DRAW IS NOT ENOUGH TO GIVE HAMPSTEAD PLAY-OFF PLACE

A draw at home against Reading means that Hampstead & Westminster miss out on the fifth play-off place for the league championships. For Reading the match meant very little in terms of their league status – their finish at the top of the table guarantees them a place in Europe next year – but they probably were looking forward to a competitive performance as a pump primer for next weekend's EuroHockey League in Rotterdam. Judging by the expletives coming from skipper Rhys Joyce at half time, it was clear that he was less than happy with their performance.

The first half was lively enough but with little penetration from either side. Although Reading seemed to have the better part of the possession, it was H&W who went into the break with the only goal of the half – a penalty stroke scored by David Eakins.

Hampstead were quick out of the blocks in the second half, with Will Naylor increasing the lead to 2-0. Chris Cargo pulled one back from a penalty corner shortly after, but Reading had to wait until the dying stages of the match to equalise, Felix Froeschle being the scorer.

Surbiton showed how important their internationals are to them, with Ben Hawes, Richard Alexander and James Tindall, all scoring in their 7-3 demolition of Bowdon. At the other end of the table the two bottom clubs, University of Exeter and Brooklands MU, fought out a 3-2 finish in favour of Exeter. Exeter have long been doomed to relegation but the win will give them some comfort as they face West Conference hockey next season.

In the West Conference, Old Georgians now face a play off to stay in the England Hockey League after being beaten 3-0 by Birmingham University. Already relegated Plymouth Marjon had salt rubbed in the wound by Guildford who beat them 8-2.

Canterbury's 5-3 defeat at neighbours Holcombe in the East Conference seemed to have snatched the promotion play-off place from their grasp and hand it to rivals Old Loughtonians. But lady luck smiled on the Kent side when Loughts could only manage a 2-2 draw at Oxted. As a result, Canterbury win the division by one point.

IN THE WOMEN'S CUP SEMI-FINALS, the results went predictably, with Leicester beating University of Birmingham 4-0 and Reading beating Trojans 4-1.

League results for Sunday 28 March and final tables:

Men's Premier Division

Beeston		(1)		1	-	1		(1)		Loughborough Students
Andrew Monte 34 - PC										James Osborn 30 - F
East Grinstead		(4)		5	-	3		(0)		Cannock
Dave De Prez 3 10 - F F Danny Hall 8 - F Mats Grambusch 14 - F Mark Pearn 17 - F										Richard Lane 48 68 - PC F Alexander Penney 53 - PC
University of Exeter		(1)		3	-	2		(2)		Brooklands MU
Tom Woolven 10 - PS Alex Jakeman 45 - F Tom Carson 52 - PC										Peter Flanagan 16 30 - PC PC
Hampstead and Westminster		(1)		2	-	2		(0)		Reading
David Eakins 15 - PS Will Naylor 37 - PC										Christopher Cargo 39 - PC Felix Froeschle 66 - PC
Surbiton		(4)		7	-	3		(0)		Bowdon
Tim Pinnock 3 - F Alberto Velazquez 9 - F Mike Houlihan 17 - F Ben Hawes 26 53 - F PC Richard Alexander 56 - F James Tindall 65 - F										Chris Borrett 43 - PC David Egerton 62 - F Saxon Hill 66 - F

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Reading	18	12	5	1	49	26	23	41
2	East Grinstead	18	10	5	3	69	48	21	35
3	Surbiton	18	10	3	5	59	47	12	33
4	Beeston	18	7	7	4	45	36	9	28
5	Loughborough Students	18	6	5	7	30	35	-5	23
6	Hampstead and Westminster	18	7	2	9	30	39	-9	23
7	Cannock	18	5	4	9	43	45	-2	19
8	Bowdon	18	4	7	7	41	44	-3	19
9	Brooklands MU	18	4	3	11	31	50	-19	15
10	University of Exeter	18	3	3	12	26	53	-27	12

Men's Conference East

Chelmsford		(1)		3	-	0		(0)		Bromley and Beckenham
Adam Hunter 11 - PC Luke Mepham 41 65 - PC PC
Oxted		(1)		2	-	2		(2)		Old Loughtonians
Andrew Baggs 29 70 - PC PC										Oliver Didham 20 - F James Southgate 25 - PC
Holcombe		(3)		5	-	3		(2)		Canterbury
David Mathews 14 33 - F F Chris Bowen 23 - PC Ryan Ravenscroft 56 - PC Aathavan Lingeswaran 68 - F										Mickel Pierre 20 - F Matt Harper 23 - F Ross Gilham-Jones 48 - F
Sevenoaks		(4)		5	-	2		(1)		Harleston Magpies
Andy Whalley 4 60 - F F Ben Allberry 16 - F Robert Hemingway 23 - PC Pete Turner 32 - F										James Legg 27 - F Andy Hipwell 42 - PC
Southgate		(2)		6	-	1		(0)		Indian Gymkhana
Nick Gerrard 2 59 - PC F Matthew Wells 32 42 - F PC Dan Shingles 56 - F Johannes Kloess 66 - F										Tejinder Hanspal 53 - PC

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Canterbury	18	15	1	2	68	29	39	46
2	Old Loughtonians	18	14	3	1	69	27	42	45
3	Southgate	18	11	2	5	48	35	13	35
4	Holcombe	18	8	7	3	54	32	22	31
5	Oxted	18	8	3	7	40	42	-2	27
6	Sevenoaks	18	6	4	8	43	49	-6	22
7	Harleston Magpies	18	5	5	8	38	43	-5	20
8	Bromley and Beckenham	18	2	5	11	38	58	-20	11
9	Indian Gymkhana	18	2	3	13	32	68	-36	8*
10	Chelmsford	18	2	1	15	34	81	-47	7

Men's Conference North

Barford Tigers		(2)		3	-	2		(1)		Belper
Gursev Singh 10 24 70 - PC PC PC										Luke Davies 12 - F James Blackwell 67 - PC
University of Durham		(4)		5	-	1		(0)		Harborne
David Hall 3 - F Daniel Coultas 18 31 - PC PC Scott Cooper 27 - PC John Osmond 48 - F										James Bassett 41 - F
Formby		(1)		3	-	4		(2)		Deeside Ramblers
Jack Cropper 16 - PC Giles Hampson 54 - F Richard Slater 60 - F										James Warburton 8 - PC Andrew Seiman 22 - F Joe Wright 42 68 - F PC
Leek		(1)		1	-	1		(0)		Sheffield Hallam Civica
Richard Cordon 11 - F										David Bond 42 - PC
Sheffield University Bankers		(1)		2	-	1		(1)		Doncaster
Chris Dunning 24 - PC Oscar Evans 67 - F										Jonathan Redfern 46 - F

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Deeside Ramblers	18	13	2	3	66	35	31	41
2	Sheffield Hallam Civica	18	10	4	4	59	30	29	34
3	Leek	18	9	4	5	42	37	5	31
4	University of Durham	18	9	2	7	45	41	4	29
5	Harborne	18	7	4	7	45	44	1	25
6	Doncaster	18	7	4	7	35	44	-9	25
7	Belper	18	7	1	10	44	39	5	22
8	Barford Tigers	18	5	7	6	39	47	-8	22
9	Sheffield University Bankers	18	5	4	9	28	43	-15	19
10	Formby	18	1	2	15	25	68	-43	5

Men's Conference West

University of Birmingham		(3)		3	-	0		(0)		Old Georgians
Dave Harding 17 - PC Ben Stoney 24 - F Scott Evans 34 - F
Guildford		(2)		8	-	2		(1)		Plymouth Marjon
Kieran Henn 17 - F Daniel Emery 27 53 57 - PC PC PC William Blockley 31 49 - PC F Christopher Boot 36 - F Guy Fordham 66 - F										Simon Fenwick 2 - F Calum Giles 62 - PC
Bournville		(2)		3	-	2		(1)		Team Bath Buccaneers
Mark Crennan 2 - PC Tom Rowland 25 65 - F F										Phillip Ball 17 - PS Tim Davenport 40 - PC
Havant		(3)		4	-	0		(0)		Stourport
Ahmed Ezz Mohamed 10 - F Tom Murtagh 14 - F Samuel Hatherley 29 - F Tom Butt 65 - F
Whitchurch		(0)		1	-	4		(2)		Fareham
Mark Whatling 43 - F										Ben Hibberd 5 - F Shaun Baker 12 - F James Seagar 50 - F John Billington 57 - F

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Team Bath Buccaneers	18	15	1	2	69	37	32	46
2	Guildford	18	7	6	5	44	29	15	27
3	Fareham	18	8	3	7	47	37	10	27
4	Whitchurch	18	8	2	8	48	45	3	26
5	Havant	18	7	5	6	47	44	3	26
6	University of Birmingham	18	7	2	9	41	41	0	23
7	Stourport	18	6	4	8	37	43	-6	22
8	Bournville	18	6	4	8	37	54	-17	22
9	Old Georgians	18	6	3	9	39	50	-11	21
10	Plymouth Marjon	18	3	4	11	37	66	-29	13