BARBARA MIROY DIES

Pat Rowley writes on the passing of a great servant of hockey:

Barbara Miroy, a person who almost single-handedly ran English men's hockey for many years, died this morning (30 Nov) at the age of 91. She out-lived Neville, he husband and an equally prominent servant of the game, by 21 years.

Barbara was heavily involved in hockey for over 50 years. She will be best remembered for three things, being secretary and later personal assistant to two former Hockey Association Hon Secretary's; for organising for countless years the world famous Folkestone Easter Hockey Festival and for running the London and Home Counties Hockey Fixture Conference.

She was awarded the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal when it was recorded "She holds a unique position in the administration of men's hockey in England. She has given unstintingly of her time and energy to a sport in which she is totally involved and to which she is utterly devoted". Robin Struthers, the then Hon. Secretary of the Hockey Association, was quoted as saying, "She is a walking encyclopaedia of hockey".

Her health had been deteriorating for some time. Last week she had a fall at home and broke her hip. It was necessary to operate but unfortunately she survived only a short time after the operation.

Barbara's funeral will not be held for at least a fortnight so that her American relatives can be present.

Editor's Note:

If, like me, you had been a fixture secretary in the days before league hockey became the norm, you would have really appreciated the work that Barbara did in organising the London Fixture Conference. I spent two spells as a club fixture secretary, on the first occasion with a brand new club. Managing to fill a blank fixture list without the Conference would have been virtually impossible, and so I am both grateful to Barbara and sad to learn of her passing.

SURBITON AND BEESTON PROVIDE THE MATCH OF THE DAY.

When TalkHockeyRadio chooses which matches to go to, it is a matter of pot luck what we find. But we definitely struck gold this afternoon at Sugden Road to watch Surbiton play Beeston, in what surely must have been the match of the day.

The game started fairly routinely. A fair bit of action, but nothing special, saw the sides go into the break with the home team holding onto a slim lead. But things really started to hot up in the last 20 minutes when Phil Messent scored to make it 3-0.

Tim Pinnock scored his second to increase the lead, and Patrick Schmidt's 58^th minute goal for Beeston looked as if it was going to be little more than a consolation. But Schmidt found the net again three minutes later, followed swiftly by a goal from Carl Smith. Surbiton were rocked on their heals when Tim Whiteman scored Beeston's fourth to equalise. That's four goals in seven minutes if you've lost track.

Unfortunately the fairy tale ending for Beeston was not to be. We've described Tim Pinnock as 'dependable' in the past, and dependable he was again today. His 69^th minute penalty corner conversion for Surbiton was a heartbreaker for Beeston, but you've got to hand it to the visitors. They gave us a memorable match with nine quality goals from both sides.

Beeston's defeat means that they slip down the table to third, partly due to Cannock recording their sixth win of the season, 2-1 against Hampstead & Westminster, to move up to second.

Loughborough Students took an early lead at home to bottom placed Bowdon and finished the match 4-2. This moves the Students one place further away from the relegation zone into sixth. Reading keep up their charge to stay in the top five with a 4-2 win over University of Exeter.

The match between East Grinstead and Southgate was played last night and resulted in a surprise 0-0 draw. The one point for Southgate still leaves them perilously close to the relegation zone, with only three points separating them and Bowdon.

Results and table from all today's matches can be found on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HIGHTOWN MOVE OUT OF RELEGATION AREA. Round-up of today’s matches in the Investec Women’s League.

It was all change near the bottom of the Investec Women's League Premier Division this afternoon after two Tina Cullen goals gave Bowdon Hightown a timely leg-up the table. Bowdon had slumped to the relegation play-off spot last weekend but today's 2-0 win over Clifton moves them into seventh place.

Bowdon's promotion was at the expense of University of Birmingham, who lost 1-3 at home to Reading, and now occupy the play-off spot. Slough also move down one place after drawing 1-1 at home to Canterbury.

Leicester remain seven points behind the leaders, Reading. Leicester's 3-1 win over Sutton Coldfield saw their England players to the fore, with Hannah Macleod finding the net twice and a goal from Crista Cullen. But the big scorers today were Olton & West Warwicks who put seven past bottom placed Cannock for no reply, four of Olton's goals coming from penalty corners.

In the East Conference, Surbiton and St Albans are the teams to catch, both winning today. Sevenoaks slipped away from contention by losing 4-2 away at Chelmsford. The gap between them and second place St Albans opens up to five points.

In the North Conference Beeston consolidated their lead by beating one of the challengers, Brooklands Poynton. The score there 5-1. Loughborough Students are chasing hard, and now move into second place after beating Wakefield Bradford 1-0. Only three points now separate Beeston, Loughborough Students and Wakefield Bradford.

In the West Conference a 10 point gap has opened up between second place Swansea and third place Barnes Hounslow Ealing. Only six points separate the third and bottom placed sides in this division, which had resulted in at least one dramatic change in the table this afternoon. Barnes Hounslow Ealing is promoted from sixth to third as a result of a 4-2 win over Exe. Leaders, Buckingham remain unbeaten and won against Team Bath Buccaneers 2-0 today. Swansea keep in touch with the leader with a 2-1 win over Trojans.

Full scores and tables are available on our main web site at http://www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk/page51.html.

 

MINNOWS SWALLOWED UP BY BIG FISH. Cup and league results for 20 November.

The last 16 of the Men's Cup was played today, with no real surprises emerging. Cannock, Bromley & Beckenham, Brooklands MU (as a result of a walkover), Beeston, Hampstead & Westminster, Canterbury, Southgate and Bowdon go through to the quarter final draw.

As usual there were some high scoring matches as some of the minnows came up against the elite teams from the Premier Division, but you could hardly find a greater gap between high flying Cannock and Brighton & Hove from the South Premier League. Despite being depleted by injuries from their previous day's tussle against Surbiton, Cannock should have been the odds on favourites to win this match but they probably have James Fair's deputy, Patrick Smith, to thank for coming away with a respectable scoreline.

Cannock's strength was their speed on the break, but they have an Oli Westbrook penalty corner to thank for their first goal. Ajan Chana made it two from a penalty corner just before the break, but it was honestly difficult to split the teams in terms of skill, enterprise and possession. Ben Crease's superb 67^th minute goal for Brighton just emphasised how little there was to choose between the two sides. The cheering from the home supporters was cut short however by Tom Moore's almost instant response, to clinch the result 3-1 in Cannock's favour.

Photographs from the Brighton & Hove v Cannock match are on our pictures site at www.HockeyImages.co.uk .

In the Investec Women's Premier Division, today's only match saw Reading open up the gap between them and second placed Leicester with a 7-0 win over Olton & West Warwicks. Reading currently lead the division by seven points and an incredible goal difference of +33.

In the Women's East Conference, Surbiton pulled away to put a two point gap between themselves and second place St Albans. This was after Surbiton beat Harleston Magpies, but St Albans could only draw 0-0 against lowly Old Loughtonians. Sevenoaks keep in touch with the leaders with a 6-0 win over Horsham, leaving the Sussex club at the bottom of the table with seven defeats in nine outings.

In the North, Beeston are still neck and neck with Wakefield Bradford, both on 20 points. Beeston bolstered the goal difference which separates them with a 10-0 win over Northampton Saints. Wakefield's effort was a comparatively modest 2-0 over Whitley Bay and Tynemouth.

In the West, Buckingham continue to lead the charge with a 4-0 win over Exe, whilst Swansea stay in touch with a 4-1 win over Staines. Buckingham are on 26 points and Swansea on 21. After that there is a sizeable gap with third place Gloucester City on 13 points.

FULL RESULTS AND TABLES CAN BE FOUND ON OUR MAIN WEB SITE AT www.TalkHockeyRadio.co.uk.

 

PAIN FOR BOTTOM CLUBS CONTINUES

RESULTS AND TABLES FOR TODAY'S MATCHES CAN BE FOUND ON OUR MAIN WEB SITE AT www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk.

The pain continues for those clubs propping up the bottom end of the Men's England Hockey League Premier Division table. Bowdon went to Championship contenders Beeston, where they suffered a 4-1 defeat, despite their Nigel Croke opening the scoring after only five minutes. Hampstead & Westminster appeared to be in the driving seat when they played host to Southgate, going into the break 2-0 ahead. A second half flurry of goals from the visitors gave a final score of 3-3, but one point leaves Southgate in eighth place. University of Exeter will know their fate later when they play East Grinstead in an evening match at Saint Hill. They are currently occupying the relegation play-off spot.

Cannock, who face non-league Brighton & Hove in the Cup tomorrow, found Surbiton too much for them, going down 3-1. Reading slip one place down the table to fifth after scraping a draw at Loughborough Students.

The squabble between Brooklands MU and Sheffield Hallam at the top of the North Conference went in Brooklands' favour when the two sides met this afternoon. Brooklands' 5-4 win means that they now lead the table by one point. Barford Tigers are now five points adrift at the bottom of the table after they lost 3-2 to Doncaster and Preston drew 2-2 at home to Olton & West Warwicks.

TalkHockeyRadio was at the West Conference match between Ian Jennings' Guildford and struggling Lichfield. Lichfield got off to a cracking start with a Steven Bailey goal in the fifth minute, and for much of the first half they seemed to be dominating the match. Guildford's Jonathan Hayes put some sanity back into the scoreline with a late penalty corner conversion, and we suspect that coach Ian Jennings scorched the changing room walls with his half time chat judging by his side's second half performance, which saw Guildford emerge 4-1 winners. Lichfield remain one off the bottom and Guildford stay in fourth. Bath Buccaneers now have a four point lead after beating second place University of Birmingham.

In the East Conference both Canterbury and Old Loughtonians won today. If you were looking for a lot of goals in this division, Oxted was the place to be, where it could have been mistaken for thinking the game was Andrew Baggs versus City of Peterborough. Baggs scored all three of Oxted's goals from penalty corners in their 3-4 defeat at home.

There were four games in the Investec Women's Premier Division this afternoon. The fifth game (Reading v Olton & West Warwickshire) and Conference matches will be played tomorrow.

Today saw some significant movement in the bottom half of the Premier Division table. Lauren Penny's hat-trick at Slough against Bowdon Hightown drops Bowdon down the table from seventh to the relegation play-off place. Sally Walton had equalised for Bowdon in the 23^rd minute but the match finally ended 3-1 in Slough's favour. As a result of their win, Slough move up the table to sixth, displacing Birmingham University who lost 0-2 at home to Clifton.

Sutton Coldfield's 3-1 win against struggling Cannock moves them up the table from ninth to seventh.

Canterbury and Leicester's chances of catching Reading took a knock when they could only manage a 0-0 draw. Leicester missed out on the three points after Crista Cullen failed to convert a third minute penalty stroke.

STUDENTS GAIN POINTS AT EXPENSE OF CANNOCK

The unpredictable results in yesterday's Investec League matches seem to have permeated the Men's England Hockey League matches this afternoon.

Cannock gave Loughborough Students a chance to clear the relegation play-off zone by losing 4-1. The Students stay in seventh place, but they have put space between themselves and Southgate who lost 2-0 at home to Reading. Cannock remain second in the table.

The crazier results were produced by Surbiton and University of Exeter, where the final results was a 1-1 draw, both goals coming in the second half. Bottom place Bowdon, who have had a difficult season, were visited by Hampstead & Westminster, where a Nigel Croke penalty corner secured Bowdon's second win of the season. Final score 4-3.

The match of the day, between East Grinstead and Beeston, was won with a 69^th minute Ashley Jackson penalty corner to finish 3-2 in EG's favour.

Today's Premier Division brought no major changes in the table, although Reading's win moves them up to fourth.

In the North Conference, leaders Sheffield Hallam are still knocking them in, putting seven past mid-table Belper in their 7-1 win at home. Their scoring rate is in excess of five goals per match. At the other end of the table, Deeside Ramblers managed to haul themselves up one place to eighth after a 3-1 win over Barford Tigers, thanks to an Ali Ghazanfar hat-trick.

In the West Conference, Bath Buccs have overtaken University of Birmingham to take the top spot. This followed a 5-0 win over Guildford, whilst the University lost to an improving Havant side, 2-0.

England international Ben Hawes was on form for Wimbledon in their East Conference match against Indian Gymkhana. Hawes scored a hat-trick in his side's 6-0 win. Wimbledon are one point behind the leaders, Canterbury, who recorded a 3-1 win at home against Oxted. Teddington added another three points to their tally when they beat Magpies away, with Warren D'Souza scoring one of their goals in their 2-1 victory.

Full results and tables are now on our main web site at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk, where you will also find the results of today's matches in the Investec Women's Cup.

 

LEICESTER MOVE INTO SECOND AFTER A DAY OF CRAZY RESULTS

It was a day for some really crazy results in the Investec Women's Premier Division this afternoon.

Possibly the craziest was the 11 goal encounter at Bowdon, where Bowdon Hightown played University of Birmingham. 3-3 at half time, four second half goals from Tina Cullen (2), Sally Walton and Natalie Wray gave the home side a 7-4 win. It was also a good day for the clubs beneath them, with Slough overcoming Olton & West Warwickshire 5-2, and Sutton Coldfield pulling off a surprise win at home to Clifton. Clifton found themselves trailing 3-0 at half time as a result of two goals from Jane Sixsmith and a goal from Sarah Mills, but managed to pull three back in the second half to finish the match 4-3.

Leicester jump from fourth to second after beating the leaders, Reading, 3-2 at home, with a goal from Lucy Brown and two penalty corner strikes by Crista Cullen. Down in Kent, Canterbury got their campaign back on track with a 5-0 win over lowly Cannock. The Staffordshire side have now played eight games without a point, and with a goal difference of -32.

At the top of the East Conference, Surbiton and St Albans remain neck and neck. Surbiton improved their goal difference with a 4-1 win over Oxford Hawks and stay top, whilst St Albans overcame Ipswich 2-1. The situation is similar in the North Conference, where Beeston and Wakefield Bradford are both on 17 points separated on goal difference after Beeston drew 2-2 at home against Louhgborough Students. They swap places with Wakefield Bradford, who lost away to Brooklands Poynton.

In the West Buckingham still enjoy a substantial lead, but they dropped their first points this afternoon when they could only draw 4-4 at Isca, after a second half rally by the home side. Staines drop to bottom after going down 6-3 to fellow strugglers Firebrands.

FULL RESULTS AND TABLES ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON OUR MAIN WEBSITE www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk

READING’S WOMEN WIN BATTLE OF THE SEXES. Summary of today’s action in the England Hockey League

In a sense it was the battle of the sexes at Reading this afternoon, and the women came out top. Reading were playing a double header and, unusually, their opponents were both from the same club.

It was an experience that Cannock women would probably prefer to forget. They have already been propping up the table for several weeks without a point to their name. Playing the leaders was always likely to a challenge, but it turned into a disaster. Alex Danson started the ball rolling for Reading with a goal in the first two minutes, but it gave little clue of what was to follow. 15 minutes later Rebecca Halle knocked in a second, and after that the goals just kept coming. Danson's opener was just the first of a hat-trick, with a second from Halle and goals from Liana Smith (2), Helen Richardson, Sam Quek and Jessica Brooker. Final score 10-0 and Reading now lead the Investec Women's Premier League by eight points, whilst Cannock remain rooted at the bottom.

A single goal by Cannock's men was enough to give them the win at Reading and Cannock are now separated on goal difference from leaders East Grinstead. EG used the opportunity of playing bottom-of-the-table Bowdon to consolidate their position with a 6-1 win this afternoon. The match followed the official announcement of their sponsorship deal with the airline Emirates, which must have convinced their sponsors that they'd backed a winning horse.

Hampstead and Westminster demonstrated again that they don't take too many prisoners, with a useful 4-1 win at University Exeter. The Exeter are currently occupying the relegation play-off spot, just behind Southgate who lost 3-0 at home to Beeston. Surbiton have produced some hard to predict results this season but the smart money would have been on them winning against Loughborough Students, which they did, 3-0.

Reading's defeat means they slip down the table to sixth, and Hampstead and Surbiton move up to fourth and fifth respectively.

The North Conference table seemed to be set in stone until this afternoon, when Doncaster's 4-2 win against Preston moved them up from sixth to fourth. The leaders, Sheffield Hallam and Brooklands MU, both had big wins. Hallam's Phil Roper scored five of his side's goals in their 8-1 win against Barford Tigers, and David Seddon accounted for three in his side's 7-0 win over Belper.

In the West, Guildford crept up into fourth place after a 3-1 win at home to Havant, which saw Ian Jennings on the score sheet. Havant drop one place to be replaced in second by Bath Buccaneers, who bit Fareham away 3-2.

Canterbury maintain their lead in the East Conference with a 7-0 win at Bromley & Beckenham, but there was a reshuffling of the leaders when Indian Gymkhana lost 4-2 to Old Loughtonians. Wimbledon took advantage by beating Harleston Magpies 3-2 and move into second place. Old Loughts and Holcombe move up to third and fourth respectively.

FULL RESULTS AND TABLE FROM TODAY'S MATCHES CAN BE FOUND ON OUR MAIN WEB SITE. FOLLOW THE LINK ON OUR HOME PAGE.

SLOUGH WIN BUT FAIL TO MOVE UP. Round up of today in the Women’s Ivestec Hockey League

Slough recorded only their second win of the season when they overcame University of Birmingham in the Investec Premier Division this afternoon. Slough had taken a 14^th minute lead, thanks to a penalty corner conversion by Laura Penny, but the University looked to have the game in the bag when Tina Evans and Alice Sharp scored early in the second half. But two goals in less than a minute, with 10 minutes left on the clock, stole the win for Slough. The scorers were Lauren Penny and Alex Scott. Final score 3-2 to Slough. Images from this match will appear on our sister site at www.HockeyImages.co.uk soon.

Slough would have climbed four points clear of the drop zone had it not been for a surprise 3-2 win by Sutton Coldfield at Canterbury. It was Jane Sixsmith who scored the decider there. Clifton climbed back into third place after a 3-2 win over Olton & West Warwicks, two of Clifton's goals coming in the last five minutes.

Leicester continue to clamber up the table and move into fourth after a useful 2-0 win over Bowdon Hightown. This puts three clubs on 13 points, with Olton and Clifton separated only by goals scored.

The top of the East Conference remains tight with Surbiton and St Albans both on 17 points, four points clear of the pack. Surbiton's 5-1 win this afternoon was at the expense of Old Loughtonians, who slump to the bottom of the table. St Albans won 2-0 away at Maidstone.

In the North Conference, Wakefield Bradford have a one point lead at the top. They beat Northampton Saints 4-0, whilst chasing Beeston kept up their challenge with a 3-1 win at Doncaster.

In the West Buckingham have a six point lead over Swansea, with a goal difference of 20 after seven games, helped by a 4-2 win at home to Gloucester City.

FULL RESULTS AND TABLE CAN BE FOUND AT OUR MAIN WEB SITE BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: http://www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk/page51.html.

Latest FIH World Rankings

The International Hockey Federation has just announced its latest World Rankings for men and women.

The biggest shock is the relegation of Argentina's women from first to second. Their place is taken by The Netherlands. The demotion takes place after the USA beat Argentina 4-2 in the final of the recent Pan American Games in Guadalajara.

MEN'S RANKING TABLE TOP 10

1. Australia    
2. Germany
3. Netherlands
4. Spain
5. England
6. Korea
7. New Zealand
8. Argentina
9. Pakistan
10. India

WOMEN'S RANKING TABLE TOP 10

1. The Netherlands
2. Argentina
3. Germany
4. England
5. China
6. New Zealand
7. Australia
8. Korea
9. Japan
10. USA