Yesterday saw lots of hockey and lots of goals in the
England Hockey League. TalkHockeyRadio was at the double header at Holcombe,
which was a late finish, and hence our round-up of Saturday’s hockey appears
this morning.
In the NOW Pensions
Men’s Premier Division, the match of the day was the game between table
leaders East Grinstead and Beeston at Saint Hill. A goal from Richard Lawrence
and two from Sam Ward gave the Nottingham side a 0-3 lead, which they retained until
the 70th minute, when Ashley Jackson grabbed a late goal from a
penalty corner. Final score 1-3 to Beeston. Three points for Beeston puts them
at the top of the table, and makes them the only team in the division with a
100% record.
Surbiton keep their second place, despite only being able to
draw at home to newly promoted Wimbledon.
It was the legendary game of two halves, with Wimbledon’s Chris Gregg
and Ben Hawes scoring in the first half, and Surbiton’s Ben Tibble and Matt
Daly scoring in the second. Final score, 2-2.
The match at Reading, who were at home to Cannock, was more
a game of one half, with all seven goals being scored in the first 35 minutes. Final
score there, 5-2 to Reading. Cannock have yet to win a game, and are now
languishing in ninth place. The other struggler, newly promoted Sheffield
Hallam, went down 0-2 at home to Hampstead & Westminster. Sheffield drop to
bottom place in the table.
Canterbury managed to put recent setbacks behind them by
recording their first win (and points) of the season, with a decent 4-1 victory
over Loughborough Students. This lifts
them off the bottom of the table into eighth place, one behind the Students.
Up until yesterday Olton & West Warwicks had recorded a
worrying 17 goals conceded in two matches in the Investec Women’s Premiership.
This has now risen to 29 after their visit to Surbiton yesterday. Sandra
Frankland (2), Jenna Woolven (3), Sarah Page, Giselle Ansley, Georgie Twigg,
Emily Atkinson and Chloe Strong, all managed to score for the home side, plus
two own goals gifted by Olton, brought the score to 12-1.
Only one team in the division remains with a 100% record and
that is Canterbury. They were visiting Bowdon Hightown, who were in the same
position until the two sides met yesterday. A single goal from Canterbury’s
Anna Baker saw the visitors retain their record. Bowdon drop like a stone from
top of the Premiership to fifth. These things happen early in the season, as
Beeston discovered. An excellent start to the season has been followed by two
defeats, yesterday’s at home to Reading, where they lost 0-3. Beeston have now slipped to
seventh place.
Clifton, who always seem to be good at making the early
season running, kept up their record thanks to a 62 minute goal from Els
Mansell at University of Birmingham. Final score 2-3 and they are now in third
place, behind Surbiton on goal difference. Leicester, who are in an unfamiliar
position in seventh place, helped their cause with a 1-2 win away at Sutton
Coldfield. Sutton is now one of three
sides on zero points and find themselves sandwiched between University of
Birmingham and Olton at the bottom.
TalkHockeyRadio got two for the price of one yesterday when
we visited the double header at Holcombe. Their men were playing Brighton &
Hove, whilst their women were playing Ipswich.
Both games had striking similarities. Their opponents were both sides
who have not had good starts to the season, and both Holcombe’s men and women looked
as if in they could inflict a rout on their opponents, but only the women achieved
it.
Holcombe men were playing East Conference new boys Brighton,
who were clearly outclassed by the home side.
But Brighton made a game of it and, after Robert Field had given
Holcombe a 14th minute lead, they managed to force an own goal. Going into the second half at 1-1, less than a
minute elapsed before Danny Hall found himself with the ball and unmarked in
the ‘D’, and took a scored a goal that was so cool that it made cucumbers look
positively warm. 2-1 to Holcombe. From thereon Brighton started to look more
and more vulnerable, but somehow managed to keep the score down to a respectable
level, with Gareth Andrew and David Appleton adding to Holcombe's tally to give them a 4-1 win. Some credit goes to Brighton for retaining self-respect in
the face of a team full of stars, including Barry Middleton and Dan Fox. But one is left asking why Holcombe did not
make more of the evident difference between the two sides.
The same criticism cannot be levelled at Holcombe’s women.
Unlike Brighton, Ipswich has a long and proud tradition in the England Hockey
League, although their recent form in the Investec Women’s Conference East has
been disappointing. Shelley Russell gave
Holcombe an early lead, but the home side were unable to build on this, and all
the indications were that a breakaway might give the visitors a goal or
two. The second half started well for
Holcombe, with Russell scoring her second, but the match was not wrapped up
until the last 20 minutes which saw five goals from Holcombe, three within the
space of two minutes. The final score, 7-0, puts Holcombe at the top of the
East Conference, as the only side with a 100% record. A superb display of
joined-up hockey, with their newly acquired Laura Unsworth and Maddie Hinch
making a full contribution.
Holcombe’s men have a game in hand, and their 100% record
only puts them in second place. Top of the NOW
Pensions East Conference is Southgate, who beat Cambridge City 2-0
yesterday. But the headline match from yesterday’s men’s Conferences must be
Teddington’s 0-10 win at St Albans. Clearly the Saints new pitch not bringing
them luck. Surprisingly, this is Teddington’s first win of the season. St
Albans sink to the bottom of the table, below Brighton & Hove on goal
difference.
In the other men’s Conferences,
Cardiff & Met are the only side in the West
with a 100% record. They beat Bath Buccaneers 0-5. Guildford are having a
dreadful start to the season and remain at the bottom of the West table after
losing 2-0 at University of Birmingham. The North table is led by University of
Durham, ahead of Bowdon on goal difference. Bowdon beat bottom of the table
strugglers West Bridgford 2-4 and the University won their match against
Brooklands MU 1-2.
In the Investec women’s
Conferences, Whitley Bay & Tyneside drop out of the top spot in the
North after losing 1-2 to University of Durham. Wakefield replace them after a
1-2 win at Loughborough Students. New girls, Boots, remain out of luck with a
4-1 defeat at Brooklands Poynton. They remain at the foot of the table. Better
luck for the other newbies, Kendall, who won a point with a 3-3 result against
Ben Rhydding. In the West Conference,
Buckingham’s winning habit continues with a 3-1 win against Trojans. They are
ahead of Slough on goal difference. Slough recorded a 2-1 win against Barnes.
PICTURES FROM THE MATCHES AT HOLCOMBE CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.HOCKEYIMAGES.CO.UK. FULL RESULTS
AND TABLES ARE ON OUR MAIN WEB SITE.
