On the stroke of half-time Asunta Lakra seemed to have put India ahead when she roofed the ball into the England net, but the shot was disallowed for dangerous play. England came out for the second half looking for a goal and 12 minutes into the half Chloe Rogers put England ahead. With just over 10 minutes remaining, India were awarded a penalty corner, but Kaur’s shot at goal struck a defender and she stepped up to take the resultant penalty stroke to tie the match. But it was as the last minutes ticked by that England thought they had taken the lead. A pass was deflected into the net by Kerry Williams but following a review by the video umpire the goal was disallowed. Final score 1-1.

The Spanish express train was shunted off into a siding by the Dutch earlier this afternoon. The Spanish, who have boxed above their weight in their two previous matches looked very ordinary against the Dutch, who ran out 2-0 winners. Germany, who seemed to be performing much under par in their previous matches, regained their form to win against China 3-1.

The injury to Kate Walsh, which saw her stretchered off in the match against the Netherlands on Friday, may not be as bad as was originally feared. She may be able to take part in one of England’s two remaining matches. England are not entirely out of the running for a semi-final place. Much may depend on the outcome of their next match, against Germany on Tuesday. Three points from that match is a tall order, but not an impossible one.