W1 Host Hampstead & Westminster On Saturday
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women face a rematch of last season's Championships Final when they welcome Hampstead & Westminster to Sugden Road for a Women's Hockey League Premier Division match on Saturday afternoon (push back 2 pm).
Surbiton, as with all Premier Division teams this weekend, face a doubleheader programme in which they visit Reading on Sunday afternoon.
The match against Hampstead will be streamed live via the Surbiton Hockey Club channel on You Tube here
Surbiton beat Hampstead 3-1 at Sugden Road to regain their Women's Hockey League Championships title after losing out to East Grinstead in 2023.
Surbiton won all three of the other meetings in 2023-24, winning 3-1 at home in the Prem in October 2023; 2-0 at Paddington Rec in February and 4-1 in the Pool Stage of the League Finals, eight days before the final.
Since Hampstead made their Premier Division debut in 2019-20, they have only beaten Surbiton once, goals from Grace Balsdon and Lucy Hyams giving Hampstead a 2-0 win at Sugden Road in March 2022.
Yet the rivalry goes back to when both teams were at South League level, when it was Surbiton's turn to struggle to beat Hampstead in Divisions 1 and 2, Hampstead drawing at Sugden Road and winning at Paddington Recreation Ground on their way to promotion from Division 2 in 2006-07 and even when Surbiton won promotion from Division 1 in 2009-10.
Surbiton and Hampstead go into the clash in second and third respectively with both teams having similar records, only separated by Surbiton scoring 11 goals to Hampstead's ten.
Hampstead's sole defeat came at East Grinstead on opening day, going down 1-0. Since then Hampstead have beaten the University of Birmingham 1-0 and Holcombe 4-1, both at home and won 5-1 at Loughborough Students.
Madi Ratcliffe, Catherine Ledesma and Tyler Lench have all scored twice, Anna Moore, Rose Tynan, Lucy Hyams and Sofia Martin also finding the net for the Central London club.
Meanwhile, Surbiton got back to winning ways last Saturday, coming away from East Grinstead with a 2-0 win after a surprise 2-1 home defeat to Wimbledon the week before. A 2-0 opening day win at Clifton Robinsons and a convincing 6-1 home win over the University of Nottingham had helped Surbiton make an ideal start to the defence of their title and in spite of losing players due to the Hockey One tournament in Australia (Hampstead have also lost players for the same reason), Surbiton seemed to be on course to build momentum during the season before the late night blip.
Issy Yonge, who scored for Surbiton's second team last week at Sevenoaks, is still Surbiton first team's top scorer with three goals, Ellie Mackenzie having scored her second goal of the season in the win at East Grinstead.
Jordan Homann, Sophie Hamilton, Erica Sanders, Darcy Bourne, Martha Taylor and Meg Dowthwaite have also scored this season to show that Surbiton have plenty of goalscoring options to call on.
Elsewhere on Saturday, leaders Reading will be aiming to maintain their one hundred per cent record at seventh-placed Holcombe before their home match with Surbiton on Sunday.
East Grinstead, currently in fourth but also on nine points visit ninth-placed Wimbledon, whilst fifth-placed Bowdon host sixth-placed the University of Birmingham.
Clifton Robinsons earned their first point of the season at the University of Nottingham last Saturday and are at home to eighth-placed Loughborough Students.
Sutton Coldfield, yet to earn their first points of the season on their return to the top-flight welcome the University of Nottingham to the West Midlands.