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 66th
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
Buckingham 6 Sutton Coldfield 0
Hampstead & Westminster 4 Sevenoaks 2
University of Birmingham 4 Gloucester City 1
