The full league results were late in last night due to some
late afternoon starts, but we thought they might be worth an update as there
were some interesting results in both the men’s and women’s Conferences,
particularly concerning the newly promoted clubs.
Looking first at the NOW Pensions Men’s League, the most
eye-catching result of the day was the final score in the match between East
Conference Holcombe and Cambridge City.
Holcombe had some impressive signings during the Summer, whilst
Cambridge City had narrowly avoided relegation last season, and this is
reflected in the score. Headline
catching signing (and you heard about it here first!) Barry Middleton
contributed two goals to Holcombe’s 8-1 win, with the dependable Danny Hall
adding two, and other goals from Richard Lane, Gareth Andrew (2) and James
Stedman.
Both the newly promoted East Conference clubs, Brighton
& Hove and St Albans, suffered defeats. Brighton went down 4-0 away at Old
Loughtonians, all four goals being scored in the last 20 minutes. St Albans
lost 0-3 at home to Oxted. Also in the East Conference, Teddington were well in
the driving seat when the visited relegated Southgate. With 18 minutes to go they were 1-3 up, and
went on to lose the match 4-3!
It was a similar story in the North, with West Bridgford
losing their match at home to Khalsa 2-5, and Deeside Ramblers losing 2-3 to
Leek. Relegated Brooklands MU started their bid to return to the Premiership
with a 3-0 win over Wakefield.
In the West Conference, Isca were another newly promoted
club who failed to win any points. Despite staging a late rally they went down
3-2 at University of Birmingham.
In the Investec Women’s
Conferences there were points to be won by the new girls, none more
emphatically than by Holcombe, who won their match against Wimbledon 7-0.
Anyone lucky enough to be at their double header would have seen a total of 15
goals scored. It must have been quite a day at Holcombe Park.
As mentioned in last night’s report, TalkHockeyRadio was at
Saint Hill for East Grinstead’s double headers.
Accompanied by the sound of passing steam trains on the newly extended
Bluebell Railway, it’s questionable whether the two sides were quite so chuffed
with the result. Chelmsford really
struggled last season, and faced with a newly promoted East Grinstead in the
East Conference they seemed to lack confidence. Jo-Jo Davies’ first half
penalty corner strike for EG put them on the back foot, but they came out for
the second period looking much more confident and were rewarded with a Kate
Maxey penalty corner goal to end the match 1-1. To the casual visitor this must
have looked like a training game, as Chelmsford had turned up with only white
shirts and had to wear training bibs for the entire match to avoid a clash with
their white shirted opponents. (Pictures
from this match are on our Pictures page at www.HockeyImages.co.uk).
The hunting was not so happy for the debutants in the North
Conference. Kendal was sunk by a late
goal by Michelle Cooling in their match against Whitley Bay & Tynemouth.
Boots scored two goals in the last five minutes away at Doncaster, but the
deficit was already too great and they lost 5-3. At the top of the table a hat-trick by Brooklands
Poynton’s Lindsay Rachubka in their 4-0 win over Stourport, puts them in the
lead on goal difference.
In the West Conference, Exe had a disappointing return to
the big time with a 3-0 defeat at Gloucester City. Recently relegated Slough
has not quite yet gone into the anticipated melt-down, as was shown by their
2-4 win away at Trojans. The winning
goals were both scored in the last five minutes and were credited to Christie
Fearnside and Amy Sheehan.
With the number of times that Buckingham has failed to gain promotion
from the West Conference there were fears that they might run out of steam but,
if their opening match was any guide, it’s still full steam ahead. They broke
the England Hockey League record for the day with 11 goals at home to Bristol
Firebrands, with no less than seven players on the scoresheet. Just for the record, they were: Kitty
Higgins, Lorraine Campbell (2), Anita Bazini, Jessica Bloom (2), Samantha
Sandham (3), Jazmine Needham and Jo Ellis.
