ELLIS PUTS SPARKLE INTO CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL. A round up from yesterday's action at Reading.

A series of stunning saves by Reading’s Sarah Ellis rescued what might have been the most boring match of the weekend during the Investec Women’s Championships and Promotion Play-offs at Reading.  It was a pity that the best action of the match was saved until the one-on-one shoot out decider at the end of the match.

Reading and Leicester are two great sides, but we seem to have sat through a number of tedious encounters between them and, regrettably, this was another one.  You could almost hear a groan go round the stadium from the neutral spectators when Vanessa Hawkins scored an overtime penalty corner to wipe out Reading’s 0-1 lead to put the match into extra time.

The match had remained scoreless for 52 minutes, until a stick tackle in the circle resulted in Emma Thomas stepping up to take a penalty stroke, which she put past Leicester’s goalkeeper Maddie Hinch. The goal upped the tempo slightly, but not enough to raise the temperature as the evening chill started to set in.

In the first period of extra time, Reading did not actually seem to want to come out to play, and were content to bat the corner around between each other.  And so the match went to a one-on-one shoot out decider. 

We spoke to Sarah Ellis after the match, and it appears that the team had studied Leicester’s techniques at one-on-one deciders. It certainly showed.  Four times Ellis took on the incoming opponent and robbed them of the ball.  Unfortunately it’s a one card trick, and we cannot see her getting away with it in future, but it certainly was a most extraordinary piece of goalkeeping. 

So the Investec Women’s Championships went to Reading with the score for the shoot out 0-2 in their favour. It was certainly something memorable to take away from the match.

In the earlier 3^rd/4^th place match, Canterbury emerged as victors in a closely contested game with Surbiton. Surbiton twice took the lead, first from an own goal and then from Amy Bryant, only to see Jade Mayne score two goals to draw level.  The winner came from a Sarah Kerly penalty corner with 10 minutes of play left.

In the Women’s Promotion play-offs we were expecting fireworks from on-form Beeston when they played Harleston Magpies.  There were fireworks, but Beeston seemed to have mislaid their matches for the first half, where they really seemed to struggle against the East Conference side.  The game really came alive in the 58^th minute, when Beeston increased their 1-3 lead in the space of less than 60 seconds.  Sophie Robinson went on to score Beeston’s sixth, and her hat-trick, seven minutes later.  Final score 1-6 and Beeston are now promoted to the Premier Division.

Olton and West Warwicks managed to escape relegation by holding Buckingham 1-2. Despite Olton’s defeat, Buckingham’s goal difference means that Olton stay in the Premiership, and Buckingham fail to achieve promotion at the third attempt.  This is Olton’s second visit to the play-offs in three seasons.

Final table:  1. Beeston 6 Pts (+7), 2. Olton & West Warwicks 6 pts (+2), 3. Buckingham 6 pts (-1), 4. Harleston Magpies 0 pts (-8). 

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE SUNDAY AT READING ARE NOW ON OUR PICTURES SITE AT www.HockeyImages.co.uk.

IT'S A READING V LEICESTER FINAL. Round up of today at Reading

Canterbury, who led the Investec Women’s League for most of the season, have failed to reach the Championships final.  They were knocked out decisively by the host side in the semi finals held at Reading this afternoon, losing 1-5. 

Reading will meet Leicester in tomorrow’s final. Leicester, who finished their season at the top of the Premier Division table, won their semi-final  against Surbiton after a one-on-one shoot out decider. The match had finished 2-2 in normal time. Surbiton will play Canterbury tomorrow in the 3^rd/4^th place match.  

In the Promotion Play-offs, Olton & West Warwicks look set to retain their Premier Division status after a 2-0 win over Harleston Magpies. The North versus West clash ended with Beeston beating Buckingham  3-0.  The result puts Beeston in second place with three points. Buckingham are also on three points but with a much better goal difference.  The sides play their final matches tomorrow.

Promotion Play-off standings after two matches: 1. Olton & WW 6 pts (+3), 2. Beeston 3 pts (+2), 3. Buckingham 3 pts (-2), 4. Harleston Magpies 0 pts (-3).

Photographs from the final matches in the Championships and Promotion Play-offs will appear on our Pictures pages on Monday, together with a report on the day’s proceedings at Reading on our News pages.

BEESTON TAKE NOW PENSIONS CHAMPIONSHIP. A round-up of yesterday's hockey from Reading.

The NOW Pensions Championship Final between Beeston and Surbiton at Reading yesterday was....and we hesitate before using the words.....a game of two halves.  Surbiton found themselves on the rack early in the match, facing waves and waves of attacks from Beeston, and going down 2-0 within 14 minutes thanks to goals from Martin Jones and Ollie Willars.  Surbiton made a token effort to get back into the match with a token goal from James Tindall, but Beeston had notched up two more before the break, courtesy of Craig Boyne and Simon Egerton.

Surbiton were far more effective in the second half, dominating long periods of play. But the Beeston defence held firm and, despite the pressure, it was their turn to finish of the afternoon with a late goal from Boyne.  After the match the Surbiton coach, Todd Williams, commented on the effect that playing in the EuroHockey League had had on Beeston. Coming second means that Surbiton will join the ranks of English EuroHockey League teams from England next season. And just think – Surbiton spent most of the first half of the season in the relegation slot at the bottom of the Premier Division.  Final score 5-1 to Beeston.

The 3^rd/4^th place match decides which is the third English team to enter the EuroHockey League, so it was an important match.  In stark contrast to the Final, the match between Reading and Cantertbury was finely balanced for most of the 70 minutes.  Darren Cheesman had given Reading an 11^th minute lead, but the single goal was all that stood between the sides for the next 51 minutes. But in the dying minutes of the match Reading added three more to their tally, the scorers being Craig Peel, Harry Slater and Simon Mantell.  

It was a busy match for cards, with Reading’s Richard Springham and Simon Mantell, and Canterbury’s Stuart Goodman and Huw Stevens paying brief visits to the naughty seat. But long yellows for Goodman and Kwan Browne meant that Canterbury were playing two short when their late collapse started. Surely lessons to be learnt there. Final score, 4-0 to Reading and the host club will take their enormous European experience back into the EuroHockey League next season.   

The last matches in the Promotion Play-offs saw a moment of drama when Sheffield Hallam scored a late goal against Wimbledon, only to see it disallowed. It had been scored after the final hooter.  The loss of the goal made no difference to Sheffield, but a huge difference to Wimbledon. A 2-2 draw would have meant that Cardiff and UWIC were promoted.  Southgate’s earlier match against Cardiff had seen them get off to a bright start with John Sterlini scoring an early goal, but the match eventually ended 1-2 in Cardiff’s favour. Wimbledon’s 2-1 win over Sheffield Hallam sees both sides promoted to the Premier Division next season.  Southgate are relegated and Cardiff and UWIC failed to gain promotion.

PICTURES FROM ALL YESTERDAY’S ACTION AT READING WILL BE ON OUR WWW.HOCKEYIMAGES.CO.UK WEB SITE SOON.

TWO EURO PLACES FILLED IN READING. A round-up of today's hockey.

A side that has often been accused of underachieving qualified for the EuroHockey League for the first time this afternoon. Surbiton beat Cantebury 5-3 at Reading this afternoon in the semi finals of NOW Pensions Championship play-offs. Reaching tomorrow’s final assures them of one of the three qualification places on offer.

The other semi-final was won by Beeston after their match against Canterbury ended 2-2 in normal time. The matter was finally decided on a penalty shoot-out.  Canterbury play Reading for third place and European qualification tomorrow.

Reading also hosted the men’s promotion play-offs today.  Southgate increased their chances of staying in the Premier Division with a 3-5 win over Wimbledon, although the three points leaves them in third place.  Sheffield Hallam drew their match against Cardiff and UWIC 4-4.  The play-off table with only tomorrow’s matches to complete the tournament, is: 1. Sheffield Hallam 4pts (+3), 2. Wimbledon 3 pts (+1), 3. Southgate 3pts (-1), 4. Cardiff and UWIC  1pt (-3).  Two clubs qualify for the Premier Division in 2013/2014.

In the men’s Relegation Play-offs this afternoon, Whitchurch drew against Doncaster 2-2 and, with only one point from their two games, are relegated.  The fate of Doncaster, who have one point, will depend on the outcome of their match against Cambridge City, who have three. Only one of the three sides will remain in the Conferences next season. 

Photographs from the Championship Finals and the remaining Promotion Play-off matches will appear on our pictures site at www.HockeyImages.co.k on Monday morning.

In the women’s Relegation Play-offs, Staines beat Cannock 2-1 and are relegated. 

and NOW there's sponsorship for the men.

England Hockey has announced a four year sponsorships deal with pensions providers NOW:Pensions.  Under the deal NOW:Pensions will be the title sponsors for the men’s England hockey league, as well as providing support for the men’s national league through to the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Rio Olympics.

Morten Nilsson, chief executive of NOW:Pensions said “We are delighted to announce our support for England Hockey from the grassroots to the elite squad. We are here in the UK for the long term and want to see the sport grow hand in hand with our business.”

NOW:Pensions is a subsidiary of ATP in Denmark, an established provider of pensions in that country.

More on this story and the announcement of a 30 man training squad for the Rio Olmpics will be in the May edition of our on-line magazine HockeyTalk, which will be available from 26 April.  Interviews from key personalities at the launch of the sponsorship will be added to our podcasts soon.