WEEKEND EHL REVIEW

In the topsy-turvy world that is the men’s Premier Division, with only three points now separating the top five clubs, points are starting to take on a particular significance. East Grinstead, who recently lost the top spot, met Hampstead and Westminster in a floodlit match on Saturday evening. Hampstead have a reputation for being draw specialists, and this reputation looked set to continue as they twice pulled EG back from a lead. Torrential rain kept the pitch slow but tempers short, with Hampstead being down to nine men at one stage. However, it was Grinstead’s star packed team which eventually prevailed, with a somewhat unexpected 7-2 victory. This result drops Hampstead out of the top six but leaves Grinstead unmoved in fifth position. It was higher up the table this afternoon (Sunday) where most of the movement took place. Luckless Guildford made a brave effort to grasp some points and managed to get to the break only 1-0 down against Beeston. However, they were totally outclassed in the second, losing 7-1. Ironically, it was a Danny Hall solo effort for Guildford which may qualify for goal of the match. Elsewhere, overnight leaders Loughborough Students lost 2-0 to third placed Cannock, and Reading saw off Belper 6-2. This gives Beeston a one point lead at the head of the table, with Reading. Cannock, and Loughborough all on 16 points. Full league tables are available on our main site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk.

In the women’s Premier Division, the table topping match between first placed Slough and second placed Bowdon Hightown ended in a 3-3 draw. Leicester won away at Ipswich, meaning that Ipswich now move into second place, one point behind Slough. At the other end of the table Sutton Coldfield recorded their first victory, winning 4-1 against Doncaster. This moves Sutton off the bottom of the table, where they are replaced by Doncaster.

OLD BOYS FADE AFTER TWO GOAL START by Peter Savage at Surbiton

There were no giant killing acts in the fourth round of the England Hockey Cup (Men) this afternoon (Sunday), although Old Georgians must have fancied their chances when they went 2-0 away to Surbiton, courtesy of Van Der Reit and Lewis. Although Surbiton looked at times unnerved by their visitors, it did not take long for them to get into their stride. Robert Moore opened their account in the fifteenth minute, followed by a Matt Daly penalty corner hat-trick (24th, 35th, 44^th minutes). Surbiton dominated the second half and those attacks which did threaten were smothered by the England defensive partnership of Richard Alexander and Brett Garrard. Further goals from Ben Marsden, Tim Pinnock (2) and Peter Short smashed the old boys’ hopes. What had started out as a promising day was finished with OG’s ‘keeper, Andrew Howell being dismissed in the closing minutes for playing the ball outside his area. Final score: Surbiton 8 Old Georgians 2.

Yesterday, in the women’s Premier Division, Slough stay ahead of Bowden Hightown by two points, both having won their matches. Sutton Coldfield remain firmly rooted at the bottom, having been beaten by Chelmsford 4-0. Chelmsford move into fifth place behind Canterbury, who lost away to sixth place Ipswich.

The steady rise of Beeston in the Men’s Premier continues after they overcame Surbiton 3-1. This puts them in second place behind Loughborough Students, who won their match against Belper. East Grinstead helped out lowly Canterbury with a 1-1 draw at Polo Farm. Bottom placed Guildford were on the wrong end of five goals when they hosted Reading.

Full tables are available on our main site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk. Go to the news page and follow the link. Photos of the Surbiton v East Grinstead match will be up loaded to the site in the next few days.

GRINSTEAD SLIP TO FIFTH AS CANNOCK REFIND FORM - Weekend EHL Roundup

One cannot escape the conclusion that it was a game of two halves. Far from looking like the table topping Premier League side, East Grinstead were very much on the back foot at home to visiting Cannock this afternoon (Sunday). Despite their first half dominance, James Fair probably pulled off the save of the season for Cannock, to give the visitors a 4-0 lead at the break. It was a transformed East Grinstead side that came out for the second half, with Daryl Cheeseman netting within seconds of the restart, but despite a significant number of corners the home side were not able to build on their resurgence and the match finished at 4-2 to Cannock. This result sends EG sliding from top place into 5th. Loughborough Students saw off struggling Guildford 4-1 to take the top spot. Beeston's shaky start to the season now seems to be behind them, as they climbed into third place after beating Hampstead and Westminster 4-1. Canterbury's problems deepened at the foot of the table as they were overcome by Reading 3-2. Surbiton managed to climb one place in the table by drawing against Belper.

In the Women's Premier Division, Slough remain in the top position, with Bowden Hightown, Canterbury, and Ipswich only separated by goal difference, two points adrift of the leaders.

Full league tables are available at our main site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk. Navigate to the News page and click on the League table icon.

FIH CHIEFS MEET AT LORDS by Bill Colwill

As England and their travelling fans are departing down under for the long awaited Ashes series, Lords - the home of cricket - will be opening its gates to representatives from the world of hockey. The International Hockey Federation (FIH), the world governing body, will be holding its biennial Congress in London at Cricket’s headquarters on Saturday 11 November. More than 80 countries affiliated to the FIH are expected to attend.

At present, there are 117 national association members of the FIH. This number will probably increase after the London Congress, based on a recommendation of the Executive Board the Congress delegates will be asked to approve five new member associations. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador and Estonia have sent their applications and are expected to be endorsed.

Beside the Congress, more FIH activities are scheduled in London all week. This evening (Monday 6 November) the Glasgow Bid Committee for the 2014 Commonwealth Games will be holding a reception for guests in the Long Room at Lords. The day before the Congress, the FIH WorldHockey Forum “Synergy for Success” will take place in the Nursery Pavilion whilst over both days an exhibition by FIH partners and suppliers will be on view for delegates in the Pavilion.

During the week FIH Office Bearers, the FIH Executive Board and all FIH Committees will meet in London prior to the Congress.

The hockey family is no stranger to Cricket’s home. In 1967, games in the Mexico pre Olympic Tournament were held at Lords along with the Oval and throughout the seventies, numerous International games and the annual Varsity match were played on the hallowed-turf.

EHL Weekend Roundup

With only seven points separating the top and bottom clubs in the men’s Premier Division there is still a lot of movement after five games. East Grinstead go top on the back of a win over Guildford, but previous leaders Cannock came off worse in a nine-goal tussle against an improving Beeston, who now move up to fourth, whilst Cannock slip back to third, behind Loughborough Students. The biggest mover is Surbiton who suffered a 6-2 setback at Reading and go from second to seventh.

It was a double header weekend in the men’s North, and South divisions. Of the leading clubs in the South division only Old Georgians took the full six points with victories over Firebrands and Whitchurch. OGs go ahead of Indian Gymkhana, who could only draw against Firebrands. Third place Oxted had a mixed weekend. On Saturday they hosted Plymouth Marjons, and despite an early goal by Gareth Carr for the visitors, goals by Reece Basson (2), Justin King (2), Richard Arscott, and Neil Turk sunk the boys from Devon. They had less luck the following day when they hosted another Devon side, University of Exeter, the match ending in a goalless draw.

A full set of league tables are current available at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk.

We have experienced a minor problem at our main web site with the content of the tables showing publication dates and forthcoming fixtures. These have been blank for several days. This was caused by a bug in a software update we installed in our web authoring program. The problem has now been identified and the suppliers have provided a workaround. The tables have now been restored in working order.