L1 Visit Bowdon Hightown on Saturday
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Ladies make the long trip to Bowdon Hightown on Saturday (push back 1.45 pm) after their 3-1 home win over Hampstead & Westminster last weekend opened up an eight point lead over their nearest rivals.
Bowdon are bottom of the table after a three point deduction due to a registration issue, but earned four points on the road last weekend with a 2-1 win at Holcombe and a 1-1 draw at East Grinstead to give themselves hope of avoiding the drop.
Bowdon were unbeaten for their first three games with a 2-2 draw at the University of Birmingham on opening day and a 1-1 home draw with Buckingham.
The points deduction nullified their 2-1 win at newly promoted Loughborough Students and Bowdon then proceeded to lose their next five games.
Hampstead & Westminster won 5-1 at Bowdon; Erica Sanders and Giselle Ansley scored as Surbiton beat them 2-0 at Sugden Road; Clifton Robinsons won 3-2 in Cheshire followed by East Grinstead's 3-0 win in the North West and then Hampstead completed the league double with a 2-0 triumph at Paddington Recreation Ground.
Aine Curran with four and Sian French with three (including a penalty stroke at East Grinstead last week) have been Bowdon's main scorers with Charlene Mason, Rosie Bailey, Beth Alexander and Xenna Hughes all having scored once.
Meanwhile with Surbiton having built up a fifteen point advantage over fifth placed Clifton Robinsons, the reigning champions will probably need a maximum of four wins in the second half of the season to qualify for the playoffs.
Hampstead don't play until Sunday when they host Holcombe but elsewhere on Saturday, East Grinstead are at home to Beeston whilst on a run of magnificent form which has seen them on a seven game unbeaten streak after losing their first three games.
Loughborough Students take on a Buckingham team which has lost four games in a row; and the University of Birmingham, also on a four game losing run welcome inconsistent Clifton Robinsons to the second city.