W1 Visit East Grinstead On Saturday
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women will aim to bounce back from last week's shock 2-1 home defeat to Wimbledon when they visit East Grinstead in the Women's Hockey League Premier Division on Saturday (push back 4 pm).
The match will be played at East Grinstead Sports Club, Saint Hill Road, East Grinstead RH19 4JU and those supporters who can't get to West Sussex, the match will be streamed on the East Grinstead Hockey TV channel on You Tube here
East Grinstead go into the match in second place having won their first three games with Surbiton third on six points as the Premier Division table starts to take shape.
East Grinstead beat Hampstead & Westminster 1-0 at home on the opening day of the season before winning on the road at Sutton Coldfield (3-0) and the University of Nottingham (5-3).
Biba Mills has been on fire leading the way as East Grinstead's top scorer with four goals. Courtney Hansford, Pippa Lock, Summer Knight Thompson, Connie Penlington and Sally Sime have also been on the scoresheet this season with one goal apiece.
Both meetings between the teams last season were also at Saint Hill with Surbiton winning 4-1 in October and East Grinstead winning 1-0 in February.
East Grinstead have won 11 and drawn twice in their last 13 games since their defeat in October. The 2022-23 league champions were also unbeaten in the League Finals, only seeing their league defence ended by Hampstead & Westminster in a semi-final shootout 3-2 after a 2-2 draw in normal time at Surbiton HC.
Meanwhile, Surbiton face the prospect of losing two successive Premier Division games for the first time since March 2020 when ironically, they lost 6-1 at East Grinstead after a 1-0 home defeat to Clifton Robinsons.
Although Martha Taylor gave Surbiton the lead with her third goal against Wimbledon in as many matches, Megan Crowson and Phoebe Barnett turned the game around to give Wimbledon the 2-1 away win last Saturday night.
Surbiton had started the season with a 2-0 victory at Clifton Robinsons and were in stunning form against the University of Nottingham in a 6-1 home win in Week 2.
Issy Yonge scored the first goal against both Clifton and Nottingham and leads the way with three goals. Darcy Bourne, Sophie Hamilton, Jordan Homann, Ellie Mackenzie, Erica Sanders and Taylor have all found the net once for the reigning champions.
Elsewhere on Saturday, leaders Reading, who lead East Grinstead on goal difference welcome Sutton Coldfield to Sonning Lane. Fourth-placed Hampstead & Westminster visit Loughborough Students, who currently hold the sixth place on goal difference from Wimbledon.
Wimbledon are at home to Bowdon, who won for the first time last weekend at Clifton Robinsons. Clifton, just like Sutton Coldfield, are looking for their first point of the season and will hope to return to Bristol from the University of Nottingham with some reward.
The other top-flight University team, University of Birmingham, travel to Holcombe, who lost for the first time last week at Hampstead and Westminster after returning to the Premier Division after spending last season in Division One South.