Before the season started TalkHockeyRadio was being taken to task by Beeston for suggesting that their prospects for the start of the 2007-2008 season were not that bright. It looks as if we are going to have to eat our words. They knocked mighty Cannock off the top spot in the Men’s Premier Division today with a 2-1 victory in a Midlands derby which saw a penalty corner conversion in each half from Richard Stamp and Adam Dixon. The scorer for Cannock was Andrew Langlands. Beeston move up third place behind Surbiton, whose improved form saw them beat Canterbury 1-0. The new league leaders are Reading who met luckless Bowdon away and won 4-1. East Grinstead are far too good a side to be languishing at the bottom of the division and it all came right for them today when they went to Hampstead and Westminster and came away with a 4-1 scoreline. This lifts them to sixth place. Loughborough Students showed that they are a still a force to contend with when they overcame Havant 6-3, leaving the Hampshire side with only one point out of three games. In Division One, Guildford’s bright start to the season seems to be falling apart. They are on the wrong end of a 6-2 scoreline at Belper and drop down one place to nineth. John Bell’s goal for Brooklands thirteen minutes before the end of time dented Southgate’s promising start to the season but they still lead the pack on goal difference. In fact, all but four of the clubs in the division are on six points. Chelmsford seem to be in deep trouble, with Sheffield University Bankers – a team that was bottom of the division this morning – beating them 5-2. Sheffield move up two places to be replaced by Chelmsford in the bottom slot.
TalkHockeyRadio was at Holcombe Park to see Holcombe play Firebrands in the South Division, although we saw only the last few minutes of the match due to the start time being brought forward to accommodate a Women’s Cup Second Round Match. Holcombe have acquired the service of Dave Matthews, until three seasons ago star of the Dutch Premier League and until recently of Canterbury. Joined by fellow team-mate Danny Laslett from Canterbury, Matthews (pictured - red shirt) has been a prolific goal scorer for his new club. Today was no exception, with Matthews scoring a hat-trick in his side’s 4-1 win. The other scorer for Holcombe was Eric Rose-Innes. Holcombe’s goal average is an astonishing five per match, although surprisingly it is not the highest in the division. Nor do they look likely to catch up with the leaders, University of Exeter, who found the net seven times for no reply against the students from Cambridge. Exeter lead the table on 13 points, with Holcombe in second place (11 points) and Sevenoaks in third (10 points). Teddington’s luck has still not changed as they went down to Whitchurch 5-2.
In the North Division Birmingham University beat mid-table Telford and Wrekin 6-2 to retain the top spot. Leek’s campaign took a knock when they were beaten 2-1 by Peterborough. Peterborough move into second place ahead of Leek. Barford Tigers remain in bottom place after a close encounter at Stourport, which ended at 4-3 to Stourport. Doncaster were in high scoring mode with their 8-3 victims being Kingston-upon-Hull. Nick Budgeon scored five times for Donny in that match.
PICTURES OF THE MATCH BETWEEN HOLCOMBE AND FIREBRANDS WILL SHORTLY BE UPLOADED TO OUR MAIN SITE (www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk) AND UP-TO-DATE SLAZENGER LEAGUE TABLES WIL APPEAR ON THE SITE TOMORROW (MONDAY).
Before the season started TalkHockeyRadio was being taken to task by Beeston for suggesting that their prospects for the start of the 2007-2008 season were not that bright. It looks as if we are going to have to eat our words. They knocked mighty Cannock off the top spot in the Men’s Premier Division today with a 2-1 victory in a 