Roundup of Sunday games in the League, Cup and Europe

Photo: Flashpoint. Richard Alexander is about to receive a yellow card in a match that was not a good advertisement for hockey.

This was the first weekend that TalkHockeyRadio has been outdoors since the end of November, a combination of bad weather and indoor commitments keeping us indoors until today. Whilst it was good to get into daylight and away from some weird indoor lighting, the day was slightly spoilt by one match that was a poor advertisement for hockey.

We took advantage of a double header at Sugden Road, to see Surbiton women play Reading in the Cup, followed by a Premier League match between Surbiton and Cannock.

It is not that long ago that Reading were the underdogs in the Cup, but acquisitions over the last 12 months or so means that they have one of the strongest squads in the Premiership. To their credit, they played today's cup match without their galaxy of current England stars, and gave the East Conference pretenders a shot at glory which the latter grasped with both hands.

You can see the hand of their coach Brett Garrard in everything that Surbiton do, and they played most of the first half with a confidence that belied their East Conference status. Former England international Helen Grant started the scoring, with Amy Bryant adding a second before half time. Reading composed themselves in the second half with Hayley Munt and Abi Harper equalising. But Surbiton's heads did not go down, and they were rewarded with a 55^th minute Vicky Bryant goal, which gave them a 3-2 win and a place in the last four.

The semi final draw, which takes place tomorrow, will see them facing Bowdon Hightown, Sutton Coldfield or University of Birmingham.

The second match at Sugden Road was a less happy affair. We are not going to go into too much detail but there was a lot of criticism of the umpiring of this match. But the umpires can only umpire what is in front of them and much of the blame must fall at the feet of the players for making this a difficult game. Nobody on the pitch seemed to be enjoying themselves and there were few too many occasions when players were complaining unnecessarily about their opponents. Tempers were not calmed by a late Cannock equaliser, which was followed three minutes later by an overtime penalty corner awarded in favour of Surbiton. The first attempt failed and a long discussion followed between the umpires as to whether a further foul had been committed by the defence. Eventually the final whistle was blown, much to the joy of Cannock – who have picked up four valuable points this weekend – but clearly not to the delight of Surbiton. Not a pretty game and not a good reflection of what we expect of hockey – passion, speed and respect.

IN THE EUROPEAN INDOOR CLUBS CHAMPIONSHIPS, East Grinstead live to fight another day. They will be back in the Championship tournament next year after beating WKS Grunwald Poznan 8-5, with goals from Dave De Prez (3), Niall Stott (2), Barry Middleton, Glen Kirkham and Mark Pearn. The final places are: 1. Mannheimer, 2. Dinamo Ekaterinburg, 3. Amsterdam, 4. Luzerner, 5. Club de Campo, 6. East Grinstead, 7. WKS Grunwald Poznan, 8. Menzieshill. As a result, Poland and Scotland are relegated to the Trophy Tournament in 2012.

WOMENS CUP QUARTER FINALS

Bowdon Hightown	(0)	4	-	1		(0)	Olton & WW
Tina Cullen - 41 50 (F, F) Fay Nash - 47 56 (F, F)							Rachel Clift - 66 (PC)
Clifton	(1)	2	-	4		(1)	Sutton Coldfield
Els Mansell - 3 (F) Liz Sinton - 60 (F)							Sarah Mills - 26 65 (PC, F) Jane Sixsmith - 46 53 (PC, F)
Surbiton	(2)	3	-	2		(0)	Reading
Helen Grant - 16 (PC) Amy Bryant - 19 (F) Vicky Bryant - 55 (PC)							Hayley Munt - 40 (F) Abi Harper - 43 (PC)
University of Birmingham	(1)	2	-	1		(1)	Buckingham
Sophie Bray - 30, 77 (F, PC) Men's Premier Division Bowdon (2) 3 - 2 (0) Canterbury Nigel Croke 11 - F Andrew Brogdon 30 - F Simon Egerton 70 - PC 48min, Simon Egerton missed a penalty stroke Mickel Pierre 41 60 - F F Hampstead and Westminster (0) 1 - 2 (0) Loughborough Students Ian Roberts 38 - PC James Osborn 47 60 - F PC Reading (2) 6 - 2 (1) Brooklands MU Jonty Clarke 12 35 - F PC Harry Slater 39 - F Richard Mantell 48 - PC Stephen Dick 51 - F Jack Hardy 55 - F David Seddon 34 - PC Dave Flanagan 57 - F Surbiton (0) 1 - 1 (0) Cannock Richard Alexander 38 - F Matthew Plunkett 67 - F P W D L F A GD Pts 1 East Grinstead 11 10 1 0 50 12 38 31 2 Beeston 12 8 1 3 29 16 13 25 3 Surbiton 13 7 1 5 27 29 -2 22 4 Loughborough Students 13 6 1 6 34 35 -1 19 5 Hampstead and Westminster 13 6 1 6 25 28 -3 19 6 Bowdon 13 5 3 5 21 25 -4 18 7 Reading 13 5 2 6 31 27 4 17 8 Cannock 13 3 5 5 26 37 -11 14 9 Brooklands MU 13 2 2 9 14 31 -17 8 10 Canterbury 12 1 3 8 21 38 -17 6 Men's Conference East St. Albans (1) 2 - 7 (3) Indian Gymkhana Alan Miller 14 - F Andrew Dixon 66 - PC Rafael Lopez Jimenez 7 - F Asavir Kalla 30 - F Tejinder Hanspal 33 70 - PC PC Akaash Meeda 37 - F Pavitar Hanspal 43 - F Jagdeep Gill 47 - PC Old Loughtonians (1) 4 - 1 (0) Oxted Harry Martin 6 - F Stuart Hardy 43 - F James Stedman 49 - F Alex Jennings 57 - F Jonathan Wilkes-Green 41 - F Sevenoaks (3) 3 - 2 (0) Southgate Rufus Mcnaught-Barrington 19 26 28 - PC PC PC Nick Gerrard 36 - F Edward Miller 59 - PC Wimbledon (0) 1 - 1 (1) Harleston Magpies Seb Malti 70 - PC Simon Hipwell 27 - F P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Southgate 13 9 2 2 49 19 30 29 2 Old Loughtonians 13 8 2 3 39 22 17 26 3 Holcombe 13 7 3 3 27 17 10 24 4 Indian Gymkhana 13 7 1 5 34 31 3 22 5 Bromley and Beckenham 13 7 0 6 45 40 5 21 6 Harleston Magpies 13 6 1 6 36 29 7 19 7 Wimbledon 13 4 3 6 28 30 -2 15 8 Oxted 13 4 0 9 27 47 -20 12 9 Sevenoaks 13 4 0 9 26 55 -29 12 10 St. Albans 13 2 2 9 22 43 -21 8 Men's Conference North Barford Tigers (4) 6 - 1 (0) Deeside Ramblers Jesmeet Singh Notay 8 57 - F PC Jimmy Singh 15 - F Gurcharan Singh 27 - PC Harjinder Sandhu 32 - F Narinderpal Mankoo 53 - F Ali Ghazanfar 70 - PC Belper (0) 0 - 2 (0) University of Durham Alex Czerniewski 39 - F George Scott 48 - F Ben Rhydding (1) 3 - 6 (2) Doncaster Luke Lambert 24 - PC Samuel French 65 - PC Travis Taylor 68 - F Jonathan Redfern 16 - F Robert Peregrine 21 - PC Tim Shelley 40 - F Lachlan Brownhalls 45 70 - F F Andre Otten 69 - F Leek (1) 2 - 3 (2) Olton & West Warwicks Ben White 5 - PC Richard Cordon 47 - F Oliver Needham 18 - F Angus Grieve 34 - F Chris George 62 - PC Sheffield Hallam Civica (1) 1 - 1 (1) Harborne Tristan Gilbody 18 - PC Patrick Longson 29 - PC P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Doncaster 13 9 0 4 45 26 19 27 2 Sheffield Hallam Civica 13 8 2 3 50 23 27 26 3 University of Durham 13 8 2 3 33 15 18 26 4 Olton & West Warwicks 13 7 3 3 35 31 4 24 5 Leek 13 7 2 4 31 24 7 23 6 Deeside Ramblers 13 5 3 5 33 41 -8 18 7 Belper 13 5 0 8 32 35 -3 15 8 Harborne 13 3 2 8 21 36 -15 11 9 Barford Tigers 13 3 2 8 25 43 -18 11 10 Ben Rhydding 13 1 2 10 21 52 -31 5 Men's Conference West Cheltenham (1) 2 - 5 (3) University of Exeter Simon Padley 33 - F James Astley 39 - F Joe Sterlini 10 - PS Ian Haley 13 48 64 - F F PC Gareth Davies 26 - F Fareham (0) 0 - 7 (1) Guildford Fareham down to 8 players at one point, due to yellow cards Rory Marsh 23 - PC Jonathan Haynes 48 - F Nathanael Crawley 56 - PC Alan Henderson 58 - F David Wilson 63 69 - F F William Blockley 65 - F Team Bath Buccaneers (1) 3 - 1 (0) Stourport Phillip Ball 16 - F Eugene Malthouse 41 - F Tim Davenport 47 - F 11min, Matt Collinson had penalty stroke saved by Ben Dudley Phil Lashford 66 - F University of Birmingham (2) 4 - 1 (0) Bournville Peter Jackson 9 20 - PC PC Tom Merchant 48 - F Richard Marshall 55 - F Oliver Westbrook 52 - PS P W D L F A GD Pts 1 University of Exeter 13 11 1 1 50 16 34 34 2 Team Bath Buccaneers 13 11 1 1 45 26 19 34 3 Guildford 13 5 6 2 24 13 11 21 4 Cheltenham 13 6 1 6 32 37 -5 19 5 University of Birmingham 13 5 1 7 28 32 -4 16 6 Whitchurch 12 4 3 5 26 25 1 15 7 Havant 12 3 5 4 27 33 -6 14 8 Bournville 13 3 2 8 30 42 -12 11 9 Fareham 13 2 2 9 26 38 -12 8 10 Stourport 13 1 4 8 18 44 -26 7													Anita Bazini - 13 (F)