W1 Travel To Holcombe On Saturday
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women visit Holcombe on Saturday afternoon as they look to close the four point gap between themselves and leaders Reading in the Women's Hockey League Premier Division.
The match will be played at Curtis Way, Chatham, Rochester ME1 2TQ.
Holcombe are ninth in the Premier Division in their first season back in the top-flight after one season away, having won promotion back from Division One South last season behind champions, Surbiton 2s.
With coach, Nick Bandurak and his wife, Emma having left Holcombe to join East Grinstead, Brad Read is now in charge of Women's first team duties and helped to end a four game losing streak with the team drawing 1-1 at Sutton Coldfield last Saturday.
Holcombe started the season with two wins: 2-1 at home to Wimbledon and 1-0 at Bowdon. Losses at Hampstead & Westminster (1-4), home to the University of Birmingham (0-1), at home to Reading (2-3) and at East Grinstead (0-1) saw the Kent club drop down the table, but only a goal three minutes from time prevented Holcombe from taking all three points from Sutton Coldfield.
Leisa Randall scored Holcombe's goal last week, with Emma Bandurak having scored once before her departure and Olivia Shannon scoring five of Holcombe's seven goals this season, but Shannon has been registered to play for Falcons in the 2024 New Zealand Premier Hockey League.
Surbiton returned to winning ways last weekend, although Loughborough Students battled by leading twice before Surbiton eventually won 3-2. With Reading having dropped points in their last two matches, in a thrilling draw 4-4 at home to Surbiton and 1-1 at Wimbledon, Surbiton still have hopes of catching the Berkshire club by the mid-season break, although both Hampstead & Westminster and East Grinstead are just a point off first place.
Surbiton and Holcombe last met in November 2022 when Holcombe lost 5-0 at Sugden Road, whilst Surbiton's last visit to Holcombe Park took place in November 2021 when Surbiton won 3-1.
Darcy Bourne is now Surbiton's top scorer with four goals with Ellie Mackenzie and Issy Yonge on three goals. Jordan Homann and Martha Taylor have both scored twice.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Reading are at home to Bowdon; Hampstead & Westminster welcome the University of Nottingham to Paddington Recreation Ground; East Grinstead visit Loughborough Students.
Wimbledon go to the University of Birmingham with Sutton Coldfield taking on Clifton Robinsons in the West Midlands.