Today saw the teams in the NOW:Pensions Men’s Hockey League play their ninth match of
the season. That means we are halfway through the season, with 27 points still to be played for.
Unfortunately there are a number of evening matches today,
so we will not have a complete picture of the outcome of today’s games until
later.
One of the late starts is the match between East Grinstead and
Surbiton. East Grinstead was in second place this morning but they were five
points adrift of leaders Beeston. Beeston managed to hang on to their 100% record
when they played luckless Cannock this afternoon but it was not the best of
days at the office for Beeston. It took all of 46 minutes for their Sam Ward to
find the net to give the Bees a 0-1 win.
Competing with East Grinstead for second place is Reading,
who provisionally move into second after their visit to bottom placed
Loughborough Students. The Students were 0-2 down when their Ian Sloan gave
them a hope of a point in the 49th minute, but the match ended 1-2. East Grinstead need only a win or draw to
reclaim their place.
Hampstead & Westminster, who are turning out to be one
of the most unpredictable sides in the Premier Division brought Canterbury’s
run of wins to a sudden halt. Mickel Pierre’s 10th minute penalty
corner goal gave Canterbury a lead which lasted just under 35 minutes. Oliver Didham equalised early in the second
half, with a last gasp penalty corner conversion from Neil Hamilton giving the
Londoners a 2-1 win. Hampstead remain in seventh place, but Canterbury slip
down from fifth to sixth.
It was a disappointing day for Sheffield Hallam, who remain one point above Loughborough Students
after their match at home to Wimbledon. They scored an early equaliser after
Ali Brogdon had opened the scoring for Wimbledon, but the match ended 1-2 to
Wimbledon.
In the North Conference Brooklands MU have overtaken
University of Durham after their 5-1 win over bottom placed West Bridgford. The University lost their first match of the
season at home to Bowdon. Bowdon now move into third place.
There is a late start at Holcombe, so we do not know who
will occupy the second spot in the Conference East, but Southgate maintained
their lead with a 5-2 win over Bromley & Beckenham. Holcombe are six points
behind them but (including this evening’s match) they have two games in
hand. Teddington provisionally hold
second after a 3-0 win at home against Old Loughtonians.
In the West Conference it is still neck and neck between
Team Bath Buccaneers and Cardiff & Met.
The Buccaneers visited bottom place Guildford and came away with a 2-4
win. They remain one point ahead of Cardiff, who recorded a 4-1 win over Havant
FULL RESULTS AND TABLES CAN BE FOUND ON OUR MAIN WEB SITE
