W1 Host The University Of Birmingham On Saturday
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women go into their penultimate Women's Hockey League Premier Division match of 2025 with the University of Birmingham on Saturday, having regained top spot after a valuable 2-1 win at Hampstead & Westminster last Saturday.
The game starts at 1500 and supporters unable to attend Sugden Road can watch the match via the Surbiton Hockey Club channel on You Tube here
Goals from Darcy Bourne and Amy Costello gave Surbiton a 2-0 lead at Paddington Recreation Ground and although Olivia Hamilton pulled a goal back with five minutes remaining, Surbiton maintained their one hundred per cent record at the venue to go a point ahead of their rivals with two games to play.
The University of Birmingham are one of three teams on 12 points and dropped to seventh on goal difference behind Durham University last weekend as they chase a coveted top six place.
Birmingham started the season with two 1-0 wins at home to Bowdon and away to Loughborough Students, followed up by two draws, 4-4 at home to Wimbledon and 1-1 at Reading.
The formbook went out of the window in their next game as the University of Nottingham secured their only win so far this season, 2-1 at Nottingham Hockey Centre. Birmingham rebounded with a 5-2 home win over struggling Barnes before another narrow defeat, 2-1 at Hampstead & Westminster.
A 1-1 draw with Clifton Robinsons, followed by a 3-1 home defeat by Durham University saw the newly promoted team replace Birmingham in the top six, with Loughborough Students hot on their heels in eighth, on goal difference.
Coca Hall has scored in seven of Birmingham's nine league games this season and has netted eight goals this season. Hannah Pearce has supported her with four goals, whilst Sarah Parkinson-Mills has scored twice.
Lottie Atkinson, Lottie Bingham, Lily Sokhi and Betsan Thomas have each scored once to keep Birmingham in contention for a top six finish at the end of Stage 1.
Surbiton are yet to concede a first half goal this season, having failed to concede a goal before the 52nd minute, but supporters who miss the start of the match or need to leave early are in danger of missing goals with Surbiton having scored five goals in the first ten minutes of matches and having scored five and conceded five goals in the last ten minutes.
Birmingham have scored and conceded twice in the first ten minutes, Pearce having scored in the second minute last week before Durham recovered. The students have also scored four goals in the last ten minutes, conceding just once.
Bourne's goal at Hampstead gave her the division's top scorer place outright with eleven goals, and with twelve different Surbiton players having found the net this season, Birmingham will face plenty of attacking potential on their first visit to Sugden Road since March 2023.
And amazingly, last week's 2-0 half time lead at Hampstead was the seventh time in nine matches that Surbiton had gone into the second half with a 2-0 advantage, yet their vulnerability of conceding goals in the fourth quarter means that they only have the third best defensive record in the Premier Division, their nine goals bettered by both Hampstead & Westminster and Wimbledon, who have conceded seven goals, Birmingham having scored four of the goals Wimbledon conceded this season.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the two teams with the best defensive records meet at Raynes Park High School when fourth placed Wimbledon host second placed Hampstead.
Fifth placed Wimbledon are at home to third placed East Grinstead and the race to claim sixth spot could be more clear cut after Durham University go to Loughborough Students.
At the bottom of the table, Bowdon, who are four points adrift of the teams above and below them, travel to Barnes, who dropped back into the relegation zone last weekend as the University of Nottingham salvaged a home point against Bowdon.
Clifton Robinsons, who are the only team without a win, face a very important home clash with the University of Nottingham, which could see them move away from the bottom of the table, knowing that they also face an important trip to Barnes in their last match of 2025.