W1 Host Isca On Saturday Afternoon
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women face Isca & The University of Exeter in the Vitality Women's Hockey League Premier Division for the first time on Saturday afternoon at Sugden Road (push back 3 pm).
Supporters unable to attend Sugden Road can watch the match via the Surbiton Hockey Club You Tube channel here
Surbiton Women's 2s, who finished fifth in the 2022-23 Division One South season, start their 2023-24 campaign at home to Team Bath Buccaneers, the 2022-23 Conference West champions at 1 pm on Saturday. That game can also be viewed on You Tube here
Isca were promoted as 2022-23 Division One South champions last season, coming close to an unbeaten season, only to lose 1-0 away to Surbiton Ladies 2s in their final match. Gemma Townsend, now at Stanford, scored the only goal at Epsom College as Sugden Road was hosting the VWHL League Finals.
Isca and Surbiton were both promoted to the VWHL in 2009-10, Isca as West champions and Surbiton as South champions. In their first season, both teams were runners-up in their respective Conferences by four point margins: Isca losing out to Buckingham in the Conference West and Surbiton missing out to Sevenoaks.
Isca finished third in the Conference West in 2011-12, but were frustrated in 2012-13 as for the second time in three seasons, they finished second behind Buckingham, although this time there was a 16 point gap as Buckingham dropped two points during the whole season.
Over the next six seasons, Isca generally finished in mid-table in fifth or sixth place, although they dropped to seventh in 2017-18. A fifth place finish in 2018-19 helped them to qualify for a place in the new second tier: Division One South, with the Conferences constituting the third tier from 2019-20.
Isca struggled in their first season in Division One South, finishing ninth, but were reprieved from relegation back to the Conference as a side effect of the Premier Division being extended from ten teams to eleven teams due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The 2020-21 season was declared null and void also due to the Covid-19 crisis, but in 2021-22, Isca had recovered for a fifth place finish, building the foundations for a successful 2022-23 season.
Isca's defence enabled them to keep nine clean sheet out of 18 and just concede 13 goals, whilst accumulating 66 goals in attack.
Livvy Hoskins' brace spoiled Isca's top-flight debut last weekend as Clifton Robinsons won 2-0 in Devon.
Meanwhile Surbiton's 3-2 defeat at Reading was their first-ever opening day loss at National League level. Having been stunned by conceding goals in a two minute spell by Lizzie Gittens and Caroline Spence in the opening seven minutes, Meg Dowthwaite and debutant Martha Taylor levelled for Surbiton before half time, only for Sophia Clark to win the game with just three minutes remaining.
Reading, in only their second season back in the Premier Division, will want to make more progress when they visit Loughborough Students, who drew 3-3 at the University of Nottingham last weekend. Nottingham visit Hampstead & Westminster as part of a double header at Paddington Recreation Ground. Hampstead were held to a 1-1 draw at the University of Birmingham on day one.
Reigning champions, East Grinstead, beaten 2-1 at home by newly promoted Bowdon, travel to Beeston, who will be confident after coming away with a 2-1 win at Wimbledon.
Bowdon welcome the University of Birmingham to the North West for their first home game back in the Premier Division.
Wimbledon will want to bounce back from last week's home defeat when they visit Clifton Robinsons, who won on a shootout when the teams met in the League Finals pool stage, but Wimbledon have won the last three regular season Premier Division matches in Bristol.