CANTERBURY PULL OFF A GREAT ESCAPE

There was no tunnel or motor cycles vaulting over barbed wire, but Canterbury's avoidance of taking automatic relegation on the last day of the season was akin to the Great Escape. This morning the Kent side were two points behind ninth placed Brooklands MU, needing a win to gain a lifeline in the shape of the relegation play-offs spot. It took a Michael Farrer penalty corner conversion in the dying seconds to give them a 2-1 win, and the three points needed to move them up into ninth place. Brooklands are now relegated. Elsewhere in the Men's Premier Division, Bowdon's 4-1 win over Reading moves them up into fifth place, displacing Loughborough Students from the last Championships play-off place.

In the Men's East Conference, Sevenoaks defeat at the hands of Wimbledon means that they are relegated. Saint Albans will compete in the relegation play-offs. In the North Conference, University of Durham hung on to their lead with a 7-1 win over Harborne. Harborne's defeat and a 3-1 win by Barford Tigers over already relegated Ben Rhydding, means that the Tigers move out of the relegation play off place, which is now taken by Harborne.

There was only one issue left to be resolved in the West Conference, and that was the fate of Fareham. Despite a 4-3 win over Whitchurch, Bournville's 2-2 draw against Havant means that Bournville retain eighth place and Fareham will have to enter the relegation play offs.

THE WOMEN'S CUP will be played between Bowdon Hightown and East Conference Surbiton. Playing University of Birmingham in this afternoon's semi finals, Bowdon left it until the second half before Xenna Hughes and Nicky O'Donnell scored the winning brace of goals to give their side a 2-0 victory. Earlier in the second half, Tina Cullen had put a penalty stroke wide for Bowdon. The other semi final was an all Conference affair with Surbiton meeting North Conference Sutton Coldfied. A late goal by Surbiton's Emma Rowland-Jones proved to be the decider in their 3-2 win.

England Hockey League results and tables for 27/3/11:

Men's Premier Division

Surbiton		(3)		6	-	4		(1)		Beeston
Tim Pinnock 5 64 - F F Matt Daly 25 30 47 61 - F F PC PC										Martin Scanlon 9 - F Matthew Taylor 37 - F Samuel Ward 58 - F Chris Gregg 63 - F
Bowdon		(2)		4	-	1		(0)		Reading
Ali Brogdon 29 35 - F PC Ole Keusgen 59 - F Simon Egerton 69 - PC										Tom Bertram 61 - PC
Canterbury		(1)		2	-	1		(0)		Brooklands MU
Tom Butt 8 - F Michael Farrer 70 - PC										David Seddon 43 - PC
East Grinstead		(1)		4	-	3		(0)		Loughborough Students
Dave De Prez 7 37 - F F Danny Hall 38 - F Gareth Carr 48 - PC										Dave Beckett 39 58 - F F Simon Faulkner 53 - F
Hampstead and Westminster		(3)		6	-	2		(1)		Cannock
Ian Roberts 9 - PC Andrew Smith 22 - F Will Naylor 31 40 48 49 - F F PS F										Matthew Plunkett 3 - F David Harris 51 - F

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	East Grinstead	18	14	3	1	77	30	47	45
2	Beeston	18	11	1	6	47	33	14	34
3	Surbiton	18	11	1	6	47	40	7	34
4	Reading	18	8	3	7	43	38	5	27
5	Bowdon	18	7	5	6	34	34	0	26
6	Hampstead and Westminster	18	7	3	8	38	42	-4	24
7	Loughborough Students	18	7	2	9	43	46	-3	23
8	Cannock	18	4	5	9	36	54	-18	16*
9	Canterbury	18	3	4	11	35	58	-23	13
10	Brooklands MU	18	3	3	12	20	45	-25	12

Men's Conference East

Holcombe		(2)		6	-	4		(1)		St. Albans
Hardeep Singh Jawanda 2 40 - F PC Damon Garwood 17 - F Paul Rudd 43 - F David Mathews 50 - F Samuel Lund 69 - F										Ben Apperly 35 - PC Matt Street 42 - F David Williams 48 52 - F F
Old Loughtonians		(0)		2	-	0		(0)		Indian Gymkhana
Alex Jennings 50 66 - F F
Oxted		(1)		3	-	4		(3)		Bromley and Beckenham
Craig Carolan 26 - F Andrew Baggs 38 - PC Andrew Medcalf 44 - PC * 31min, Baggs had pen stroke saved by David Taylor * 70min, Baggs hit crossbar with pen stroke										Peter Dobson 8 64 - F PC Sam Driver 14 - F Alan Butt 20 - F
Sevenoaks		(2)		3	-	5		(2)		Wimbledon
Mike Shelton 14 - F Tom Caulfield 23 - F Rufus Mcnaught-Barrington 51 - PC										Matt Fitter 13 - F Simon Lanyon 35 49 - PC PC Rob Moore 40 - F Sam Pike 56 - F
Southgate		(1)		5	-	1		(1)		Harleston Magpies
Robert Schilling 20 - PC Adam Wilson 40 48 - F PC Johannes Kloess 52 64 - PC F										Andy Hipwell 15 - F

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Southgate	18	13	3	2	73	29	44	42
2	Old Loughtonians	18	12	2	4	54	29	25	38
3	Holcombe	18	11	3	4	43	28	15	36
4	Bromley and Beckenham	18	9	1	8	64	57	7	28
5	Harleston Magpies	18	7	2	9	46	47	-1	23
6	Wimbledon	18	6	4	8	43	44	-1	22
7	Indian Gymkhana	18	7	1	10	39	50	-11	22
8	Oxted	18	7	1	10	41	57	-16	22
9	St. Albans	18	4	3	11	36	57	-21	15
10	Sevenoaks	18	4	0	14	34	75	-41	12

Men's Conference North

Belper		(2)		3	-	3		(1)		Sheffield Hallam Civica
Sam McCambridge 33 - F James Blackwell 34 - F Tom Sherratt 57 - F										Duncan Longson 16 - F Martin Ebbage 49 - F Phil Roper 67 - F
Ben Rhydding		(1)		1	-	3		(2)		Barford Tigers
Samuel French 31 - F										Raajan Kular 15 - F Ravinder Sandhu 17 - F Narinderpal Mankoo 68 - F
Doncaster		(1)		2	-	3		(1)		Olton & West Warwicks
Robert Peregrine 16 - F Dario Desoysa 42 - F										Daniel Sulway 10 45 - PC PC Mark Wilson 55 - F
University of Durham		(4)		7	-	1		(1)		Harborne
Laurie Hill 2 5 27 - F F F Daniel Coultas 22 60 - PS PC Tony Wilson 56 - F Hugh Robinson 63 - F										Patrick Longson 32 - F
Leek		(1)		2	-	1		(1)		Deeside Ramblers
Stuart Waby 22 - F Richard Cordon 50 - F * 18min, Matt Boardman had Pen stroke saved by Jimmy Hill										Russ Hornby 15 - PS

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	University of Durham	18	12	3	3	52	22	30	39
2	Sheffield Hallam Civica	18	11	3	4	71	29	42	36
3	Doncaster	18	11	0	7	56	40	16	33
4	Leek	18	10	2	6	44	32	12	32
5	Olton & West Warwicks	18	8	5	5	45	43	2	29
6	Deeside Ramblers	18	6	4	8	44	56	-12	22
7	Belper	18	6	3	9	44	47	-3	21
8	Barford Tigers	18	5	4	9	38	54	-16	19
9	Harborne	18	4	5	9	31	51	-20	17
10	Ben Rhydding	18	1	3	14	24	75	-51	6

Men's Conference West

Havant		(1)		2	-	2		(1)		Bournville
Andrew Pett 4 - F Craig Duffy 40 - F										Alex Salmon 3 - F Tom Rowland 55 - PC
Stourport		(0)		1	-	2		(0)		University of Exeter
Imran Yousaf 39 - PC										Gareth Davies 62 - F James Royce 63 - F
Team Bath Buccaneers		(2)		4	-	1		(1)		Cheltenham
Phillip Ball 12 - PC Tim Davenport 31 - PS Johnny Kinder 49 - F Shaun Matthews 69 - F * Tim Davenport scored his 200th League goal.										Peter Duffy 7 - F
University of Birmingham		(1)		2	-	2		(2)		Guildford
Tristan Wild 15 - PC Richard Gear-Evans 70 - F										Duncan Marsh 2 - F William Blockley 28 - F
Whitchurch		(2)		3	-	4		(1)		Fareham
Adam Barker 10 - PC Jack Betenson 29 - PC Joe Naughalty 64 - PC										Ben Hibberd 10 - F Craig Peel 59 - F Paul Hilton 62 66 - F F

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	University of Exeter	18	16	1	1	66	18	48	49
2	Team Bath Buccaneers	18	13	2	3	56	35	21	41
3	Guildford	18	7	8	3	34	23	11	29
4	Havant	18	5	9	4	42	42	0	24
5	University of Birmingham	18	7	2	9	40	41	-1	23
6	Whitchurch	18	6	4	8	36	43	-7	22
7	Cheltenham	18	6	1	11	39	55	-16	19
8	Bournville	18	5	3	10	39	53	-14	18
9	Fareham	18	5	2	11	41	51	-10	17
10	Stourport	18	2	4	12	29	61	-32	10