L1 Host Loughborough On Saturday
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Ladies return to the pitch after their bye week and host Loughborough Students in the first part of a first team doubleheader at Sugden Road (push back 3 pm).
Loughborough have struggled this season having impressed in 2020-21 before the campaign was halted prematurely. So far this season, Loughborough have two wins under their belts,1-0 at home to Holcombe and 2-1 at home to Swansea.
Having started the season with a 4-1 loss at East Grinstead, Loughborough had to cope with having their second match postponed due to a club bereavement, before going down 1-0 at Buckingham.
The home win over Holcombe seemed to have got them back on track but they suffered frustrating defeats at Clifton Robinsons (5-4) and Hampstead & Westminster (3-2) before their second home win over Swansea.
The rearranged game with Wimbledon proved to be a disaster as Wimbledon won 8-0 to leave Loughborough in ninth place, but still in contention for a coveted top six place.
Maddie Goodman is Loughborough's top scorer with three goals, with Beth Alexander having scored twice. Kirby Harris, Alice Rolfe, Iona Campbell, Catherine Ledesma and Lorna McKenzie have all found the net once this season, but with games starting to run out, Loughborough have little room to manoeuvre.
Surbiton will also want to continue their winning ways and stay unbeaten for the season, having last won 3-0 at Swansea a fortnight ago. Surbiton are currently twelve points behind leaders Hampstead & Westminster with two games in hand, and play Hampstead in their final match of the first phase of the season before the Premier Division splits.
The next two weeks will be key as next weekend, Surbiton play Holcombe on Saturday and East Grinstead on Sunday before their match-up with Hampstead as they aim to close the gap between themselves and the leaders before the second half of the season.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Hampstead & Westminster are at home to Swansea; second placed East Grinstead visit the University of Birmingham; third placed Wimbledon host Buckingham and Clifton Robinsons play their 500th regular season Premier Division game at Beeston.