FORMER GB MANAGER RECEIVES NEW YEAR HONOUR

Bernie Cotton, assistant manager of the 1988 gold medal winning team in Seoul and manager of the 1992 Barcelona squad, has received the MBE in the New Years Honours List. The honour is in recognition of Cotton's work as Director of the holding camp for Team GB at the recent Olympics in Beijing.

Cotton started his playing career with Hertfordshire side Blueharts before moving on to Southgate. He was a member of the GB squad for the 1972 Munich Olympics and was selected as captain to play in the Moscow Olympics eight years later. (The team was withdrawn as a protest against the Russian invasion of Afghanistan).

JACKSON SNATCHES WIN FOR ENGLAND

Picture (right): England captain Ben Hawes receives the winner's salver from Tournament Director Martyn Gallivan.

The final men’s match between England and Scotland proved to be an exciting finale to a weekend of entertaining hockey a t the Tri-Nations Tournament in Eastleigh this afternoon. England went into the match with Australia topping the table with nine points and a goal difference of plus eight. By contrast England had six points and a goal difference of plus three. But things did not look promising when Gareth Hall and Stephen Dick each scored for Scotland in the opening minute. Ashley Jackson pulled one back for England but Stephen Dick converted a penalty corner seconds late and restored Scotland’s two goal lead. But although the game was finely balanced, England had the better share of the chances and took full advantage of them. Adam Dixon scored from a penalty corner and a goal in open play from Richard Alexander gave England the equaliser. England went into the break in the lead after Jackson scored his second from a penalty corner but the second half was less a minute old when Gareth Hall scored his second for Scotland to restore parity. Although England were playing well, the goal difference to beat Australia seemed well beyond reach. But England were to have a couple of golden spells in the match. Five minutes into the second half England won a penalty stroke, which Jackson duly despatched, followed by a Richard Mantell penalty corner conversion. Stephen Dick scored his third to narrow the gap to one, but in the space of three minutes Jonty Clarke, Richard Alexander, Glenn Kirkham and Ashley Jackson, all found the net from open play, Jackson’s goal coming in the dying seconds. Jackson’s goal was his ninth in the tournament, making him the weekend’s top scorer. The final score – 10-5 to England – was enough to give England an identical points and goal difference tally with the Australians. The final clincher was the goals scored, where England’s total was 36 as against Australia’s 24.

The final match in the women’s tournament was only marginally less exciting, with the potential for all three teams to win the tournament. Scotland were 3-2 up against England before Ashleigh Ball scored the equaliser in the 36th minute. Skipper, Kerry Williams, scored her second of the match from a penalty corner in the last two minutes to give England the match and the tournament. England’s other scorer was Natalie Seymour.

Final tables:

Men’s Tournament: 1st England 9 pts (+8 – goals scored 26), 2nd Australia 9 pts (+8 – goals scored 24), 3rd Scotland 0 pts (-16).

Women’s Tournament: 1st England 7 pts (+2), 2nd Australia 6 pts (-2), 3rd 4 pts (+2).

CLARKE'S THREE GIVES ENGLAND WIN by Peter Savage at the Tri Nations Indoors at Eastleigh

England’s men made amends for a defeat against the Australians earlier in the day with a fine performance against the Scots, who in theory are more experienced at the indoor version of the game than their English cousins. Gareth Hall who opened the scoring for Scotland after only three minutes, and Stephen Dick who put the Scots back ahead after Ashley Jackson had equalised. But it was England’s Jonty Clarke (pictured) who showed some fine stickwork to scofre a hat-trick in under seven minutes and send England into the break with a 4-2 lead. The Scots looked threatening in the second half and were dangerous from corners – Ross McPherson and Stephen Dick on target to give Scotland two more goals – but England showed themselves equally adept at corners with goals from Richard Smith and Ashley Jackson. Final score 6-4 to England.

It had been a different story earlier in the day when England faced Australia. England looked set to repeat yesterday’s victory by going into the second half on 3-2, the goals coming from Jonty Clarke, Richard Alexander and Ashley Jackson. The very athletic style of the Australians seemed not to suit hockey on the boards, but they settled down in the second half to some very controlled hockey. Despite goals from Richard Smith and Adam Dixon, the Austrians caught up and overtook England, scoring twice in the last three minutes to take the match 7-5.

There was to be no repeat of yesterdays win over Australia for the women either. Despite goals from sally Walton (2), Jo Ellis and Becky Herbert, the Australians ran out 5-4 winners. It was a last gasp goal by Jo Ellis, her second of the match, that stopped England going down to Scotland 4-3 this evening. Other England goals came from Beckie Herbert and Sally Walton.

ENGLAND TWO OUT OF TWO INDOORS

England got off to an excellent start at the Tri-Nations Indoor Tournament in Eastleigh yesterday (Friday), with the men and women both recording wins against Australia. Beckie Herbert started the scoring after six minutes in the women's game, scoring a second just before the break in their 5-3 win. Other England goals came from Sally Walton, Kerry Williams and Charlotte Hartley. The men also put five passed the Australians for a reply of two, with England goals from Ashley Jackson (2), Richard Alexaner, Richard Lane and Jonty Clarke.

The tournament continues today and tomorrow. TalkHockeyRadio will be there with reports and photographs from Eastleigh. More photographs will appear during the week.

Please note that due to the installation of new computer equipment in our studios that photograph albums on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk may not be updated until Tuesday or Wednesdayy.

SLOUGH MOVE INTO TOP SPOT IN WOMEN'S INDOOR LEAGUE

Picture: Veteran Chelmsford player Lynn Bollington (left) and Chloe Rogers (far right) in their 8-4 win over Ipswich

The overnight leaders in the Premier Division of the Women’s Indoor EHL at Whitgift School, Croydon, found themselves being defeated today by a side who started this morning with nil points and a -11 goal difference. Chelmsford, who are propping up the Premier Division outdoors, are reinforced indoors by GB international Chloe Rogers and veteran Chelmsford hand, Lyn Bollington, who came out of retirement to return to playing on the boards. Between them they scored nine goals in their two matches today, giving them six points and knocking Olton & West Warwicks off the top spot. Rogers put Chelmsford two ahead in less than five minutes against Ipswich in their opening match, and four second half goals - three from Rogers and two from Rebecca Altree – gave Chelmsford a well deserved 8-4 win. Ipswich, who were in second place at the start of play this morning, slip to fifth place after this and a draw with Clifton. Rogers also opened the scoring in their match against Olton, going on to score two more to give the Essex side a 4-2 win. Olton’s loss was Slough’s gain, as last season’s champions first beat Liverpool Sefton 5-0 and then Canterbury 4-3 to move into the number one position. It was a disappointing day for Bowdon Hightown, who lost to Olton 4-2. Their later 9-3 demolition of Aldridge was not enough to stop them dropping from third to fourth. Their place is taken by Clifton, who beat Liverpool Sefton 3-1, but could only draw 1-1 against Ipswich. Despite Chelmsford’s six points from today’s matches, they only move from eighth to seventh in the table. The Premier Division resumes in the new year.

Women’s EHL Premier Division after four matches: 1.Slough 9 pts, 2. Olton & WW 9 pts, 3. Clifton 8 pts, 4. Bowdon Hightown 7 pts, 5. Ipswich 7 pts, 6. Canterbury 6 pts, 7. Chelmsford 6 pts, 8. Aldridge 0 pts, 9. Liverpool Sefton 0 pts.

In the Men’s Premier Division, Old Loughtonians maintain a two point lead at the top of the table despite a 7-7 draw against Beeston. Beeston were winning 7-5 with less than a minute left on the clock but last gasp goals from the old boys’ Oliver Didham and James Stedman deprived Beeston of the three points. Loughts later went on to beat last season’s Championships finalists, Loughborough Students, 7-4. East Grinstead executed a 13-0 demolition against Canterbury in their first match of the day, with German international Martin Haner scoring four and Ashley Jackson scoring five. A late comeback from 5-2 down against Reading gave Grinstead a 5-5 draw in their second match. Beeston, who were lying in second place overnight, slipped to fourth after their draw against Loughts and a 9-3 defeat at the hands of Reading.

Men’s EHL Premier Division after four matches: 1. Old Loughtonians 10 pts, 2. East Grinstead 8 pts, 3. Reading 7 pts, 4. Beeston 7 pts, 5. Harleston Magpies 6 pts, 6. Loughborough Students 5 pts, 7. Havant 4 pts, 8. Bournville 3 pts, 9. Canterbury 0 pts.

OLTON AND OLD LOUGHTS TAKE FIRST DAY LEAD

After the first day of play in the Indoor EHL Premier Division, Old Loughtonians top the men’s table, whilst Olton and West Warwicks lead the women’s.

Old Loughts’ Oliver Didhams was on form in their first match of the day, scoring five times for his side in their 9-2 win against Canterbury. Didham’s found the net in their second match, this time facing Harleston Magpies, with further goals from Gareth Andrew (2) and Richard Lane, both of whom play their outdoor hockey for Cannock. Final score in that match, 4-2 to Old Loughtonians. Old Loughts are on six points, ahead of Beeston on goal difference. Beeston beat the Magpies 5-0 and went on to record a 6-1 win against Bournville. There was a replay of last season’s National Championships Finals, as Loughborough Students met East Grinstead. Ashley Jackson (back with his former club for the indoor league) and Adamson Harper, scored in the opening minute for East Grinstead, and six minutes into the second half the Sussex side had a commanding 6-2 lead. Goals for the Students by Richard Smith, Robbie Smith (2) and Tim Benford resulted in a final score of 6-6. East Grinstead made no mistake in their second match, despatching Havant 8-4, whilst Loughborough Students saw off Canterbury 8-1.

Positions after two matches: 1. Old Loughtonians 6 pts, 2. Beeston 6 pts, 3. East Grinstead 4 pts, 4. Loughborough Students 4 pts, 5. Reading 3 pts, 6. Bournville 3 pts, 7. Havant 0 pts, 8. Canterbury 0 pts, 9. Harleston Magpies 0 pts.

In the women’s league, Jane Smith made an early mark in their match against Olton, but Denise Marston-Smith managed to pull one back for Olton. An Alex Scott goal restored Slough’s lead but goals from Rachel Walker and Emma McCabe gave Olton the 3-2 win. Olton then had a more comfortable victory against Liverpool Sefton, winning 8-1. It has not been a good season outdoors for Ipswich but things looked much better for the ladies from Suffolk indoors. With a 3-2 win over Canterbury and a 3-2 win over Aldridge, Ipswich and Olton are the only two sides on maximum points. Tina Cullen found the net six times in Bowdon Hightown’s 12-0 demolition of Liverpool Sefton but had less luck when they met Clifton, Jo Ellis scoring Bowdon’s only goal in a 1-1 draw.

Positions after two matches.: 1.Olton & WW 6 pts, 2. Ipswich 6 pts, 3. Bowdon Hightown 4 pts, 4. Clifton 4 pts, 5. Slough 3 pts, 6. Canterbury 3 pts, 7. Aldridge 0 pts, 8. Chelmsford 0 pts, 9. Liverpool Sefton 0 pts.

THE CURSE OF THE UNREGISTERED PLAYER STRIKES AGAIN

For the second season running Premiership side Hampstead and Westminster have had points deducted for fielding an unregistered player. The player in question was on the team sheet for the match but did not take the field during Hampstead’s 2-2 away draw against Beeston on 30 November. In a press release the England Hockey League Committee describe the club as “….inadvertently fielding an illegible player….”

The League Committee have ordered that Hampstead and Westminster be deducted one point. The club remain in 7th place but are now on seven points along with Loughborough Students.

In releasing their decision, the Committee commented, “The EHLC wished to note the club’s full co-operation on the matter.”

Last season Loughborough Students and Bath Bucanners suffered a massive points deductions as a result of fielding "deregistered" players.

CANNOCK DRAW SHORT STRAW FOR EURO ROUND TWO

(Picture: Leuven and Three Rock Rovers have already played each other in Round One)

Experienced European campaigners Cannock have drawn the Dutch club, Bloemendaal in the Second Round of the EuroHockey League, due to be played in Hamburg next Easter. League newbies, East Grinstead have a less challenging, although tough enough draw, against French club St Germain, whilst Reading find themselves paired up with Spanish side Real Club Polo Barcelona. These are three of the draws in the EuroHockey League made in Amsterdam earlier today. Rather like last season, where English clubs Reading and Cannock were drawn against each other in Round Two, this time around it is two German clubs who will have to try to eliminate the other to reach Round Three – Dusseldorfer and host side UHC Hamburg. Probably the most disappointing meeting of the eight matches is the game between Belgian club Leuven and Three Rock Rovers from Ireland. These two sides shared a pool with Atletic Terrassa in Round One and pulled off a coup by eliminating the Spanish side. This means that only one of these two gallant outsiders will progress to Round Three.

The draw will be:
Bloemendaal (Netherlands) v Cannock (England)
East Grinstead (England) v St Germain (France)
Dusseldorfer (Germany) v UHC Hamburg (Germany)
Club Egara (Spain) v Der Club an der Alster (Germany)
Rotterdam (Netherlands) v Waterloo Ducks (Belgium)
Leuven (Belgium) v Three Rock Rovers (Ireland)
RC Polo Barcelona (Spain) v Reading (England)

GLOOM TURNS TO JOY AS OLYMPIC FUNDING ANNOUNCED

Only a few days ago the talk was about drastic funding cuts for Olympic hockey, even to the point of suggesting that a choice may have to be made as to whether we entered a men’s or women’s team in 2012. The worst case scenario was that hockey would not be competing on home soil in an Olympic Tournament. But what a difference a week makes. UK sport has announced that hockey will be receiving a grant of approximately £3,500,000 per annum. That is about a 25% increase on what was allowed for Beijing.

The Executive Chairman of England Hockey, Philip Kimberley, commented on the news, “I know that our fifth place finish for the men and the sixth for the women in Beijing has given us a strong platform from which to build.” He went on to say, “This increase in funding will enable us to give our athletes that little bit more support to put everything they need in place to maximise their chances of success.”

HAVANT AND SOUTHGATE UNABLE TO MOVE OFF BOTTOM

The Southgate Hockey Centre was not a good place for the sentimental this afternoon. Two great clubs battled it out in the hope that a win would lift them off the bottom of the Men’s Slazenger EHL Premier Division. Southgate held a slight psychological edge over Havant, having won one match this season and drawn another, but the Hampshire club were sitting at the bottom of the table with only two draws to their credit. The game started badly for Havant, with Paul Rabe being binned within two minutes, the first of two yellow cards he was shown. The match itself settled down to fairly mundane stuff and the game reached the break at 0-0. A flurry of activity early in the second half brought Southgate two goals in two minutes, the first from Dan Shingles and the second from Rick Gay. The home side then started to play like a team that were accustomed to winning every week but the euphoria of being two ahead was short lived. Havant were running out of time to grab some points and it was evident from the way they upped the pace as the final whistle approached. It brought its reward. Southgate were shattered when Havant’s Egyptian star, Ahmed Ezz Mohamed banged home two penalty corners in the dying minutes of the match. Final score 2-2 and a modest tally of one point each, which will not help either side in their struggled to lift them off the bottom.

Neither Southgate nor Havant were helped by proceedings at Loughborough, where the Students won their first match of the season. Bowdon had gone one ahead through a goal by Ali Brogdon but Loughborough Students’ Nick Catlin soon equalised. An early second half goal by James Osborn gave the Students the 2-1 win. Beeston’s match at home to Hampstead and Westminster echoed proceedings at Southgate, as the hosts were 2-0 up but finished the match at 2-2. Beeston’s scorers were Jamie Parker and Adam Dixon, whilst the scorers for Hampstead were Will Naylor and Simon Lanyon. Surbiton recorded their fifth draw of the season when they visited East Grinstead – the score 0-0 there - but the match that everyone was hanging on the result of was the game between Cannock and Reading. This morning both teams were leading the table on 20 points, with Cannock having the better goal difference. Reading took an early lead through Chris Cargo but, in a golden ten minute period, Richard Lane scored, followed by two from Gareth Andrew. Andy Watts pulled one back for Reading but the match ended 3-2 in Cannock’s favour.

As a result of today’s matches there is no change in the Premiership table.

In the East Conference, Canterbury relinquished their lead by going down 3-2 to Indian Gymkhana. Both teams are on 19 points and a goal difference of 13 and they are separated by a two goal margin of goals scored. In the North none of the three leaders – Belper, University of Durham and Brooklands MU – played this afternoon due to frozen pitches. In the West, Old Georgians could only draw against Guildford, and University of Exeter resume the lead after their 4-2 win over Stourport.

WORLD HOCKEY HAS NEW LEADER

The President of the European Hockey Federation has been elected the new President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) at the FIH Congress in Los Angeles. Leandro Negre said on his election, "I am very happy to be elected and I would like to thank the national associations for voting for me." He went on to say about the outgoing President, "And I would like to thank Els van Breda Vriesman for the excellent work she did for hockey."

Negre is a popular and avuncular Spaniard who, during his Presidency of the EHF, has seen the expansion of European club competition and in particular the introduction of the EuroHockey League. There had been fears expressed ahead of the election that the dethroning of Vriesman would mean the loss of representation for hockey on the International Olympic Committee, where she has been a member since 2001.

The FIH Congress has seen the welcoming of five new member nations - Mongolia, Qatar, Togo, Vanuatu, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The FIH now has 127 member countries.

BOWDON KEEP IT ONE HUNDRED PERCENT

Bowdon Hightown have reached the winter break with their remarkable 100% record intact, making them the only side in the Slazenger EHL to get to this stage without dropping a point. Their Women’s Premier Division match against Canterbury promised to be a stern test of their record but an early goal from Tina Cullen was sufficient to give them the three points. The gap between Bowdon and second place opened up to nine points after Slough went down to a goal by Lucy Brown in their 1-0 defeat at Leicester. Olton & West Warwicks move into second following their 2-1 win at home to Poynton, Naomi James scoring both of Olton’s goals. At the basement end of the division, Chelmsford picked up their first point of the season with a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Ipswich. Clifton played hosts to Trojans and sent their visitors home without a point, beating the Hampshire side 3-1, with Clifton’s goals coming from Fleur Horner, Harriett Pearce and Elen Mumford.

SLAZENGER EHL WOMEN’S PREMIER DIVISION: 1. Bowdon 27 pts (+18), 2. Olton & WW 18 pts (+13), 3. Slough 16 pts (+13), 4. Canterbury 16 pts (+12), 5. Leicester 14 pts (+4), 6. Clifton 13 pts (+1), 7. Poynton 9 pts (-5), 8. Trojans 7 pts (-6), 9. Ipswich 5 pts (-19), 10. Chelmsford 1 pt (-31). Chelmsford and Clifton have a game in hand (due to be played on 1/2/09).
Reading and Barnes maintain the charge at the top of the Women’s East Conference. Reading, who have a lead of one point over Barnes, inflicted a 5-1 defeat on Maidstone, Reading’s goals coming from Becky Dru, Vicyy Bryant (2) and Claire Kerry (2). Barnes had temporarily found themselves trailing at Sevenoaks after Fiona Harland opened the scoring from a penalty corner but eventually managed to win the match 3-2. The match between Old Loughtonians and St Albans had to be postponed due to the absence of an umpire.

In the North Conference Loughborough Students maintain their seven point lead after a 3-1 win at Liverpool Sefton, all the goals coming in the last seventeen minutes. Belper, in second place, had a useful 4-0 win over Doncaster. The match between Sunderland and University of Durham fell foul of a frozen pitch and now Durham and Sunderland are both two games in hand. Five was the figure for the two front runners in the West Conference. Birmingham University retain their four point lead after beating Swansea 5-0, whilst second placed Cannock benefited from Charlotte Craddock hat-trick in their 5-1 win over Rover Oxford.

AMAT AND AYMAR WIN TOP AWARD

Spanish hockey star Pol Amat (Pictures 1 & 2) has been crowned WorldHockey Player of the Year at the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Congress in Los Angeles. The presentation was made by FIH President Els Van Breda Vriesman during a special awards ceremony held at Universal Studios in the city.. Amat is the first Spanish player to win the award. He takes over the title from Australian, Jamie Dwyer. The Young Player award went to Eddie Ockenden of Australia.

The women’s Player of the Year went to Luciana Aymar of Argentina (Picture 3). This is the second year in succession that she has won the award and the fifth year in total. Aymar previously won the award in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2007. The women’s Young Player is The Netherland’s Maartje Paumen.

The WorldHockey Player of the Year Awards were decided this year by all the players participating in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

BOWDON MAKE IT HARD WORK BUT EXTEND LEAD

Today’s wintery conditions had a limited effect on the England Hockey League, with only the match at Chelmsford against Clifton being postponed in the Women’s Premier Division. Three women’s Conference games were postponed, those being the match between Southgate and Reading in the East, and the matches between Doncaster and Sunderland, and University of Durham and Bradford, in the North. All the men’s Fourth Round Cup matches were completed.

In the Slazenger Women’s EHL Premier Division, Bowdon extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points after travelling south to play Slough, who were in second place. Missing Jane Smith, sidelined due to a knee injury, it looked as if Slough would be easy meat for Bowdon, but the visitors made heavy weather of a game they seemed easily capable of winning. The match was decided by a single goal scored late in the first half by Bowdon’s Tina Cullen. Slough now have Canterbury breathing down their necks after the Kent side beat Olton & West Warwicks 4-2 at home. Canterbury move into third place, separated on goal difference from Slough. Ipswich’s season just seems to go from bad to worse as they suffered their sixth defeat of the season away to Poynton. Leicester, who seem to be boxing well beneath their weight, recorded a useful win at Trojans, goals coming from Abi Parker, Vanessa Hawkins and Lauren Turner.

Our picture shows Tina Cullen celebrating her first half goal in her side's 1-0 win over Slough

SLAZENGER EHL WOMEN’S PREMIER DIVISION: 1. Bowdon 24 pts (+17), 2. Slough 16 pts (+14), 3. Canterbury 16 pts (+13), 4. Olton & West Warwicks 15 pts (+12), 5. Leicester 11 pts (+3), 6. Clifton 10 pts* (-1), 7. Poynton 9 pts (-4), 8. Trojans 7 pts (-4), 9. Ipswich 4 pts (-19) , 10. Chelmsford 0 pts* (-31). *Clifton and Chelmsford have a game in hand.

In the women’s Conferences, Reading maintain their lead in the East despite not having played today. Second placed Barnes took the opportunity to close the gap with a good win against Staines. Nicola Brown scored from one penalty stroke but was not able to repeat the effort just before the break when Barnes were awarded a second. However, she made amends with a penalty corner conversion in the second half. Final score 5-1 to Barnes. Southgate, another team that did not play today, now find themselves in third place but sharing 13 points with Old Loughtonians, who beat Horsham 4-1. The postponement of University of Durham’s match means that Loughborough Students now have a seven point lead at the top of the North Conference. They beat Belper at home 3-0. Durham and Belper are now both on 13 points with Durham taking the second spot on goal difference. The West played a full fixture list today, with University of Birmingham allowing the gap between them and second placed Cannock to narrow after the students could only draw 1-1 at Bournemouth. Cannock put five passed Firebrands for no reply. Sutton Coldfield share 16 points with Cannock after the they beat Exe 2-1.

ENGLAND HOCKEY MEN’S CUP ROUND FOUR
Men’s North Conference side, Sheffield University Bankers, must have thought they had a chance against non-EHL side Fareham when their Tristan Gillbody scored in the opening seconds of the match. But, in a few see-saw minutes, Craig Peel equalised from a corner for Fareham, only to see Rob Millar repeat the trick for the Bankers. John Kinder then equalised again for Fareham and after that it was all Fareham’s, with Kinder scoring a hat-trick in their 5-3 win. Fareham’s other goal came from Geoff Abbott. Fareham remain the only non-EHL side in the competition. The other Sheffield side, Sheffield Hallam Civica faired less well, feeling Beeston’s wrath as the Nottingham side made amends for losing 4-0 in the league to Surbiton yesterday. Goals from Adam Dixon (2), Tim Whiteman, Ben Arnold, David Griffiths and Charlie Brooks gave Beeston a 6-2 win. Another side seeming to make amends for yesterday were Canterbury, who could only draw their East conference match yesterday. Star of the show there was Lloyd Norris-Jones, who scored five times in his team’s 6-1 win over Indian Gymkhana.

MEN’S CUP FOURTH ROUND:
Bowdon v Old Georgians. w/o to Bowdon
Brooklands 5 Leek 2
Cannock 2 Southgate 1
Canterbury 6 Indian Gymkhana 1
Old Loughtonians 3 Barford Tigers 2
Reading 8 Firebrands 0
Sheffield Hallam Civica 2 Beeston 6
Sheffield University Bankers 2 Fareham 5

Result of Premier Division match which started at 17:00

A late Danny Hall goal spared East Grinstead’s blushes as they nearly went down to a single second half goal scored by Bowdon’s Simon Egerton. This late result makes no difference to the table but it does confirm the gap that is opening up between the leaders and East Grinstead in third place.

SLAZENGER EHL MEN’S PREMIER DIVISION: 1. Cannock 20 pts (+19), 2. Reading 20 pts (+16), 3. East Grinstead 16 pts (+8), 4. Beeston 14 pts (+9), 5. Surbiton 13 pts (+5), 6. Bowdon 10 pts (-7), 7. Hampstead & Westminster 7 pts (-7), 8. Loughborough Students 4 pts (-10), 9. Southgate 4pts (-17), 10. Havant 2 pts (-16).

CANNOCK AND READING NECK AND NECK

Cannock and Reading are still neck and neck at the head of the table after this afternoon’s matches in the Men’s Premier Division of the Slazenger EHL. The two clubs have drawn five points clear of third place East Grinstead, whose match against Bowdon started at 17:00. Cannock travelled down to London to play Hampstead and Westminster and the Londoners managed to keep their visitors at bay until the last 15 minutes, when goals by David Harris, Hardeep Jawanda and Gareth Andrews gave the visitors a 3-0 win. Reading’s scoreline was the same when they entertained Southgate, with the goals coming from Warren D’Souza, Simon Pinks and Huw Jones in their 3-0 win. Havant must have thought themselves on course for their first win of the season, leading 3-1 at the break against Loughborough Students, with goals from Calum Giles (2) and Ahmed Ezz Mohamed. An early second half goal from Simon Faulkner and a late goal from James Osborn, dashed Havant’s hopes. The Student’s other goal came from Jerome Goudie. Surbiton, who have had a slow start to the season, pulled off a surprise 4-0 win over visiting Beeston, goals coming from Andy Cornick, Rob Moore, Matt Daly and James Tindall.

In the Conferences, Old Georgians go top in the West after an emphatic win 6-1 win over Cardiff, with goals from Nicky Thompson, John Ryan Van Der Reit, Gareth Carr (2), James Kingstone and David Tyler. OG’s benefited from a slip-up by this morning’s leaders, University of Exeter, who went down to a single goal from Guildford’s Daniel Emery. Exeter are now in second place, followed by Bournville, who won their match against Birmingham University, 3-2. In the East, Canterbury saw a 3-1 lead evaporate in seven minutes when they played Bromley and Beckenham. Despite a 3-3 draw, they stay top of the table but they are closely pressed by Indian Gymkhana and Sevenoaks, both of whom won today. In the North, Barford Tiger’s Harjinder Sandhu nearly caused an upset when he scored within two minutes of their match against leaders, Belper. They held onto their lead for just under twenty minutes before first James Hewitt, and then Tom Sherratt, found the net. Further goals by Richard Kitchen, Chris Hall and Sam McCambridge gave Belper a 5-2 win. They hold the top spot, separated from University of Durham in second place by goal difference. Durham won this afternoons encounter against Leek 3-1. Brooklands MU are one point behind the leaders and improved their goal difference with a 9-1 win over Formby. David Seddon went for a complete set of goals - one corner, two field goals, and a penalty stroke – with additional goals coming from Russell Anderson, John Bell, Ollie Cooper (2) and Aiden Khares.

PLEASE CHECK THIS BLOG AGAIN FOR THE LATE PREMIERSHIP RESULT.

Correction to Women's Round Four Cup Report

An error in the press agency release made a complete nonsense of our story reagarding the walkover in the match between Clifton and St Neots. We are now informed that it was Clifton who were given the walkover, meaning that there are in fact two Premier Division sides left in the last eight.

Our apologies for the error. We have now corrected our earlier report.

GEORGIANS EXTINGUISH FIREBRAND'S FLAMES

Today proved what a volatile place the top of the men’s Premier Division of the Slazenger League can be. Beeston, who moved into third place yesterday when they won their re-arranged match against Bowdon, found themselves playing the leaders, Cannock. A 0-0 draw must be considered a good result when seen against Cannock’s form this season, but it pushes Beeston back into fourth place. Reading keep their second place but close on Cannock and are only separated by goal difference. This was as a result of their 6-2 win over Loughborough Students, who now seem deep in the trouble zone with only three points from seven games. Fellow strugglers, Southgate, move off the bottom after a 3-2 win over Hampstead and Westminster, their place being taken by Havant, who went down 3-2 to East Grinstead. Surbiton won only their second match of the season by beating Bowdon at home.

SLAZENGER MEN’S ENGLAND HOCKEY LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION: 1. Cannock 17 pts (+16), 2. Reading 17 pts (+13), 3. East Grinstead 15 pts (+8), 4. Beeston 14 pts (+13), 5. Surbiton 10 pts (+1), 6. Bowdon 9 pts (-7), 7. Hampstead & Westminster 7 pts (-4), 8. Southgate 4 pts (-14), 9. Loughborough Students 3 pts (-10), 10. Havant 1 pt (-16).

TalkHockeyRadio went out this afternoon looking for goals and we found them aplenty in the West Conference match between Old Georgians and Firebrands. The tale of St George and a fire breathing dragon were not entirely lost on us and this more modern day meeting had very much the same ending. The two clubs have the distinction of being two away from either end of the table and the difference in their ranking resulted in a match that turned into a slaughter of the innocents. OGs always looked a little bit quicker, a little bit more skilful, and a little bit more inventive. After a flurry of early goals scored by Gareth Carr (two from corners) and Nicky Thompson, Firebrands made a comeback of sorts after Ben Trembath found the net s, leaving the score at 3-1 as the sides went into the break. Although it was not entirely one-way traffic, the old boys piled on the pressure in the second half, with Gareth Carr scoring from two more corners, and Patrick Kelly and David Tyler adding to the tally. The final score; a staggering 9-2, with Firebrands second goal coming from Chris Rich. What was an otherwise entertaining match was spoilt by levels of dissent which we have not witnessed in an EHL match for some time and resulted in a number of deserved yellow cards. Shame.

Our photograph shows player-coach Nicky Thompson scoring his side's third goal. Further images from this match will appear on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk soon.

OG’s win leaves them in second place behind University of Exeter, who beat Cardiff 2-0. There is now a four point gap between OGs and Bournville, who drew 2-2 today against Bath Buccaneers.

In the other Conferences, Canterbury keep up their bid for promotion from the East with a 7-0 win over Ipswich, goals coming from Lloyd Norris-Jones (3), Michael Farrer (2) and Jess Dowsing. There are now three sides on 13 points chasing Canterbury, Old Loughtonians, Indian Gymkhana and and Sevenoaks. Of the three, only Sevenoaks failed to record three points, going down to a single goal by Yasser Khan at Holcombe. In the North Conference, Belper were able to outdo Old Georgians, scoring 11 times in their 11-2 win over Sheffield University Bankers. Belper are now at the top of the division separated on goal difference from University of Durham, who beat the other Sheffield side, Sheffield Hallam , 5-4 this afternoon. Brooklands, who were top of the table this morning, could only draw against lowly Telford and Wrekin, and slip to third place.

THE WOMEN’S CUP FOURTH ROUND took on a slightly surreal look, as only two Premiership sides survive into the last eight. Clifton progress as a result of a walkover against St Neots, the latter having not touched a ball to get to this stage, themselves having had the benefit of walkovers. Two goals by University of Birmingham’s Liz George knocked out the Cup holders, Leicester, and Reading eliminated Trojans 3-1 with goals from Vicky Bryant, Marianne Downer and Gemma Wooven. The only other remaining Premiership side is Bowdon Hightown, who knocked out fellow Premier Division Olton & West Warwicks with a 4-0 win.

ROUND FOUR RESULTS:
Cambridge City 3 Old Loughtonians 0
Clifton v St Neots w/o to Clifton
Dereham 2 Barnes 5
Holcombe 0 Epsom 2
Leicester 1 University of Birmingham 2
Olton 0 Bowdon 4
Reading 3 Trojans 1
Sutton Coldfield 4 Horsham

OLTON UNABLE TO LIVE WITH LEAGUE'S BEST

Despite a flying start to the season, it looks as if Olton & West Warwicks are unable to live with the top sides in the Women’s Slazenger EHL Premier Division. This morning they were sitting in second place behind Bowdon Hightown, who they had recently played to decide the lead. But they now slip to third after this afternoon’s encounter with Slough. Slough’s Lauren Penny had opened the scoring and then added a second in the first half, with evergreen Jane Smith giving Slough a third. Olton’s Rachel Walker led the charge in a late first-half comeback, scoring twice in six minutes, but the revival was short lived. In the second half, a third from Lauren Penny and a second from Jane Smith put Slough 5-2 ahead. Lucilla Wright briefly closed the gap to 5-3 but a penalty stroke award to Slough, converted by Alex Scott, gave Slough the final word. 6-3 to Slough.

Olton’s defeat allowed Bowdon to increase their lead at the top to five points. Bowdon’s Tina Cullen and Sally Walton scored the only two goals in their match against Trojans. Leicester, who seem to be struggling to find their form this season, move up one in the table after their 1-0 win over Clifton. Abi Harper the scorer there. Canterbury have lost the drawing habit and found the scoring habit with their third win of the season, this against Ipswich. Chelmsford, propping up the Premier Division, were probably grateful for a fairly modest defeat this afternoon. Helena Roberts managed to score a first half equaliser in their match against Poynton but Helen Armishaw’s second half goal for Poynton was the decider.

WOMEN’S SLAZENGER EHL PREMIER DIVISION: 1. Bowdon 21 pts (+16), 2. Slough 16 pts (+15), 3. Olton 15 pts (+14), 4. Canterbury 13 pts (+10), 5. Clifton 10 pts (-1), 6. Leicester 8 pts (+1), 7. Trojans 7 pts (-2), 8. Poynton 6 pts (-6), 9. Ipswich 4 pts (-17), 10. Chelmsford 0 pts (-31).

The re-arranged match between Men’s Premier Division Beeston and Bowdon, postponed from last weekend because of a waterlogged pitch, ended 5-3 in Beeston’s favour, Beeston’s scorers being Martin Jones, Adam Dixon, David Griffiths (2) and Mohammed Nadeem. With all sides having played six matches, Beeston’s win pushes East Grinstead into fourth, with Beeston occupying the third place vacated by them.

In the women’s East Conference, second placed Barnes slipped up when they visited Old Loughtonians, losing 4-2. However, the top of the table remains unchanged. By virtue of their win, Old Loughtonians move up from seventh to fifth. Things are tight near the top of the North Conference, as can be evidenced by the effect that a 1-1 draw had when Beeston went to Liverpool Sefton. Beeston drop from second in the table to fifth. Leaders Loughborough Students put six passed Sunderland Ladies in their 6-1 win away. In another high scoring match, Durham Uni scored eight in a 8-2 win at home to Doncaster. In the West, the top-of-the-table clash between leaders Birmingham University and second placed Firebrands ended emphatically, with the student’s Anna Coppel scoring four in their 7-0 win. Firebrands now slide down to fourth, their place being taken by Sutton Coldfield, who won 3-1 this afternoon in their match against Swansea.

CANNOCK INCREASE LEAD AS GRINSTEAD FALTER

East Grinstead missed their opportunity to go top of the Slazenger EHL Premier Division this afternoon. Yesterday’s one point gap between them and leaders Cannock, opened up to four points during the course of this afternoon. Cannock picked up the maximum points against bottom place Southgate, beating them 2-0 with goals by David Harris and Gareth Andrew. Reading, who had been cheering East Grinstead on in Lille last weekend, showed less support when the two sides met at Sonning Lane. Reading’s Richard Mantell opened the scoring early in the game and it was he who scored the winner, shortly before half time. Final score 3-2 to Reading. Reading’s other scorer was Jonty Clarke, with East Grinstead’s Martin Haner scoring their two. Hampstead and Westminster pulled themselves away from the danger zone by a comprehensive win over Loughborough Students at home. The Students took an early lead through Simon Faulkner and Nick Catlin, but the match went into the break at 2-2 after Edward Bevan and David Eakins equalised for the Londoners. Two more second-half goals from Eakins and a goal from Will Naylor gave Hampstead a 5-2 win and a very valuable three points. Havant’s Ahmed Ezz Mohamed was on the score sheet early when Havant entertained Surbiton but Rob Moore scored for the visitors just before the break. Surbiton went ahead shortly after the re-start via Ben Tibble but Tim Davenport was able to scrape Havant’s first point of the season with a late equaliser. After six matches Havant and Southgate share the bottom place, the decider possibly being when the two sides meet at the end of November. The weather got in the way of the match between last season’s cup finalists, Beeston and Bowdon, the pitch at Highfields being waterlogged.

SLAZENGER MEN’S EHL PREMIER DIVISION: 1. Cannock 16 pts (+16), 2. Reading 14 pts (+9), 3. East Grinstead 12 pts (+7), 4. Beeston 10 pts (+11)*, 5. Bowdon 9 pts (-4)*, 6. Surbiton 7 pts (+0), 7. Hampstead & Westminster 7 pts (-3), 8. Loughborough Students 3 pts (-6), Jt 9. Havant 1 pt (-15), Jt 9. Southgate 1 pt (-15). *Beeston and Bowdon have a game in hand.

In the Conferences, Old Georgians’ challenge for the top place in the West faltered after they were held to a remarkable 5-5 draw at Team Bath Buccaneers. The old boys were trailing 3-1 at half time and were 4-2 behind with ten minutes of play left but, in a golden spell, goals from Adam Lewes, James Kingstone and Gareth Carr, briefly put them in the lead. Bath’s James Kellock scored his second in the last minute of the match to equalise. Leaders, University of Exeter, stay two points ahead of OGs after a 5-2 win away at Firebrands. In the East Conference, Canterbury lost their 100% record, going down 3-2 to Sevenoaks. Sevenoaks are now only two points behind Canterbury. In the North the three leaders are separated by only one point. Brooklands stay in the lead after beating Sheffield Hallam 3-2, whilst Belper pushed Leek into fourth place when the two side’s met. Belper took the honours there, 2-1. University of Durham beat Doncaster 3-2.

Saturday - Late result.

Further to our previous post, there was one Conference match today. In the Men's East Conference, Sevenoaks beat Old Loughtonians 1-0.

QUICK SCORING CANTERBURY TOO GOOD FOR CHELMSFORD

Picture: Cathy Gilliat-Smith takes to the air as Cindy Botha scores Canterbury's third.

We had barely settled down to watch this match and Canterbury were two up. Facing bottom place Chelmsford in this Slazenger EHL Women’s Premier Division clash, Canterbury found the going easy in the first half, with a hat trick of goals from South African Cindy Botha and goals from fellow South African Jenny Wilson, Cathy Gilliat-Smith and Mel Clewlow. Chelmsford stiffened their defence in the second half and a string of good saves from Lynsey Warren kept the scoreline down to a respectable figure. A penalty stroke by Canterbury towards the end of the second half failed to make it to the goal line, but minutes later Cathy Gilliat-Smith scored her second to give a final score of 7-0 to Canterbury. A dismal result for Chelmsford at the end of a damp and dismal afternoon. Lyn Bollington’s presence on the sideline just served to remind us of how many players have either retired or deserted the Essex club, who now seem hopelessly anchored at the bottom on the table.

Elsewhere in the Premiership, Bowdon maintain their three point lead at the top by beating Leicester 2-1. An early goal by Bowdon’s Fay Nash was cancelled out just after the break by Vanessa Hawkins but, with 12 minutes of play left, Nadine Merabi scored the winner. Olton & West Warwicks, who recently relinquished the lead to Bowdon, stay in touch with a 1-0 win at Trojans. Bowdon exile, Ashleigh Ball, was on the score sheet when Slough played host to Ipswich. It was a visit that Ipswich may prefer to forget, as they went down 8-1 from goals by Ball, Alex Scott, Lauren Penny, Natalie Bell, and a hat trick by Jane Smith. The scorer for Ipswich was Emma Lee-Smith. Clifton stay within range of the top with a 4-2 win over Poynton, during which Cat Savage missed a penalty stroke for Poynton. Clifton’s Carys Hopkins scored a hat-trick, with Fleur Horner being Clifton’s other scorer. Poynton’s scorers were Jane Ambler and Helen Armishaw.

WOMEN’S PREMIER DIVISION: 1. Bowdon 18 pts (+14), 2. Olton & West Warwicks 15 pts (+17), 3. Slough 13 pts (+12), 4. Canterbury 10 pts (+8), 5. Clifton 10 pts (+0), 6. Trojans 7 pts (+0), 7. Leicester 5 pts (+0), 8. Ipswich 4 pts (-14), 9. Poynton 3 pts (-7), 10. Chelmsford 0 pts (-30).

East Grinstead and Reading meet tomorrow and the outcome may decide who leads the men’s premiership. In the only men’s EHL match today, Cannock were held to a 2-2 draw, which gives Cannock a one point lead over chasing East Grinstead and two points over third placed Reading.

In the Women’s Conferences, Reading, Barnes and Southgate won their matches this afternoon to maintain their first, second, and third places in the East Conference. Loughborough Students who are leading the North Conference could only draw 0-0 against Durham University, allowing Beeston to slip into second place ahead of Durham. Three goals by Eleanor Ward, all from penalty corners, gave them a 3-2 victory over Belper. Beeston, University of Durham and Belper, are all on 10 points, separated by goal difference. There were no less than three hat-tricks in University of Birmingham’s 14-1thrashing of Aldridge in the West Conference. Their scorers were Sophie Bray (3), Liz George (3), Alys Brooks (3) Sarah Page, Claire Mackinder, Anna Coppel, Susie Gilbert and Jo Turnbull. Birmingham have a three point lead over second place Firebrands, who beat bottom-of-the-table St Austell 3-1 this afternoon. Cannock, who are current third were held to a 0-0 draw when they visited Exe.

Our main web site, www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk will have images from this afternoon’s match between Canterbury and Chelmsford from tomorrow.

Round up of cup and EuroHockey League from the weekend including fourth round Cup draw

With the exception of East Grinstead and Hampstead, all the Premier Division clubs still in the England Hockey Cup progress through to Round 4. East Grinstead will take some comfort from the fact that their forced withdrawal from the competition was caused by a very successful weekend in the EuroHockey League in Lille.

In the men’s cup, Bromley & Beckenham were able to put up a fight against Cannock, who have recorded some high scoring result in the league and cup this season. Gareth Andrew’s 16th minute goal started the scoring for Cannock but shortly afterwards Daniel Holmes hit the first of what was to be a hat-trick. Ultimately, Cannock were too strong for the Kent side, with three more goals from Andrew, and one each from Stewart Pilgrim, Peter Flanaghan, Rohit Kapoor and Richard Lane. Final score 8-4 to Cannock, with Bromley & Beckenham’s other scorer being Donwood Abbot. Hampstead & Westminster went down 3-1 to last year’s finalists, Bowdon. Bowdon’s scorers were Saxon Hill, Tom Gilbert and Ian Wilson. Beeston allowed their opponents to have a brief spell of success in the second half of their match against Harborne. James Wright and James Bassett scored twice in five minutes, but Beeston were already 5-0 up and went to win the match 8-3. Brad Apted’s 67th minute penalty stroke was all Wisbech Town had to show for their visit to Southgate, losing 5-1. Probably one of the more remarkable performances of the day was the David Seddon Show at Brooklands, where he scored five of the Manchester side’s six against University of Cambridge in their 6-5 win over the students.

Round 3 results:
Barford Tigers 3 Plymouth Marjon 1
Belper 1 Sheffield UB 2
Bromley & Beckenham 4 Cannock 8
Deeside Ramblers 3 Fareham 4
Edgbaston 2 Canterbury 5
Firebrands 5 Spencer 1
Hampstead & Westminster 1 Bowdon 3
Harborne 3 Beeston 8
Indian Gymkhana 3 Brighton & Hove 2
Old Georgians 7 Chichester 5
Sheffield Hallam 6 Maidstone 4
Southgate 5 Wisbech Town 1
Team Bath Buccaneers 2 Leek 3
University of Cambridge 5 Brooklands MU 6
Reading progress through to Round 4 having played the previous weekend.

FOURTH ROUND DRAW (MEN)

Bowdon v Old Georgians
Brooklands MU v Leek
Cannock v Southgate
Canterbury v Indian Gymkhana
Old Loughtonians v Barford Tigers
Reading v Firebrands
Sheffield Hallam Civica v Beeston
Sheffield University Bankers v Fareham

In the women’s cup, Buckingham’s Andrea Freshwater put a small dent in Bowdon Hightown’s result, scoring two second half goals. Final score there, 6-2 to Bowdon. Last year’s losing finalists, Slough, saw a 4th Round place slip through their fingers in an all-Premiership match against Clifton, having led 3-1 well into the second half. Clifton’s Cerys Hopkins 54th minute goal drew the match in ordinary time and an extra time penalty stroke, converted by Isabel Palmer, gave Clifton the 4-3 victory. Current holders, Leicester were able to despatch Poynton 4-1, whilst Trojans are through to the next round after a 3-1 win against Loughborough Students. There were two walkovers in this round. One could perhaps understand Havant’s prospects against Premier Division Olton & West Warwickshire were a bit daunting, but Surbiton’s withdrawal gives St Neots a 4th Round tie without having touched a ball so far in the competition.

Women’s Round 3 Results

Barnes Hounslow Ealing 2 Hampstead & Westminster 0
Bowdon Hightown 6 Buckingham 2
Clifton 4 Slough 3
Deeside Ramblers 1 Cambridge City 5
Dereham 5 Liverpool Sefton 1
Epsom 3 Oxford Hawkes 2
Holcombe 1 Team Bath Buccaneers 0
Horsham 1 Sevenoaks 0
Old Loughtonians 3 Beeston 2
Olton & West Warwicks w/o. Havant withdrawn
Poynton 1 Leicester 4
Reading 7 Taunton Vale 0
St Neots w/o. Surbiton withdrawn.
Sutton Coldfield 4 Sheffield Hallam 3
Trojans 3 Loughborough Students 1
University of Birmingham 5 Firebrands 1

FOURTH ROUND DRAW (WOMEN)

Cambridge City v Old Loughtonians
Clifton v St. Neots
Dereham v Barnes Hounslow Ealing
Holcombe v Epsom
Leicester v University of Birmingham
Olton & West Warwicks v Bowdon Hightown
Reading v Trojans
Sutton Coldfield v Horsham

EUROHOCKEY LEAGUE

Reading and East Grinstead both qualified for Round Two of the EuroHockey League as a result of a very successful weekend in Lille. The following clubs progress through from Round 1b:
Pool E: Rotterdam, Reading. [Western Wildcats are eliminated]
Pool F: East Grinstead, Waterloo Ducks. [Kelburne are eliminated]
Pool G: Real Club de Polo de Barcelona, Hamburg. [Lille are eliminated]
Pool H: Leuven, Three Rock Rovers. [Atletic Terrassa are eliminated]

Later today (Monday), there will be photographs from Lille on our main web site www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk and the competition will feature in our podcast, which is available to download from our main site from Thursday.

WATTS PULLS ONE BACK FOR READING by Peter Savage at the EuroHockey League in Lille

Reading escaped with honour from their encounter with Rotterdam in Lille this afternoon. It only took three minutes for Simon Child's to open Rotterdam's account but Reading defended stoutly and managed to keep the Dutch at bay until the third quarter, when Phil Burrows scored their second. Despite looking on the back foot in the early exchanges, Reading never looked outclassed and earned a well deserved goal from open play in the final quarter, when Andy Watts scored from open play. Final score 2-1 to Rotterdam, but Reading join Cannock and East Grinstead in Round Two.

Earlier we reported on the surprise position in the match between Leuven and Terrassa. Leuven finally won the match 3-1, eliminating Terrassa from the competition at the first hurdle.

Results from the EH Cup will appear on this blog tomorrow, plus a summary of the weekend's play in Lille. Photographs from the weekend will appear on our main website at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk.

EAST GRINSTEAD LEAVE IT LATE by Peter Savage at the EuroHockey League in Lille

East Grinstead made hard work of it but they finally assured their qualification for Round 2 of the EuroHockey League by beating the Scots contenders from Kelburne. Grinstead took the lead shortly before the end of the first half, when Martin Haner found the net from a penalty corner. Neither side was able to score for another 36 minutes, during which time East Grinstead had a penalty stroke award taken away by the video umpire and a goal disallowed. As the match drew to its conclusion, the Scots seemed to lose heart and constant pressure from Grinstead finally brought its reward. Dominic Male pushed the ball under the goalkeeper to earn the Sussex side their second, and Danny Hall put the icing on the cake by a stinging shot which had the Gavin Sommerville in the Kelburne goal well beaten. Final score 3-0 to East Grinstead, and the English side go though to Round 2 as champions of Pool F.

The match between Terrassa and Belgian side Leuven is currently being played. The Spaniards, who have massively under-performed in this tournament, currently trail 0-1.

Our report of the match between Reading and Rotterdam will follow later.

READING QUALIFY FOR ROUND 2 by Peter Savage at the EuroHockey League in Lille

Reading, who play Rotterdam tomorrow (Sunday), have now booked their place in Round 2 without touching a ball today, courtesy of......Rotterdam. The star-studded Rotterdam side took on the other Pool F contender this afternoon, the Scots from Western Wildcats. In the opening stages, the Wildcats were massively outclassed by their Dutch opponents, and although they saw more of the game in the second half, the Dutch ran out the winners 5-0. So Western are eliminated at the first hurdle. The match between Reading and Rotterdam is now a bit of a formality, although a victory, or even a modest defeat, would be a great morale booster for Reading, against a team which includes a veritable line-up of top players from around the globe.
Three Rock Rovers’ reputation grows, although against less eminent opposition than Terrassa yesterday. They managed to hold Belgian side Leuven to a 1-1 draw. In the final match of the day, the Spanish demonstrated their standing in European hockey, despite the dismal performance of Terrassa the day before, when Barcelona beat Hamburg 4-4.

In tomorrow’s matches, kelburn play East Grinstead and Reading play Rotterdam. Host club Lille will have their work cut out against Hamburg but they may have the advantage of playing on their home turf. Leuven take on Terrassa.

Our photographs are from the match between East Grinstead and Waterloo Ducks earlier today. They show German under 21 player Martin Haner, who scored East Grinstead’s first goal, and Duck’s ‘keeper Cedric De Greve, well beaten by David Cresswell’s winning penalty corner.

VIDEO UMPIRE RESCUES GRINSTEAD by Peter Savage at the EuroHockey League in Lille

The video umpire came to the rescue of East Grinstead in their first match of Round 1b of the EuroHockey League this morning in Lille. After trailing twice against Waterloo Ducks in chilly and wet conditions, Grinstead found themselves at 2-2 with 11 minutes of play left, their goals coming from German international Martin Haner and Danny Hall. A decision at the top of the Ducks' circle, which had gone against East Grinstead, was the subject of a video umpire appeal. The result was a penalty corner award which was converted by David Creswell. Grinstead managed to hang on to their 3-2 lead tenaciously to record a win, which will probably see them qualify for Round 2. They play Kelburne tomorrow, who lost against the Ducks yesterday.

We hope to bring you some photographs from the match this evening subject to finding a fast and reliable Internet connection.

READING'S FUTURE LOOKS ASSURED by Peter Savage at the EuroHockey League in Lille

Reading will almost certainly progress through to the second round of the EuroHockey League after their match against fellow-Brits, Western Wildcats. On a freezing cold evening here in Lille, Reading made most of the running but were only rewarded with two first quarter goals, the first from Austin Smith in open play and the second from a penalty corner from Richard Mantell. Reading will play the match fancied Rotterdam on Sunday, but two sides qualify from each pool and unless Wildcats can achieve the near impossible by beating Rotterdam tomorrow, Reading's place looks assured.

Scotland's Kelbourne, who are in the same pool at East Grinstead, took an early lead against Waterloo Ducks, but went on to lose the match 4-1 to the Belgians. The suprise result of the day was the outsiders from Ireland, Three Rock Rovers, who held top Spanish side Atletic Terrassa to a 0-0 draw. The Spaniards had a goal disallowed after it was refered to the video umpire and managed to put a penalty stroke wide.

English interest tomorrow will centre on East Grinstead, who will play Waterloo Ducks in Pool F.

BEESTON IN EIGHT GOAL BLITZ.

Beeston’s early season matches pitted them against some of the Premier Division’s top sides but last week saw them pick up three points against bottom-of-the-table Havant, and today found them in free-scoring form as they took on newly promoted Southgate. Chris Seddon opened the scoring for Beeston after five minutes, and from thereon it was an avalanche of goals in the Nottingham club’s favour, with goals from Alistair Wilson, Adam Dixon (2), Martin Jones (2), Ben Arnold and David Griffiths. Final score 8-1. East Grinstead also had no problems finding the net when they played host to Hampstead & Westminster. Goals from Danny Hall (2), David Creswell, Mark Pearn and Glenn KIrham won the home side a well deserved victory.

Cannock were not playing today. They qualified for Round 2 of the EuroHockey League this weekend by winning one of their two Round 1 matches in Amsterdam. Bowdon, Havant, Surbiton, and Reading played yesterday. The scores were Bowdon 3 Havant 2 and Surbiton 1 Reading 1. Loughborough Students did not play this weekend.

Men’s Slazenger EHL Premier Division: 1. Cannock 12 pts (+14), 2. East Grinstead 12 pts (+8), 3. Reading 11 pts (+11), 4. Beeston 10 pts (+11), 5. Bowdon 9 pts (-4), 6. Surbiton 6 pts (+0), 7. Hampstead & Westminster 4 pts (-6), 8. Loughborough Students 2 pts (-3), 9. Southgate 1 pt (-13), 10. Havant 0 pts (-15).

In the Conferences, Old Georgians and Exeter University share top place on 13 points, divided in Old Georgians favour by goal difference. The old boys had a successful visit to Bournville this afternoon, coming away 4-2 winners. Exeter played their match yesterday, beating Bath Bucanneers 2-1. In the East, Canterbury continue their remarkable recovery from last season’s relegation by beating struggling Chelmsford 4-1. They lead the table ahead of Indian Gymkhana, who notched up their third win 4-2 at home to Bromley & Beckenham. It is very tight at the top of the North Conference, with Brooklands and Leek both on 13 points, followed by Belper and University of Durham on 12. Durham moved into contention by virtue of a 2-1 win over Belper this afternoon.

One EH Cup match that has be re-arranged due to EuroHockey League commitments, is the game between Havering and Reading, which was won 6-1 by Reading. Reading are playing in Round 1b of the League in Lille next weekend.

CANNOCK SET FOR ROUND TWO by Susan Edghill at the EuroHockey League in Amsterdam

Image, courtesy of Frank Uijlenbroek, shows Cannock's James Fair dispossessing Bloemendaal's Rik Van Kan

It was always going to be hard for Cannock playing against the current Dutch league leaders, but with the weather a la England and both sides assured of their place in the next round, it proved to be an interesting encounter.

Nick Meijer missed a sitter for Bloemendaal after 5 minutes but Cannock had a good chance just a moment later. Good saves by Fair kept the score at 0-0 until Cannock won a penalty corner in the 12th minute, which was converted by captain Richard Lane. However, Bloemendaal came out firing after the first break and were soon level through former Scot Laurence Docherty. It wasn’t though, until the last minute of the first half that they finally took the lead with a shot from the top of the circle by Martijn van Mierlo.

At the start of the second half captain Lane was hit by a lifting ball and was clearly showing signs of this when Bloemendaal added to their lead through Ronald Brouwer. Bloemendaal’s 1st penalty corner of the game finally arrived after 16 minutes but their shot was well saved by Fair. At the start of the last quarter Cannock pushed up the pitch but left themselves open at the back and, with two against one, it was inevitable that Bloemendaal would score again with a second from van Mierlo. With twelve minutes remaining Cannock earned their second penalty corner but a rather complicated move meant they failed to get a shot on target. Bloemendaal’s second penalty corner a minute later was put in the top of the net by Tim Jenniskens. With second left on the clock, Lane, showing no signs of his earlier injury raced through to put the ball in the back of the net to make it 5-2. At the final whistle Bloemendaal earned their third penalty corner but the ball was put wide.

As a result of this match, Bloemendaal and Cannock qualify for Round 2 at Easter

In the earlier matches Club Egara beat Der Club an der Alster 4-0 with a hat-trick from Guillermo Schinckendantz and one from Eduard Arbos. Amsterdam disposed of Olimpia Kolos Sekvoia by 8-0 with a hat-trick from Santi Freixa, two penalty corner conversions by specialist Taeke Taekema and one each from Don Prins, Jan Willem Buissant and Geert Jan Derikx.

Full results will be available on our web site at www.talkhockeradio.co.uk. Go to the News page and look for the EHL page in the News menu

SATURDAY ROUNDUP PLUS REPORT FROM THE EUROHOCKEY LEAGUE

One of the odd things about the Slazenger Women’s Premier Division is that there are only two unbeaten clubs in the Division but they are separated by eight points. Leaders, Bowdon Hightown, made it five out of five this afternoon when they travelled to Clifton. Tina Cullen scored both of Bowdon’s goals in their 2-1 win, the first coming from the penalty spot. Despite being unbeaten this season, Canterbury recorded only their first winin five matches at Poynton, with goals from GB defender Mel Clewlow (2) and Cathy Gilliat-Smith. The final score there, 2-1 to Canterbury. Leicester are occupying unfamiliar territory towards the foot of the division and they had the misfortune of meeting on-form Olton & West Warwicks today. First half goals from Denise Marston-Smith and Jenny Pritchard gave Olton a 2-1 win. Trojans could not continue there recent run of good results and fell 1-0 to Ipswich with Vicky Sandall scoring the only goal. Slough, whose form has been a bit uncertain to date, met bottom-of-the-table Chelmsford, where Slough’s Jane Smith (pictured) scored a hat trick in their 4-0 win over the Essex side. Lauren Penny scored the other Slough goal.

SLAZENGER EHL PREMIER DIVISION (WOMEN): 1. Bowdon 15 pts (+13), 2. Olton & West Warwicks 12 pts (+16), 3. Slough 10 pts (+5), 4. Canterbury 7 pts (+1), 5. Trojans 7 pts (+1), 6. Clifton 7 pts (-2), 7. Leicester 5 pts (+1), 8. Ipswich 4 pts (-7), 9. Poynton 3 pts (-5), 10. Chelmsford 0 pts (-23).

Looking around the women’s conferences, the two leading clubs in the East Conference, Reading and Barnes, met this afternoon, with Reading emerging as the winners in a 5-1 tussle. Reading now lead the pack on 13 points, closely followed by Barnes on 12. There is then a four point gap before the next placed side, currently occupied by Harleston Magpies, who beat Staines 3-2. In the North the progress of Loughborough Students was slowed by mid-table Doncaster, who held them to a 3-3 draw. Loughborough retain the lead, followed by Belper who beat Ben Rhydding 2-0. University of Birmingham, who are leaders in the West Conference, scored a blitz of goals away in a local derby. Their surprise victims in their 7-1 win were Sutton Coldfield. Some of their menfolk’s form has rubbed off on Cannock women, who are in second place after entertaining Swansea. The final score there 4-0 to Cannock.

SUSAN EDGHILL REPORTS FROM THE EUROHOCKEY LEAGUE IN AMSTERDAM

Cannock may have reason to be worried about their next game in the EuroHockey League, here at the Wagner Stadium in Amsterdam. Dutch side Bloemendaal, their next opponents, thrashed Dinamo Kazan 8 -1 today, with a hat-trick from Ronald Bouwer, two apiece from Jamie Dwyer & Olmer Meijer, plus one from captain Teun de Nooijer. Ivan Kisialevich scored Kazan’s only goal. Yesterday Cannock only just overcame the Russian side 5-4. However, today’s result does mean that even if Cannock lose tomorrow, they will be sure of going through to the next round at Easter, courtesy of yesterday’s win.

The host side, Amsterdam, playing their first game of the weekend, beat Polish side WKS Grunwald Paoznan 8-1. Goals came from Captain Timme Hoyng, Taeke Taekeme (2), Santi Freixa (2), Valentin Verga, Billy Bakker and a goal made by some superb play by Freixa for Balder Bomans. WKS looked tired after their win yesterday against Olimpia Kolos Sekvoia, but had a number of chances to score goals, only one of which they managed to take. They are however almost certain to be in the next round and should not be taken lightly.

PEARCE SAVES DAY FOR STRUGGLING CANNOCK by Susan Edghill in Amsterdam

Cannock played their first game of the 2008-09 Euro Hockey League against Dinamo-Kazan in Amsterdam this afternoon. Goalkeeper James Fair could do nothing as the Russians raced to a 2-0 lead in the first nine 9 minutes, with goals from Arsen Gevorkyan and Ivan Kisialevich. Cannock pulled back to 2-2 by the first quarter break with goals from Richard Lane and Matthew Taylor. At the start of the second quarter Pakistan international Ali Warsi Syedimran gave Dinamo the lead again. A ball brought out from the Cannock defence all the way to the opposition circle saw Gareth Andrew score, to the delight of the travelling supporters, to make it 3-3 at half time.

Five minutes into the second half Cannock nearly took the lead when a shot by Lane from a penalty corner hit the upright. But after 15 minutes Dinamo Kazan were again in front from a penalty corner scored by Syedimran. With eleven minutes to go Cannock broke away and earned a penalty corner. Kazan, having fallen foul of the EuroHockey League rule which allows the umpire to banish defenders to the half way line for breaking early, were left exposed and Richard Lane scored his second to take Cannock to 4-4.

With eight minutes to go, Ralis Nasyrov was hit by a rising ball and was helped off the pitch. But the Russians still pressed forward and only superb saves by Fair kept Cannock in the game. With less than two minutes to go Ivan Kisialevich was given a green card and side-lined. Cannock then immediately pressed forward and with less than a minute on the clock took the lead with a goal from Will Pearce. Despite losing Flanagan to a green card in the final seconds, Cannock held on to win 5-4.

In the first game of the day Der Club an der Alster from Germany beat Pocztowiec Poznan of Poland comfortably 3-0.

CANNOCK SHOW CHARACTER AS THEY PULL AWAY

Further evidence was provided this afternoon of the depth of character of current Men’s Premier Division leaders, Cannock. Having gone down to a late first half goal by East Grinstead’s German international, Martin Haner, Cannock recovered and Richard Lane found the net twice in under a minute. Cannock have now opened up some space between themselves and the pack as a result of this win. East Grinstead’s defeat means that they slip to third behind Reading, who gave Bowdon a lesson in hockey with a 5-2 win at home. Southgate earned their first point of the season in a 2-2 draw against Loughborough Students, with the Students twice coming from behind. Surbiton are finding the season a difficult one, despite a respectable goal scoring rate, as was demonstrated by their match against Hampstead and Westminster. Surbiton twice had a one goal lead wiped out and then went behind to a Mark Little goal in the second half. Saviour of the day was Andy Cornick, who equalised for Surbiton in the dying seconds. Final score 4-4.

One match that caught our eye was the Men’s Conference East match between Kent rivals, Canterbury and Holcombe, not least because of the presence of ex Canterbury and England international Dave Matthews in the Holcombe side. Canterbury were dumped out of the Premier Division after struggling for a few seasons but they were on maximum points at the start of play afternoon. Canterbury went into the second half with a two goal advantage, courtesy of Lloyd Norris-Jones, but three goals in five minutes from Dave Matthews (PS), Liam Foster and Samuel Lund, put Canterbury on the back foot until Matt Harper equalised. Late goals from Michael Farrer and Lloyd Norris-Jones gave Canterbury the 5-3 win and gives Canterbury an impressive 5 point lead.

One of the expected consequences of compressing the EHL down into two layers was the possibility of some mismatches between sides. This was in evidence today as two teams nearly found themselves on the receiving end of double figure scores. In the Men’s West Conference it was Whitchurch who found themselves on the receiving end of such an onslaught when they visited Team Bath Buccaneers. James Kellock (2), Max Ruxton, Phillip Ball, Lewis Prosser, William Matthews (2), James Grogan and Luke Gupta were all on the scoresheet there, with no reply from Whitchurch. Ipswich did slightly better at home to Indian Gymkhana in the East Conference, briefly managing to match their visitors scoring rate until, at 2-2 the floodgates opened. The scorers for Indian Gym were Jagdeep Gill (3), Tejinder Hanspal (4), Pravidner Hanspal and Laveen Jandu. Final score there, 3-9.

Full league tables will be available on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk from tomorrow (Monday)

BEESTON DOMINANT AGAINST STRUGGLING HAVANT

Havant look in deep trouble as they crashed to their fourth defeat of the season. Their opponents this afternoon in the Slazenger Men’s EHL Premier Division were Beeston, who last term failed to live up to their early season promise but have now been reinforced by the return of Ali Wilson from GB duties. Havant got off to a lively enough start, but 14 minutes into the match Chris Seddon found the net for Beeston and for much of the first half Beeston were dominant. A Jamie Parker goal just before the break took Beeston into the second half with a 2-0 advantage and it was not long before Welsh international David Griffiths had extended the lead to three. Beeston paid the price for sitting on a three goal advantage when Andrew Pett scored from a penalty corner. Parker scored his second to restore Beeston’s lead, and Ali Wilson put the icing on the Beeston cake by scoring an overtime penalty corner. Final score 5-1. Our photograph shows David Griffiths celebrating his 40th minute goal. Further images will appear on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk soon.

The match at Havant was the only game in the Premier League today.

In the women’s Premier, Canterbury must be wondering what they need to do to earn points after their fourth draw in four matches. Their opponents, Clifton, twice took the lead but a last gasp goal by Canterbury’s Cindy Botha earned them a 2-2 draw. This morning the only thing that separated Bowdon from Olton & West Warwicks was goal difference. This afternoon’s clash between them leaves Bowdon as the only team in the division on maximum points. Two penalty corner conversions by Sally Walton and a field goal by Charlotte Hartley gave Bowdon a 3-1 lead at half time, with Tina Cullen scoring a late second half goal to give her side a 4-3 win. Olton’s scorers were Holly Chipman, Emma Rochlin and Rachel Walker. Despite being depleted by defections abroad, Slough recorded their second win of the season, with a 2-0 victory over Poynton, as did debutantes Trojans. Trojans’ victims were Chelmsford, whose failure to score in four matches leaves them with zero points and an X-rated goal difference. Leicester, who have had a surprisingly indifferent season so far, could only manage a 1-1 draw when they played host to Ipswich.

Women’s Premier Division 1. Bowdon 12pts (+12), 2. Olton & West Warwicks 9pts (+15), 3. Trojans 7pts (+2), 4. Slough 7pts (+1), 5. Clifton 7pts (-1), 6. Leicester 5 pts (+2), 7. Canterbury 4 pts (+0), 8. Poynton 3 pts (-4), 9. Ipswich 1 pt (-8), 10. Chelmsford 0 pts (-19).

CANNOCK GIVEN CHARACTER BUILDING LESSON

Cannock exposed themselves to a character building lesson when they visited Surbiton in the Men’s Slazenger EHL Premier Division this afternoon. Their fourteen league goals to date soon became seventeen as Hardeep Jawanda, Richard Lane and Gareth Andrew took the Midlanders into the second half with a 3-1 advantage, Surbiton’s only goal coming from Tim Pinnock. Pinnock pulled the score back to 3-2 soon after the restart and suddenly it was Cannock who were weathering the storm. Some superb goalkeeping by James Fair managed to keep the Surbiton hordes at bay until the 57th minute, when Ben Tibble scored the equaliser from a penalty corner. The pressure sometimes seemed too much for Cannock, and although this could never been described as a dirty game, first Richard Lane, and then Garreth Andrew and Russ Hayward, spent spells in the sin-bin. It was Andrew, not long back on the pitch, managed to find the net when the ball fell loose for him close to the left post. His goal, with three minutes of play left, proved to be the winner in this closely contended match. Cannock still lead the division on a generous goal difference, followed by East Grinstead, who beat Southgate 3-1 yesterday.

Bowdon managed to recover from their ordeal against Cannock last weekend to win their match against Hamptead & Westminster by a single goal. The scorer, Stephen Brogdon. Beeston at last showed us what they are made of, with their first win of the season. Going 1-0 down against Loughborough Students, they managed to find the net four times in the second half, courtesy of Chris Seddon, Mohammed Nadeem (2) and Adam Dixon. Final score 4-2. The other Premier Division match this weekend was between Havant and Reading and was played yesterday. Reading were the 2-0 winners, leaving Havant propping up the table on zero points.

Our picture shows the post goal celebrations after Gareth Andrew (centre) scored Cannock’s winner.

In Round Two of the women’s cup, the Premier Division sides emerged unscathed with some impressive scores. Bowdon Hightown put twelve passed Didsbury Northern for no reply, with Olton & West Warwicks adding to a successful weekend with a 10-1 win over Worcester. Slough found the net eleven times against Salisbury for no reply, Clifton won 9-1 at Teddington, Trojans won 12-0 when visited by Westberries, whilst comparatively speaking, Leicester had a modest 3-0 win over Whitley Bay and Tynemouth. Poynton beat Spingfields UCLAN 5-0.

OLTON SECURE LEAD IN WOMEN'S PREMIER

Olton and West Warwicks secured their lead in the Slazenger EHL Women’s Premier Division this afternoon with an emphatic win over Clifton, who had been undefeated until today. Two early goals by Denise Marston-Smith and a goal by Fiona Davies gave Olton a 3-1 advantage at the break. Second half goals from Laura Davis, Denise Marston-Smith, Rachel Walker and Emma McCabe ratcheted the score up to 7-3 by the close of play. Leicester’s hesitant start to the season was given a boost with Abi Harper and Kerry Williams (2) scoring in their 3-0 win over Chelmsford. Canterbury are turning into draw specialists, recording their third of the season after Slough came from 3-1 behind and briefly took the lead at Polo Farm. The scorers for Canterbury were Grace Balsdon, Mel Clewlow, Cidy Botha and Cathy Gilliatt Smith. Sloughs scorers were Lauren Penny, Alex Scott and Jane Smith (2). Final score 4-4. Newly promoted Trojans move into fifth place after a 2-1 at Poynton, and Bowdon Hightown retain their second place after a 3-0 win over Ipswich.

Women’s Premier Division: 1. Olton & West Warwicks 9 pts (+16), 2. Bowdon Hightown 9 pts (+11), 3. Clifton 6 pts (-1), 4. Leicester 4 pts (+2), 5. Trojans 4 (+0), 6. Slough 4 pts (-1), 7. Canterbury 3 Pts (+0), 8. Poynton 3 pts (-2), 9. Ipswich 0 pts (-8), 10. Chelmsford 0 pts (-17).

HEROES RETURN AT BROOKLANDS

You could have been forgiven for thinking that you had stepped into a time machine. The names of the scorers were familiar – Grimley, Kerly, Sherwani and Bhura – as were the faces, although the latter were a little older than we may have remembered them.

The occasion was the ‘Heroes Return’ weekend hosted by Brooklands Hockey Clun, to mark the 20th anniversary of the GB gold medal win at the Olympics in Seoul. Proceedings were started on Saturday afternoon with a golf match, followed by a dinner at the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham, attended by the GB team circa mid 1980s, supported by the bronze medal winning women of 1992, and – of course – TalkHockeyRadio.

On Sunday afternoon, the GB men played an England seniors team. The England team got off to a flying start with two early goals from Andy Batchelor but, finding their feet again as a team, the GB men struck back with a penalty corner by Martin Grimley (who had organised the event) and a field goal from Sean Kerly. Imran Sherwani briefly gave GB the lead but they were pegged back by a third England goal from Andy Batchelor just before the break. The second half was less than two minutes old when Sean Kerly hit his second, but it was Batchelor who again scored to bring the score to 4-4. As the final seconds ticked away Kulbir Bhura scored the winning goal for the GB men. Final score 5-4.

Our photograph shows some of the GB team with Barry Davies, who was the BBC TV commentator in Seoul for the final. Barry has recently suffered a injury playing tennis – hence the track suit bottoms.

The men’s game was preceded by a very lively match between the 1992 GB team and the current England Lady Masters. Linda Webb gave the Masters an early lead, but two goals from Sue Fraser took GB into the break on 2-1. Pat Wells equalised for the Masters soon after the re-start but Faser scored her hat-trick to give GB a 3-2 victory.

Photographs from both matches and the dinner at the Cresta Court Hotel will appear on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk soon.

OLTON GO TOP AS EAST GRINSTEAD DEMOLISH WEST HERTS

Olton & West Warwickshire go top of the Slazenger Women’s EHL Premier Division on goal difference after a 4-0 win over Ipswich this afternoon. They are followed by Bowdon Hightown, who added to the woes of struggling Chelmsford by finding the net six times for no reply. No surprise is the fact that Tina Cullen played a major part in the win with two penalty corners, a stroke and a field goal to her credit. Chloe Rogers, a refugee from Chelmsford, could not stop her side going to down in a surprise defeat at the hands of Poynton. Leicester had taken a first half lead but a goal from Katie Maltman, her second of the match, gave Poynton the three points. Surprise package Clifton, go into third place on goal difference after a 2-0 win over Slough. Trojans picked up their first points in a 1-1 draw over Canterbury.

The second round of the men’s cup produced some high scoring matches as the minnows came up against the EHL sides. Danny Hall scored five for East Grinstead in their 18-0 demolition of West Herts. Cannock put ten passed Alderley Edge for a reply of one. It did not all go the way of the senior clubs, with Chelmsford suffering a 6-3 reverse at the hands of Chelmsford.

TalkHockeyRadio is currently returning from Manchester after the ‘Return of the Heroes’ matches at Brooklands this afternoon. We hope to have a report and photos on this blog later this evening.

FOURTEEN GOAL CANNOCK STORM TO TOP

Cannock’s steller start to the season took one more step forward this afternoon when they scored their fourteenth goal of the season in their 7-1 win over Bowdon. They go ahead of East Grinstead on goal difference after the Sussex side won their encounter with Loughborough Students 3-2. The possible front-runners in league all meet each other early in the season and Beeston again found themselves again facing fellow challengers for the top. On this occasion it was last year’s champion’s, Reading, with each coming away from the match with one point from a 2-2 draw. Newly promoted Southgate stay on zero points after a 2-3 defeat by visitors, Surbiton, but the table is currently being propped up by Havant, who went down 0-2 to Hampstead and Westminster.

Sorry we have no scorers for you but for some reason we have not received the information from the agency that provides details to the press.

TalkHockeyRadio is current in Manchester where a celebration dinner is being held for the 20th anniversary of the gold medal win at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Tomorrow, Sunday, the 1988 team will again take the field at Brooklands MU hockey club. A report and pictures will appear on this blog.

ENGLAND GO DOWN IN SECOND TEST AGAINST GERMANS

England's women suffered a further defeat at the hands of the hosts when they played their second test match against Germany this afternoon. England were no match for the experienced Germans as they went down to three first half goals by Anke Kuhn (pictured), Eilleen Hoffman and Natascha Keller. Final score 3-0 to Germany.

FANNY MAKES IT FOUR

England's women met Germany in Hamburg this afternoon in a game which saw Germany's Fanny Rinne (pictured) score a hat trick in their 4-1 win over the visitors. An England team made up mostly of youngsters was no match for the experienced Germans, although they managed to hold out until the 26th minute before Rinne scored her first from a penalty corner. Five mintutes into the second half Bowdon Hightown's Sally Walton scored from the penalty spot after Sarah Page's shot at goal was illegally stopped on the goal line. But it was not long before the German's were back in the lead courtesy of Julia Muller from a penalty corner. Two more goals from Rinne put the match beyond reach. The two teams meet again tomorrow.

BIMSON CALLS IT A DAY

Jennie Bimson has decided to call a halt to international hockey after a career spanning over 10 years. The Leicester midfielder tore a calf muscle during the 2-1 defeat of New Zealand during the Olympic Games in Beijing resulting in her premature departure from the squad. She only had to make two more appearances before earning her 200th international cap. Speaking of Bimson, GB women’s head coach, Danny Kerry, said, “Jennie has been a tireless servant of the international programme for over a decade. She has consistently brought an energy to the group and to the pitch, which will be sorely missed.”

31 year-old Bimson will continue play for her club.

GUILDFORD 'BURGLE' RESULT FROM BATH

Danny Hall continued his free scoring ways of last season with a second minute goal to open East Grinstead’s 2008-2009 league campaign. Goals from new acquisition, German under-21 Martin Haner, Darren Cheeseman and David Cresswell gave them a 4-2 win over Beeston in the Slazenger EHL Men’s Premier Division. New boys Southgate travelled to Manchester only to be the worse off in a 3-0 encounter with Bowdon. Bowdon’s scorers were Ian Wilson, Ian Hardingham, and Stephen Brogdon. Champions, Reading, saw their GB internationals in the thick of it when they were visited by Hampstead & Westminster. Jonty Clarke opened the scoring just before the break, and Richard Mantell was on the penalty striking form in the closing seconds. Other scorers were Andy Watts and Austin Smith in their 4-1 win.

Cannock’s impressive 7-1 win over Havant yesterday propels them to the top of the table on goal difference. Surbiton and Loughborough Students also met yesterday, with the match ending in a 3-3 draw.

What may have been the goal of the day did not stop Team Bath Buccaneers losing to a resurgent Guildford in the Men’s West Conference. Nick Deayton’s mid-air parry put the visitors on even terms after Guildford’s Tim Norman scored from a penalty corner in the 14th minute. Despite peppering the Guildford goal repeatedly, with a combination of the upright and Simon Mason – recently transferred from Reading – somehow saving Guildford from going behind, it was a penalty stroke conversion by Duncan Marsh and a final flourish goal from Josh Tester, that gave Guildford a well deserved 3-1 win. As Simon Mason commented after the match, they hard burgled the result, but had shown some steely determination in the process. Our photograph shows action from the match. Further photographs from the match are available to view on our web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk.

In the East Conference, Bromley & Beckenham go top on goal difference after a 4-1 win over Chelmsford. In the North, Sam McCambridge’s hat-trick in their 6-1 win over Telford & Wrekin, helped put the Derbyshire side at the top of their table.

Our unique all-on-one page league tables will be available to download from our web-site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk later tomorrow (Monday).