ROUND-UP OF TODAY'S NOW:PENSIONS LEAGUE HOCKEY

It was no change in the Premier Division of the NOW:Pensions League today.   However, that did not prevent there being one of two interesting results.

Cannock, who have found a decent result hard to come by this season, produced a surprise by beating Hampstead & Westminster 8-3 at home.  Cannock’s goals came from Martin Ebbage (2), Russell Anderson, Nicholas Bandurak, Dave Becket (3) and Peter Jackson.  Sadly, the result  still leaves them in eighth place, only three points ahead of Loughborough Students and Sheffield Hallam, both on seven.  The Students went down 1-2 at home to East Grinstead, whilst Sheffield Hallam lost 3-1 to leaders Beeston.

Second placed Reading had a useful 5-3 win to keep up the chase. Playing Surbiton, their Andy Watts (2), Darren Cheesman, Chris Newman and Richard Mantell, all found themselves on the scoresheet.

In the remaining Premier Division match, Wimbledon lost 3-5 to visiting Canterbury.

In the East Conference, Brighton & Hove lifted themselves off the bottom of the table for the first time with a 1-5 win away at Teddington.  They move up to ninth place at the expense of St Albans, who lost 6-0 at Southgate.

Southgate remain in second place behind Holcombe as a result of an inferior goal difference.  Southgate almost went ahead of the table as a result of a late comeback by Holcombe. Playing away at Old Loughtonians,  Loughts were 3-2 ahead when Gareth Carr scored twice to give Holcombe the win.  As a piece of trivia, all four of Holcombe’s goals were scored by a Gareth, their other two goals netted by Gareth Andrews.

In the West, Cardiff & Met reclaimed the top spot in spectacular style, beating this morning’s leaders, Indian Gymkhana 1-7.  Ninth placed Guildford edged towards safety with a 0-1 win against Cheltenham.  They are now only two points adrift.  Bottom placed Isca also took a step towards survival with a 1-4 win at Havant.  They are two points behind Guildford.

There was little change in the North Conference.  Deeside Ramblers suffered a 0-4 defeat at home to Brooklands MU and return to the relegation play-off spot.  Brooklands still lead the table, three points ahead of Bowdon.  Bowdon recorded a 4-1 win against Wakefield.

FULL RESULTS AND TABLES CAN BE FOUND ON OUR MAIN WEB SITE.

READING PROMOTED IN EUROPEAN INDOOR CLUBS TROPHY

A late second-half goal from Emily Maquire has given Reading a 1-1 draw against Dundee Wanderers and promotion to the European Club Championships in 2015.

A third minute penalty stroke conversion by Dundee’s Vikki Bunce had given a lead to the Scots, which they had held onto until Maquire’s equaliser.  The result means that Reading finish second in the promotion pool behind Gintra Strekte Uni of Lithuania.  The top two sides are promoted.

READING TOP PROMOTION POOL. A round-up of today's hockey in Europe and at home.

Reading Women, playing in the European Indoor Trophy in Lithuania, drew their first promotion pool match this afternoon. (Our apologies – in our earlier news report we suggested that they were through to the semi-final.  There is, of course, no semi-finals in the second-tier Trophy competition.)

Reading drew 2-2 against Gintra Strekte 2-2.  The result puts them at the top of the promotion pool.  Reading play Dundee Wanderers in their final match tomorrow.  The top two finishers are promoted to the top tier Championships tournament in 2015.

Reading’s absence meant that they took no part in the Investec Premiership today.  Meanwhile, a single penalty corner conversion by Canterbury’s Nicola Lloyd was enough to give the Kent club a 1-0 win over Beeston, and open the gap between them and second place Reading to four points.

Leicester’s recent revival slightly hit the buffers when they went down 0-1 to Clifton.  A late penalty corner from Elizabeth Sinton gave Clifton the win, and Leicester slip down to fifth place, whilst Clifton move up to fourth. 

It was a late goal from Birmingham University’s Holly Payne that gave the students a 2-3 win over Bowdon Hightown. It was another Holly, Holly Hunt, that had given Bowdon a 2-0 lead, but Lily Owsley and Alice Sharp pulled two back for the students, before Payne scored the winner. Birmingham remain in eighth, whilst Bowdon move down to sixth.

The bottom on the table clash ended, predictably, with Olton losing 1-4 to Sutton Coldfield.

There were no changes in the North Conference today other than Whitley Bay moving up to fifth after a 0-1 win over bottom placed Doncaster, and Loughborough Students moving down to sixth after their draw against Kendal.

Slough stay top of the West Conference after a 0-5 win over Bristol Firebrands.  Buckingham are close on their tail, two points behind, after a 5-0 win over Exe.

TalkHockeyRadio was at Ipswich for their East Conference match against Wimbledon this afternoon.  Two once-great neighbours, Ipswich and Chelmsford are currently occupying ninth and tenth respectively, and are fighting for their national league survival.

Interestingly, Ipswich looked the better of the two sides for much of the first half, but Harriet Naismith put the London side ahead just before half time. Although the balance of power seemed for evenly distributed in the second half, Ipswich had far the greater share of opportunities, and eventually their Sarah Bamfield scored the equaliser with only a minute of play left. 

The 1-1 result may give Ipswich some belief in themselves, and the draw closes the gap between them and eighth placed Old Loughtonians to two points.  At the top of the table leaders Holcombe recorded a 0-5 win over Sevenoaks, whilst second placed lost 0-3 to St Albans.

PICTURES OF THE MATCH BETWEEN IPSWICH AND WIMBLEDON ARE ON OUR PICTURES SITE AT WWW.HOCKEYIMAGES.CO.UK.

FULL RESULTS AND TABLES ARE ON OUR MAIN WEB SITE AT WWW.TALKHOCKEYRADIO.CO.UK.

READING END DAY ONE IN SECOND. Latest from Women's European Club Trophy

A 31^st minute goal by Rotweiss Wettingen’s Karin Bugmann, robbed Reading of their second win of the day in the opening matches in the Women’s European Indoor Clubs Trophy in Lithuania this afternoon.

Reading were 3-4 ahead when the Swiss equalised. Reading’s goals came from Emilly Maguire (2), Alex Danson and Helen Richardson-Walsh.  Final score 4-4.

Earlier in the day Reading had a convincing win against Kecioren Baglam of Turkey, despite going into the second half 1-2 behind. Reading’s goals were from Helen Richardson-Walsh, Emma Thomas (2) and Alex Danson.

Reading are currently in second place behind RoyaL Antwerp, who they play tomorrow.

ROUND-UP OF HOCKEY FROM THE WEEKEND

Firstly an apology for the delays in getting News to you this weekend. This was caused by the official photographer for the European Hockey Federation suffering a breakdown to his car on the way to the Indoor Championships in Crawley and our editor standing in for him at the last moment. 

The European Indoor Championships were won by Germany’s Harvestehuder who beat Dinamo Yekaterinburg 4-10 in the final.  The German’s were undoubtedly the standout side in the tournament and won all of their matches, many by large margins. The bronze medal match was won by Racing Club de Bruxelles after a shoot-out against Spanish club Complutense.

Although having a comparatively good finish in fifth place, East Grinstead’s performance was very disappointing. In particular, many penalty corner opportunities went to waste, and there was some dreadful passing.  After the tournament we asked coach Richard Organ for an assessment. His view was that EG had entered the tournament with its weakest squad for some years. However, we always felt there was something under the bonnet if only the side could press the loud pedal.

There will be a full report on the tournament in the next edition of our on-line magazine, HockeyTalk.

Despite some interesting results, the NOW:Pensions Men’s Hockey League remained largely static over the weekend. Leaders, Beeston, went down 3-2 away at Surbiton, whilst bottom placed Sheffield Hallam won only their second match of the season, thanks to a 66^th minute winner from their David Goodfield.  The final score in that match, Sheffield Hallam 4 Loughborough Students 3.

Canterbury won their high-scoring match against Cannock 6-5, whilst Reading went down 1-2 to Wimbledon.  For obvious reasons East Grinstead did not play this weekend.

Although the Premier Division table remains unchanged, an interesting situation has arisen at the bottom end, with three clubs now on seven points.  A couple of wins or even a draw could provide an escape route for Loughborough Students and Sheffield Hallam in ninth and tenth places respectively.  Cannock will be looking over their shoulders anxiously.

The East Conference shows only a couple of changes, although these are of little consequence. The table has turned into a two-horse race between Holcombe and Southgate, both on 34 points, 11 points ahead of the nearest competition.  The most noteworthy news from the East was that Brighton & Hove won their first match yesterday, 0-2, against fellow strugglers St Albans.

There was no change in the West Conference.  The recent revival of ninth placed Guildford hit the buffers when they went down 3-2 to bottom placed Isca, with coach Ian Jennings scoring one of Guildford’s goals.

There were no changes in the North Conference other than Belper sliding into ninth place as a result of their 3-1 defeat at Brooklands. They replace Deeside Ramblers, who had a good 1-5 win at West Bridgford.

It was the return of Canterbury to the Investec Women’s Premier Division after they beat Sutton Coldfield 0-2.  Leicester seem to be getting back into their stride with a 0-2 win away at Surbiton.  Surbiton slip from first to third, despite having played one more match than most of the Premier Division.

Scores in the Investec Women’s Cup Quarter Finals:

Beeston 2 Surbiton 4
Buckingham 6 Sutton Coldfield 0
Hampstead & Westminster 4 Sevenoaks 2
University of Birmingham 4 Gloucester City 1

LATEST FROM EUROPEAN INDOOR CLUB FINALS, CRAWLEY

Final positions after pool stages:

POOL A

1 = Harvestehuder 15 pts (+20), 2 = CH SPV Complutense 7 pts (-2), 3 = Kolos-Sekvoya Vinnitsa 7 pts (-3), 4 = Hockey Club Valenciennes 0 pts (-15).

POOL B

1 = Dinamo Yekaterinburg 15 pts (+11), 2 = Royal Racing Club Bruxelles 8 pts

(-1), 3 = East Grinstead 7 pts (+2), 4 = Partille SC 2 pts (-12).

'GRINSTEAD IN SECOND PLACE AFTER POOR START

East Grinstead is currently in second place in Pool B of the European Indoor Club Championships in Crawley after a difficult first day on Friday.

A not altogether convincing display against the Russians from Dinamo Yekaterinburg in their opening match saw them lose 3-2. Their second game of the day, versus Partille of Sweden saw a more convincing performance after a poor start, ‘Grinstead finally running out 2-6 victors.

EG urgently need to sort out their penalty corner routine, which saw many chances wasted.  However, with one more match to play today, they stand a fair chance of a semi-final place.

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM YESTERDAY’S MATCHES ARE ON OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.HOCKEYIMAGES.CO.UK.

GIANT KILLERS ELIMINATE PREMIERSHIP SIDES FROM CUP. A round-up of this afternoon's Cup matches.

Giant killing acts are rare enough in hockey but, like buses, three come along at the same time.  

There was a clutch of upsets in the Men’s Cup quarter finals this afternoon, but probably the most remarkable was the match between Sevenoaks and Hampstead & Westminster at Hollybush Close.  H&W are currently seventh in the NOW:Pensions Premier Division, and Sevenoaks are outside of the England Hockey League, currently lying third in the South Premier. The warning signs were already there, Sevenoaks had already dispatched North Conference Bowdon in the previous round.

From the first whistle Sevenoaks came at Hampstead & Westminster like a bullet out of a gun, and were camped out in their half for much of the first 30 minutes. They got their reward when Mike Holland converted a penalty corner in the 14^th minute.  Surely this was going to be Sevenoaks’ token goal before being taken to the cleaners?  And so it seemed after Hampstead’s Oliver Didham powered a shot into the ‘Oaks goal ten minutes later.

Not dispirited, the home side kept up the pressure. And the pressure paid off when Will Goulstone found the net.  So was this when the Londoners’ would assert themselves?  But Sevenoaks remained  fired up and another attack resulted in Mike Barber making it 3-1 before half-time.

The second half saw Hampstead assert themselves a little more. Their Nick McLaughlin pulled one back for them to bring the score to 3-2. The last nail biting minutes saw the ‘Oaks down to 10 men after their captain was sent to the naughty seat, and they faced a series of penalty corners. But somehow H&W failed to build on their temporary advantage, and the score remained stubbornly at 3-2.  And that is how the match ended, with Sevenoaks through to the semi-finals.

Not wishing to take anything away from Sevenoaks,  it was more a case of H&W losing the match than Sevenoaks winning it. Some extremely sloppy passing resulted in H&W giving away possession more times that you would expect from a Premiership side, and they paid the price. Hampstead & Westminster have a history of getting through to finals but doing it the hard way, particularly against lesser opponents.  This time, a lesser opponent stopped them in their tracks.

Hampstead’s traditional opponents in the Finals has been Beeston, but they will be noticeable by their absence too.  They were knocked out 4-3 by North Conference Brooklands MU.

The other Premier Division side, Cannock, finished their match against East Conference Oxted 1-1. Oxted then went on to win the shoot out 12-11. 

The all-East Conference match between Old Loughtonians and Bromley & Beckenham ended 3-1 to the Loughts’. 

Photographs from the match between Sevenoaks and Hampstead & Westminster will appear on our Pictures web site soon.

LAST GASP GOAL EARNS STUDENTS A POINT. A round-up of todays matches in the England Hockey League.

TalkHockeyRadio was at the Cup match between Sevenoaks and Hampstead & Westminster this afternoon. We are awaiting the results of the other Cup matches at the moment and will upload a report when these are received.

Elsewhere, there were two matches in the NOW:Pensions Men’s Premiership this afternoon which, coincidentally, both ended in 4-4 draws. 

The once-great Loughborough Students have struggled this season, and are currently occupying the play-off spot. Playing visiting Canterbury, they took the lead midway through the second half thanks to a penalty corner conversion by Ian Sloan, giving them a 2-1 advantage. But a flurry of activity in the last ten minutes saw Michael Farrer and Isaac O’Conner put Canterbury ahead. Dominic Bowden then equalised for the Students, only for them to see Canterbury re-take the lead as O’Conner scored his second.  It was a last gasp penalty corner from Ian Sloan, that gave the Students the point. 

The point leaves Loughborough Students in ninth place in the table, but on the same points as Cannock in eighth.  

Not only did this afternoon’s match between Surbiton and Wimbledon end with the same scoreline as the Loughborough Students v Canterbury game, but the final outcome was also settled by a 70^th minute goal.  Wimbledon were leading 4-2, when Matt Daly scored the third of his hat-trick for Surbiton, followed five minutes later by Michael Watt’s equaliser.

There were three matches in the East Conference, two of which involved the top or bottom clubs.  Holcombe stay top after beating Brighton & Hove 0-3 away. Brighton’s exit from the League now looks sealed with only one point from 12 games. Southgate is on the same points as Holcombe (31) but with a much inferior goal difference. They beat Cambridge City 1-2 today.

In the North Conference Bowdon moved ahead of University of Durham into second place after dishing out a 9-4 hammering to bottom placed West Bridgford. The Nottingham side were only one goal adrift after Charlie Brook’s 60^th minute goal put the score at 5-4, but Bowdon used the last ten minutes to score four times.  West Bridgford look like another side condemned to exit the League after only one season. They have only two points. Deeside Ramblers drop into the ninth place play-off slot, replacing Belper, who beat them 5-3 this afternoon. 

There was a full programme in the West Conference today. Top side, Bath Buccaneers, visited Cardiff and Met, losing 2-0. The defeat opens the door to Indian Gymkhana, whose 2-3 win over Isca moves them into the top slot. Guildford’s recent mini-revival saw them take three points after playing hosts to University of Birmingham. Their 1-0 win leaves them in ninth place, but only two points behind Cheltenham.

There was one re-arranged match in the Investec Women’s Premier Division today caused by Reading’s involvement in the European Indoor Clubs Trophy in two weeks time. They played host to Surbiton, losing to a single goal from Sarah Page.