CLARKE PENALTY ASSURES READING SURVIVAL

Reading’s group in the EuroHockey League ended in unconventional style this afternoon. The last match in Group G pitted French outsiders St Germain against the English club. St Germain pulled off a surprise 2-2 draw against Crefelder on Friday, and after Reading’s draw against Crefelder yesterday, Reading needed a win to be sure of proceeding to the next round. In a tense game which kept the umpires busy, Reading found themselves two down before the second half. Jonty Clarke and Richard Mantell equalised for Reading, leaving the pool with all three teams having drawn their matches. St Germain automatically qualified for the next round by virtue of having scored the most goals, leaving Crefelder having to come back for a penalty corner shoot-out with Reading. Jonty Clarke scored the only goal of the penalty barrage, knocking Crefelder – who must have been one of the favourites – out of this competition. Another casualty was Scots side, Grange, who were beaten earlier in the afternoon by Rotterdam.

A full list of results from this first weekend of the EuroHockey League will appear shortly on our web site at www.TalkHockeyRadio.co.uk. TalkHockeyRadio will be in Antwerp next weekend to report on the matches involving British clubs Loughborough Students and Kelbourne.

Late EHL Result

WOMEN'S SLAZENGER EHL
Bowdon 3 - 1 Poynton

READING DRAW LEAVES POOL WIDE OPEN

Reading’s opening match in the EuroHockey League turned into a disappointing affair for the spectators, although Reading supporters will feel this is a good result against one of Europe’s top sides. Both goals came from the penalty spot in their 1-1 draw against Crefelder. Simon Mantell was the scorer. Crefelder drew against St Germain yesterday, which leaves the outcome of this table on the final match between Reading and St Germain tomorrow. Cannock qualified earlier with their 2-1 win over Wien. In the other matches played today, Club An der Alster (Germany) went down 3-1 to the home side, HGC. It was a good day for the Dutch, with Rotterdam recording a 4-2 win over Atletic Terrassa.

SLAZENGER LEAGUE MATCHES TODAY

Newly promoted Clifton’s recent run in the women’s Slazenger Premiership came to an end this afternoon when they visited Ipswich, despite taking a 3-2 lead into the break. Goals from Leisa King and Jessica Bloom put Ipswich ahead and despite Carla Dunnet restoring parity, a goal in the last five minutes from Mariam Fabregas gave Ipswich the three points. The loss of key players to GB duties may have played a part in the 0-0 draw at Leicester, where Canterbury were the guests. The match between table leaders Bowdon and bottom placed Poynton is a late start.

Womens Premier Division:
Chelmsford 1 – 2 Olton & West Warks
Ipswich 5 – 4 Clifton
Leicester 0 – 0 Canterbury
Slough 5 – 1 Old Loughtonians

In Women’s Division One, Reading’s stellar start to the season seems to have hit the buffers. They went down 2-1 to leaders Sunderland, their second defeat of the season for a team where defeat is a virtually unknown experience. Trojans, who have enjoyed a yo-yo existence over the last few years, edged ahead of Reading into second place after their 4-0 win over Harleston Magpies.

Women’s Division One:
Doncaster 1 – 1 Loughborough Students
University of Durham 0 – 0 Barnes
Harleston Magpies 0 – 4 Trojans
Reading 1 – 2 Sunderland
Sutton Coldfield 1 – 1 University of Birmingham

In the Women’s National South Taunton Vale recorded their first win with their 2-1 defeat of St Albans. Staines remain unbeaten at the top of the table after their 2-1 win over Exe. In Women’s North Cambridge City recorded their first victory by overcoming Rover Oxford 4-3.

CANNOCK SHAKEN BUT NOT STIRRED

The first round of the EuroHockey League seems to be destined to cause some upsets for the big boys of European hockey. Cannock went one down in the early minutes of their second first round match in The Hague this morning when Wien’s Wolfgang Laminger deflected the ball into the net. However, Gareth Andrew was able to equalise when the Austrian goalkeeper became disorientated and the ball came loose. Cannock’s second came before half time off the stick of Gareth Andrew. Laminger had a second opportunity to restore parity but a fine reaction save from James Fair kept him out. Cannock were in the ascendancy in the second half but were unable to improve on the 2-1 scoreline.

So Cannock have qualified for the second round. The two remaining sides in Pool H play tomorrow.

GERMANS SUFFER BLOODIED NOSES ON DAY ONE OF NEW LEAGUE. Review of yesterday's play in The Hague

Yesterday in The Hague was a day for outsiders in the EuroHockey League. Both the powerful German sides suffered bloodied noses in matches which the bookies would have given them odds on winning. Crefelder, winners of the last European Club Championships, found themselves one down at half time in Pool G against the French side, St Germain. The Germans managed to find some composure in the second half but could only manage a 2-2 draw. Reading play their first match in the tournament against Crefelder this afternoon and it is likely that their opponents will give no quarter after what must be considered an embarrassing result against one of the minnows. The other shock result of the day was the draw in the match between Club An Der Alster and Waterloo Ducks from Belgium. It is a measure of the increasing strength of Belgian hockey that they went into half time with a one goal advantage over one of Germany’s top sides. The final score, 2-2.

Round One 1^st day results:
Pool H: Dinamo Kazan (Russia)1 – 2 Cannock (England)
Pool A: Atletic Terrassa (Spain) 3 – Grange (Scotland)
Pool D: Club an der Alster (Germany) 2 – 2 Waterloo Ducks (Belgium)
Pool G: Crefelder (Germany) 2 – 2 St Germain (France)

Update to Cannock match in the Hague.

Kazan took an early lead in their opening match against Cannock but Simon Ramsden managed to equalise from a penalty corner. Gareth Andrews put Cannock ahead before the break. Cannock were saved by the video umpire towards the second half when it looked as if a Russian forward had tipped the ball into the Cannock goal.

GRANGE CRASH IN EURO OPENER

Scot's club Grange were not able to emulate their English neighbours from Cannock when they played their opening match against Atletic Terrassa in the EuroHockey League in The Hague this afternoon, losing 3-1.

CANNOCK ON THE ROAD TO QUALIFICATION

Cannock took a leap forward in their bid to qualify from Round One of the new EuroHockey League. Meeting Russian outfit Dinamo Kazan in the Hague this afternoon, they were 2-1 ahead at half time and with no score in the second half they ran out with three points from their opening match. They play their second match against Austrian side, AHTC Wien, tomorrow. English champions Reading also play their first match tomorrow, meeting the powerful German side Crefelder.

Keep watching this blog for other reresults.

EuroHockey League

This exciting new competition starts tomorrow (Friday) when Reading and Cannock play in the first set of Round One matches at the HGC club in the Hague. Next weekend it will be the turn of Loughborough Students, who will be going to the Royal Antwerp Club. TalkHockeyRadio will be bringing you the results from the Hague on this blog and we will have photographs and on-the-spot reports from Antwerp.

BOWDON IN DOUBLE SUCCESS AND RECORD SCORE by Pat Rowley

Reading and Bowdon Hightown Ladies emerged as clear leaders of the English League premier divisions after winning their top of the table clashes. Reading opened up a six point lead in the English men’s League after six matches with a 3-0 win at Cannock. It was a disastrous weekend for Cannock whose defence of the English Cup ended with a 3-2 defeat at Beeston. Bowdon Ladies were 4-1 league winners over Slough and had a walk-over in the English Cup. Their men enjoyed a cup goal scoring spree.. A 20-0 victory over City of Peterborough was the biggest cup victory margin ever between two national league sides. Simon Egerton scored seven of Bowdon’s goals. Also among the goals at the weekend was David de Prez. He scored five in an 8-3 East Grinstead victory over Havant that took them up to second in the league and two more as the Sussex club eliminated Surbiton 5-3 in the cup.

OGs GRAB TOP DIV ONE SPOT WHILST READING PULL AWAY FROM PACK

Old Georgians moved into the top slot in the Slazenger Men’s Division One this afternoon with a 6-2 win over Sheffield University Bankers. A hotly disputed goal by OG’s Patrick Kelly in the sixteenth minute seemed to unsettle the Bankers and they were two down a minute late from a goal by Tom Doran. They slipped back further when Ryan Van Der Riet stepped up to convert a penalty corner in the 21^st, and veteran player-coach Nickie Tompson added another, putting the old boys in the second half with a 4-0 lead. Richard Beeching seemed to have started a bit of a revival when he found the net for the Bankers shortly after the restart and Steve Andrews added to the score with six minutes left on the clock but the home side had the last words with goals by Gareth Carr and a second by Van Der Reit (pictured, white shirt).

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THIS MATCH WILL APPEAR ON OUR MAIN WEB SITE (www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk) OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS.

Old Georgians elevation to the top spot came at the expense of Southgate who dropped two points by only managing a 1-1 draw at Bath Buccaneers. The two bottom place teams in the division were on the wrong end of some impressive scorelines, with Chelmsford scoring five at Old Louhtonians, only to lose 8-5 to the home side. Newly relegated Guildford continue to struggle, with third placed Bournville’s Chris Graham scoring at hat trick in his side’s 6-2 win over the Surrey side.

The Men’s Premier Division saw some considerable movement up and down in the wake of this afternoon’s matches. Reading are six points ahead of the pack following their 3-0 win at Cannock. East Grinstead, whose start to the season faltered, now seem to be motoring, as evidenced by their 8-3 win over Havant, with Dave De Prez scoring five goals in that match. Another team who got off to a slow start, Loughborough Students, saw off Canterbury 6-2, condemning the Kent side to bottom place. Bowdon recorded their first win of the season when they entertained Surbiton. Pakistan international, Ali Ghazanfar, and Alex Edmonstone were the scorers for Bowdon.

Bowdon’s women are still on maximum points at the top of the women’s EHL. The big news story there is that their victims today were second placed Slough and Bowdon’s Tina Cullen was not amongst the scorers. Leicester seem determined to prove that they can still cut the mustard even without their GB players, and they overcame the home side 5-1 on their visit to Poynton. Olton recorded their first win of the season in their 4-1 win over Ipswich, Denise Marston-Smith and Rachel Walker scoring two apiece.

FULL EHL TABLES WILL APPEAR ON OUR MAIN SITE TOMORROW.

TWO WEEKEND WINS LIFT HAVANT

The two debutantes in the Men’s Premier Division were without a win at the start of the weekend but Havant went into their match against Bowdon this afternoon buoyed up by a good win against Canterbury yesterday. Bowdon’s trip south had been less successful, suffering a 6-2 defeat against East Grinstead. But watching this afternoon’s match one was left wondering why either club were swanning around in the lower reaches of the Division. Bowdon got off to a lively start but it was Tim Davenport who opened the scoring for Havant in the eighth minute. Havant’s second goal, sixteen minutes later, can from a penalty corner……against them! A well off-target injection resulted in the ball being intercepted and taken down the length of the pitch for Thornton McDade to put Havant two up. Bowdon had the game by the scruff of the neck for much of the second half but several shots at goal were off target or fended off by Chris Bristow in the Havant goal. It looked as if the score was going to remain at 2-0, but Tim Daventport (Picture shows him celebrating his second goal) struck twice more in the final minutes. Bowdon had the last word after Ali Ghazanfar was stick tackled in the Havant circle, but Simon Egerton’s conversion from the penalty spot was only a consolation goal and it leaves Bowdon three goals adrift and still without a point.

Havant’s second win of the weekend leaves them in seventh place as the two teams ahead of them, Loughborough Students and East Grinstead, both won today. Surbiton had been second behind Reading and only separated by goal difference at the start of the weekend. Yesterday’s defeat by Beeston was followed up by a 5-2 setback against Cannock and they slide from second to sixth.

Slazenger Premier Division Results:
Canterbury 2-6 East Grinstead
Havant 4-1 Bowdon
Loughborough Students 2-1 Hampstead & Westminster
Reading 3-1 Beeston
Surbiton 2-5 Cannock

Southgate’s revival looks on course as they beat Old Loughtonian’s 1-0 at home, the goal coming from Dan Shingles. They are one of three clubs at the top of the table on nine points. Second are Old Georgians where a goal from Nicky Thompson was enough to give them the three points against Chelmsford, who are now trailing at the bottom of the division. Third place Brooklands visited Guildford and came away with the three points. The Surrey club, who were relegated last season, look to be in trouble after a good start to the season.

Not entirely unexpectedly, Holcombe moved into the top place in the National South Division, with Dave Matthews scoring a hat trick in their 6-0 win over Ipswich. Also in hat-trick mode was Philip Balbirnie who scored four times in Cambridge University’s 6-2 win against Whitchurch. In the North Division, Birmingham University consolidated their place at the top of the division with a 5-1 win over Sikh Union Nottingham. High flying City of Peterborough suffered a surprise 4-1 defeat at Barford Tigers. Peterborough are second in the division and Barford are elevated to eighth from their former bottom place.

PICTURES OF THE MATCH BETWEEN HAVANT AND BOWDON WILL APPEAR ON OUR MAIN WEB SITE TOMORROW (MONDAY) TOGETHER WITH FULL UPDATED LEAGUE TABLES. GO TO www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk

HAVANT START TO CLIMB

Havant recorded their first win since promotion to the Men’s Premier Division in a thirteen goal thriller at Canterbury. Havant opened the scoring with Ben Alberry converting a penalty stroke in the sixth minute, but the visitors soon found themselves trailing after a field goal by Chris Bassano-Harper and a penalty corner conversion by Brian Garcia. Havant were able to restore their lead and went into the half time break 5-3 up with goals by Thornton McDade, Ahmed Ezz Mohamed, and two penalty corner strikes by Callum Giles. Further goals by Ezz Mohamed and Giles gave Havant the 8-5 win, which elevates them to seventh in the table. Fellow new boys Bowdon had less luck at East Grinstead. Grinstead, whose start to the season had been disappointing, put six passed the visitors, with Ben Payne, Darren Cheeseman (3), Danny Hall and Mark Pearn, the scorers. Beeston’s early one goal lead at Surbiton was pulled back in the 57^th minute by a brilliant goal by Jimmy Wallis but the Midland’s Tom Sharratt scored twice in the dying minutes to give them the win. Reading remain top of the table on goal difference after their 3-2 win against Loughborough Students. Beeston move into second place.

Final Scores:
Canterbury 5-8 Havant
East Grinstead 6-2 Bowdon
Hampstead & Westminster 0-3 Cannock
Reading 3-2 Loughborough Students
Surbiton 1-3 Beeston

In the Women’s Premier, Tina Cullen has increased her season’s goal tally to seven with a comparatively modest – by her standards – single goal for Bowdon in their 3-1 win at Ipswich. Old Loughtonians, who had shown some promises but had yet to get their season really started, earned their first points against a depleted Canterbury, winning 3-1. Clifton recorded their second win of the season with a 4-1 win at Olton. Two clubs that were particularly likely to feel the impact of extractions, were Leicester and Slough. Alexis Williamson opened the scoring early in the first half for Leicester but Fiona Greenham converted a penalty corner just before half-time. The decider came off the stick of Slough’s Natalie Bell in the last few minutes of the match. As a result of today’s matches Bowdon and Slough stay top separated by goal difference. Old Loughtonian’s win, and Poynton’s 1-1 draw at Chelmsford, mean they move up, leaving Olton in bottom place.

Final Scores:
Chelmsford 1-1 Poynton
Clifton 4 – 1 Olton & West Warwicks
Ipswich 1-3 Bowdon
Leicester 1-2 Slough
Old Loughtonians 3-1 Canterbury.

Update on service problem 15:50 13-10-07

Out intermintent Broadband connection problem has been diagnosed by BT as a line fault which is due to be repaired on 15-10-07. Meanwhile there may be problems updating both this blog and our main web site.

Service Problem 12:00 13-10-07

THR News Blog and TalkHockeyRadio are currently suffering an intermitent problem with Broadband connection which may delay both the blog and the site from being updated.

PREMIER CLUBS TAKE HOME ADVANTAGE by Pat Rowley

All eight premier clubs who entered this winter’s English Women’s Cup have uniquely had the good fortune to be drawn at home for the third round on Sunday week. Bowdon Hightown, the holders who trounced Leeds 16-0 in the second round on Sunday, next meet newcomers to the English League, Taunton Vale.

Slough, last season’s beaten finalists, have been drawn against first division side Trojans whom they beat 8-0 in the 2003 semi-finals.

Leicester, the English League champions, will play National North side, Whitley Bay, for the first time.

ENGLISH WOMEN’S CUP. Third round (Sunday Oct 21). Bowdon Hightown (holders) v Taunton Vale, Cambs City v Staines, Clifton v Cambs Univ, Epsom v Maidenhead or Sevenoaks, Hampstead & W v Reading, Harrogate v Sunderland, Horsham v Barnes HE, Ipswich v Wimbledon, Leicester v Whitley Bay, Nottingham H v Sheffield Hallam, Old Loughtonians v Woking, Olton WW v Chester, Poynton v Wisbech T, Slough v Trojans, W Herts v Birmingham Univ, Worcester v Oxford Hawks.

BEESTON'S PRE SEASON PROMISE COMES TRUE

Before the season started TalkHockeyRadio was being taken to task by Beeston for suggesting that their prospects for the start of the 2007-2008 season were not that bright. It looks as if we are going to have to eat our words. They knocked mighty Cannock off the top spot in the Men’s Premier Division today with a 2-1 victory in a Midlands derby which saw a penalty corner conversion in each half from Richard Stamp and Adam Dixon. The scorer for Cannock was Andrew Langlands. Beeston move up third place behind Surbiton, whose improved form saw them beat Canterbury 1-0. The new league leaders are Reading who met luckless Bowdon away and won 4-1. East Grinstead are far too good a side to be languishing at the bottom of the division and it all came right for them today when they went to Hampstead and Westminster and came away with a 4-1 scoreline. This lifts them to sixth place. Loughborough Students showed that they are a still a force to contend with when they overcame Havant 6-3, leaving the Hampshire side with only one point out of three games.

In Division One, Guildford’s bright start to the season seems to be falling apart. They are on the wrong end of a 6-2 scoreline at Belper and drop down one place to nineth. John Bell’s goal for Brooklands thirteen minutes before the end of time dented Southgate’s promising start to the season but they still lead the pack on goal difference. In fact, all but four of the clubs in the division are on six points. Chelmsford seem to be in deep trouble, with Sheffield University Bankers – a team that was bottom of the division this morning – beating them 5-2. Sheffield move up two places to be replaced by Chelmsford in the bottom slot.

TalkHockeyRadio was at Holcombe Park to see Holcombe play Firebrands in the South Division, although we saw only the last few minutes of the match due to the start time being brought forward to accommodate a Women’s Cup Second Round Match. Holcombe have acquired the service of Dave Matthews, until three seasons ago star of the Dutch Premier League and until recently of Canterbury. Joined by fellow team-mate Danny Laslett from Canterbury, Matthews (pictured - red shirt) has been a prolific goal scorer for his new club. Today was no exception, with Matthews scoring a hat-trick in his side’s 4-1 win. The other scorer for Holcombe was Eric Rose-Innes. Holcombe’s goal average is an astonishing five per match, although surprisingly it is not the highest in the division. Nor do they look likely to catch up with the leaders, University of Exeter, who found the net seven times for no reply against the students from Cambridge. Exeter lead the table on 13 points, with Holcombe in second place (11 points) and Sevenoaks in third (10 points). Teddington’s luck has still not changed as they went down to Whitchurch 5-2.

In the North Division Birmingham University beat mid-table Telford and Wrekin 6-2 to retain the top spot. Leek’s campaign took a knock when they were beaten 2-1 by Peterborough. Peterborough move into second place ahead of Leek. Barford Tigers remain in bottom place after a close encounter at Stourport, which ended at 4-3 to Stourport. Doncaster were in high scoring mode with their 8-3 victims being Kingston-upon-Hull. Nick Budgeon scored five times for Donny in that match.

PICTURES OF THE MATCH BETWEEN HOLCOMBE AND FIREBRANDS WILL SHORTLY BE UPLOADED TO OUR MAIN SITE (www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk) AND UP-TO-DATE SLAZENGER LEAGUE TABLES WIL APPEAR ON THE SITE TOMORROW (MONDAY).

HIGH SCORING DAY IN WOMEN'S PREMIER DIVISION

England’s success on the Rugby field did little to distract the top teams in the Women’s Slazenger EHL from getting on with business as usual. The four top teams in the Women’s Premier Division look intent on opening a gap between them and the lesser teams with goals aplenty this afternoon. Leicester, who we featured last Saturday, were up to full strength with the return of Crista Cullen and bettered Chelmsford 5-3, with a goal each from their England contingent - Hannah Macleod, Helen Richardson, Kerry Williams, Crista Cullen, and Anne Panter. The reply came from Chloe Rogers, Rebecca Alltree, and Ciara O’Brien. (Our picture shows Hanah Macleod on the ball during last season’s clash between the two sides). The Tina Cullen Show hosted Old Loughtonians where the star of the show scored a hat-trick in their 6-0 win over the visitors, whilst there was also no shortage of goals at Slough, where the visitors were Ipswich. Final score there: 5-0. Newly promoted Clifton and Poynton had been struggling until today but the outcome of their match against each other leaves Clifton with three points and a hike into 6^th place in the table, whilst Poynton remain without a point, as do Olton & West Warwickshire and Old Loughtonians. Today’s results put three teams on maximum points – Bowdon, Slough, and Canterbury – with Leicester bringing up fourth place.

Scores in the Women’s Premier today:
Bowdon 6-0 Old Loughtonians
Canterbury 2-1 Olton & W. Warwickshire
Leicester 5-3 Chelmsford
Poynton 0-3 Clifton
Slough 5-0 Ipswich

Reading’s phenomenal success in the Women’s South Division last season looks set to repeat itself in Division One. They beat University of Durham 6-0 at home, with goals from Chiara Clarke (2) Claire Kerr (3) and Jenna Woolven. Sutton Coldfield, who must hold some sort of record for the most promoted/relegated club, notched up their second win of the season by beating Doncaster 4-1, and are in third place behind Sunderland, who could only draw against Barnes. Only Reading are on maximum points, whilst Harleston struggle at the bottom end of the table, still without a point, after their defeat by Loughborough Students.

In the Women’s National North Division, the women from Cannock seem keen on emulating the menfolk. They have a three point lead in the table after their 6-2 win over Sheffield Hallam. In Women’s South Division a top versus bottom clash ended predictably, with Staines overcoming Taunton Vale.

MEN’S NATIONAL NORTH AND SOUTH DIVISIONS

Telford & Wrekin hoisted themselves up the table into fifth when they saw off visiting Barford Tigers 6-2 in the North Division, whilst Leek secured their lead at the top of the table by winning against Sikh Union Nottingham 1-3. There were several high scoring matches in the South Division. Exeter Uni put eight passed Ipswich for a reply of two, Sevenoaks overcame Indian Gymkhana 5-2, and Holcombe were the victors in an 8-1 goal blitz against Teddington, whose season seems to being going from bad to worse.

Holcombe are entertaining Firebrands tomorrow and we hope to bring you a report on that match together with photographs.

FULL LEAGUE TABLES WILL BE AVAILABLE ON OUR MAIN WEBSITE ON MONDAY. GO TO www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk