The penultimate round of matches in the women’s EHL has seen some issues settled. Slough who were lying second this morning have cemented themselves a European place by beating Bowdon Hightown 2-1. Third placed Canterbury won their match against Chelmsford from a single goal by Hayley Brown in the dying seconds, but they remain four points adrift of Slough. Leicester remain at the top of the table after their 4-0 win at Ipswich. At the other end of the table there had been a theoretical possibility that Sutton Coldfield could avoid a play-off place, but Old Loughtonians move up two places by beating Olton 2-0. Sutton slugged out a 0-0 draw against bottom placed Doncaster, which leaves neither club with a chance of avoiding either the drop or the play-offs.
In Division One Barnes Hounslow Ealing have had a disastrous end of season run and over the last few weeks have slipped from first to fourth. They lost again today 1-0 against Clifton, who move up into second place. Cath Linaker, who was once more on target for Poynton, scored two of her side’s goals in a 3-1 win over bottom placed Horsham. Poynton are now guaranteed at least a play-off place, with the other contenders being Clifton, Sunderland and Barnes. At the basement end of the table Firebrands and Horsham are already relegated, the only place in contention being the play-off to stay in the division, a slot currently occupied by Loughborough Students, who lost 1-0 today against Harleston Magpies.
Issues in the South Division are already decided, with Reading going up and St Albans going to the play-offs. Wimbledon and Southampton leave the EHL next season, as do Worcester and Chester in the North. Durham University are promoted from the North Division, but the play-off place has still to be decided between Aldridge and Belper. Aldridge, who are one point ahead of Belper, meet Preston who are in the relegation play offs next week, whilst Belper still have a meeting with Durham University.
THERE WAS ALSO ACTION IN THE MEN’S EHL TODAY with matches being played in the top two divisions. Issues in the Men’s Premier are due to go to the wire, with the first and second slots being fought out between Cannock and Reading. Cannock’s Andrew Langlands scored a hat-trick in his sides 6-2 defeat of relegated Guildford, whilst Reading were on scoring form at Hampstead, beating the home side 5-2, despite a missed penalty stroke by Reading’s Simon Lanyon. This season fixture list has thrown up some intriguing end-of-season meetings, none more so than Reading v Cannock next Sunday. Canterbury’s get out of gaol card went missing when they met fellow relegation strugglers Belper and came of the worse in a 7-3 result. They can still theoretically avoid the play-off slot if Belper lose against Guildford next weekend, but on today’s result that seems unlikely.
Barnes are not the only club to have been suffering from end of season blues. Bowdon, who have been leaders in men’s Division One for most of the season, lost 4-1 to third placed Old Loughtonians, but are still guaranteed a play-off place. Leaders Havant went on an extraordinary twelve goal spree against Bournville, who were in fourth place this morning, with hat-tricks from Ben Allberry (4) and Callum Giles (3). The England Performance Director’s son, Simon Faulkner, was also amongst the scorers. If Holcombe had any chance of avoiding the drop it would have been against already relegated Teddington, who until this morning had not picked up a single point. Teddington now have a point, thanks to a two-all draw. Southgate move up one place, leaving Chelmsford in the play-off slot, courtesy of a 4-2 win over Brooklands, and there is now a five point gap between Holcombe and Chelmsford, which means Holcombe are relegated. Southgate meet Teddington next Sunday whilst Chelmsford meet Holcombe. The survival of Southgate and Chelmsford will depend on the outcomes.
A full set of league tables will be posted to our main site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk tomorrow evening (Sunday).
