W1 Set For Thrilling Conclusion To Phase 2 on Saturday
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women are set for a thrilling conclusion to the Women's Hockey League Premier Division Phase Two when they welcome fourth-placed East Grinstead to Sugden Road on Saturday.
As it is the final weekend of matches, all games in the Premier Division start at 1400.
Supporters unable to attend Sugden Road will be able to watch the match via the Surbiton Hockey Club channel on You Tube here.
Surbiton go into the final round of matches trailing leaders Hampstead & Westminster by two points after a 1-1 home draw last Saturday.
Hampstead host third-placed Reading in a reverse of both teams' final fixture in Phase One, when Hampstead won 5-1 at Reading to go top of the Premier Division table.
If Surbiton beat East Grinstead and Reading beat or draw with Hampstead, Surbiton will finish top of the table and claim the first available European spot. A draw at Paddington Recreation Ground would see Surbiton pip Hampstead on goal difference with both teams on 36 points as both Surbiton and Hampstead will start with a plus 28 goal difference.
If Surbiton draw and Reading win, then unless Reading win by a massive margin, Surbiton will finish second and claim the right to stage all three playoff pool games at home.
If Hampstead beat Reading, then Surbiton are also guaranteed second place finish, regardless of the result against East Grinstead.
East Grinstead can finish third, fourth or fifth depending on how results go on Saturday afternoon. Only Loughborough Students know where they will finish as they are guaranteed to finish sixth regardless of their result at home to Wimbledon.
Surbiton won 2-0 at East Grinstead in October when Ellie Mackenzie and Meg Dowthwaite were on target at Saint Hill.
East Grinstead have been consistent this season but having beaten Hampstead 1-0 at home on the opening day of the season, a 3-2 loss at Reading in November and a 4-1 defeat at Hampstead three weeks ago have both proved decisive in ending the West Sussex club's hopes of snatching the first European place.
Saturday's match-up in Elmbridge will also see the Premier Division's top scorers face each other as East Grinstead's Biba Mills and Surbiton's Darcy Bourne have each scored eleven goals this season.
Mills has been East Grinstead's stand-out scorer in 2024-25, but although her nearest club rivals have only scored twice, East Grinstead have had sixteen different scorers, showing the immense depth of scoring potential they have.
Summer Knight-Thompson, Lily Walker, Carlota Gomez, Grace Balsdon, Millie Giglio and Tess Howard have all scored twice, as has Olivia Shannon who joined the club in mid-season from Holcombe.
Emma Bandurak, who moved from Holcombe along with Shannon, is one of eight players to have scored once this season. Sally Sime, Connie Penlington, Courtney Hansford, Pippa Lock, Amy Thompson, Mollie Mason and Ellie Rayer are the others.
Surbiton aren't far behind with fourteen players having scored this season, Bourne, followed by Ellie Mackenzie on nine and Erica Sanders on five. Issy Yonge, who has scored five goals for Surbiton Women's second team in Division One South, has scored three goals at top-flight level alongside Jordan Homann and Sophie Hamilton. Martha Taylor, Alice Sharp, Alice Wills and Izzy Petter have all scored twice with Meg Dowthwaite, Lottie Ross, Liz Thompson and Giselle Ansley on one goal.
In the Lower Six, Bowdon have qualified for the playoff pools with the second qualification place to be competed for by Clifton Robinsons and the University of Birmingham. Clifton Robinsons started Phase One by going four goals without a win, losing three and drawing the fourth, but will be favourites to at least maintain their two point advantage against Birmingham when they welcome Sutton Coldfield to Bristol, the West Midlands' club's relegation back to Division One confirmed last weekend, after just one season in the Premier Division.
Birmingham host Bowdon and Holcombe travel to the University of Nottingham.