After today there are only two more matches to play in the
NOW:Pensions Men’s Hockey League. Despite this, there are no issues in any of
its divisions which have been finally settled.
In the Premiership
this afternoon, a 68th minute goal by Simon Faulkner saved East
Grinstead from slipping out of the top place. Cannock’s Martin Ebbage had
scored 17 minutes earlier, and the match appeared to be heading for a draw when
Faulkner scored. Final score, 2-3 to East Grinstead.
Beeston are on 38 points, the same as East Grinstead, and
they beat Hampstead & Westminster 3-0 this afternoon, with goals from
Gareth Hall, Stuart Pilgrim and Jonny Ruiz. Unfortunate H&W have not won a
point in the last four matches, but they have a five point buffer between them
and a relegation play-off place.
The Premiership table remained largely unchanged as a result
of today’s matches, what changes there were happening at the bottom of the
table. Loughborough Students enjoyed only their third win of the season when their
Ian Sloan scored both goals in their 0-2 win
at Wimbledon. They move up into ninth place, two points ahead of Sheffield
Hallam. Hallam’s visit to Reading
resulted in them going home empty handed after losing 2-0. They now occupy
bottom place.
Canterbury have had a funny season, during which they have
had some good results. Indeed, they had been unbeaten in the second half of the
term until today, when they lost 6-1 to Surbiton.
TalkHockeyRadio was invited to the President’s Day at Old
Loughtonians, where they were playing St Albans in the East Conference. To be blunt, the opening encounters of the match
were marked by some inept defending by St Albans and they paid the price, with
Lought’s Conor Caplan scoring twice in two minutes mid-way through the first
half. Although things improved
considerably in the run-up to the break, it was a whole different team that
seemed to come out for the second half. Whatever coach Andy Halliday said to
them clearly spurred them into some sort of action. And to be honest they
deserved better than the single John Mould goal in the second half. It was not a pretty game, with some clumsy
tackling, which saw two Saints’ players going to the naughty seat. But if they
could play an entire game like the second half, they would not be facing
relegation. The final 2-1 win to Old Loughts leaves St Albans in bottom place,
with the only possible outcomes being automatic relegation or a place in the
relegations play-offs.
The same goes for Brighton & Hove who are in ninth place,
eight points adrift of eighth placed Oxted.
Brighton recorded their third win of the season today, with a 2-4 defeat
of Richmond. At the other end of the
table, Holcombe remain in second place, three points behind Southgate, after
they beat Bromley & Beckenham 1-4 away. The evergreen Danny Hall still
knows how to knock them in. He scroed a hat-trick, with the additional goal
coming from Barry Middelton. Leaders,
Southgate, played last night, beating Oxted 7-0.
PICTURES FROM THE MATCH BETWEEN OLD LOUGHTONIANS AND ST
ALBANS WILL BE AT www.HockeyImages.co.uk
FROM TOMORROW MORNING.
In the North
Conference it remains a two horse race.
The table remains unchanged, with Brooklands top on 43 points, followed
by Bowdon on 40. Brooklands beat mid-table Leek 0-3, whilst Bowdon finished off
Olton & West Warwicks 8-1. One of the surprising results of the day was
bottom-of-the-table West Bridgford beating fifth placed Wakefield 6-2. West
Bridgford are three points behind eighth place Belper, so could make a last
minute bid to escape relegation.
If you are a supporter of hockey in Hampshire you cannot be
relishing the fact that there are prospects that neighbours Havant and Fareham
could be playing outside of the England Hockey League next season. The two clubs were sixth and seventh in the West Conference this morning, but with
only two points separating the teams in sixth and tenth place, an upset was
always in the offing. The upset came in the form of Guildford beating Havant
0-1, which moves bottom placed Guildford up to seventh. Fareham lost to leaders Cardiff & Met
1-0. The result is that Fareham is in the automatic relegation spot, with
Havant in the relegation play-off position. But the gap between the bottom five
clubs remains small and, with six points to be won, Cheltenham, Guildford and
Isca, will have an anxious two matches to look forward to.
FULL RESULTS AND TABLES ARE ON OUR WEB SITE AT
www.TalkHockeyRadio.co.uk.
