W1 Visit Wimbledon On Saturday Afternoon
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women visit Wimbledon on Saturday as they try to keep leaders Hampstead & Westminster in their sights in the Women's Hockey League Premier Division Top Six.
Push back at Raynes Park High School is at 1600.
Hampstead extended their advantage over Surbiton to five points after the leaders beat Loughborough Students 2-1 at home, before second-placed Reading and third-placed Surbiton fought out a 2-2 draw at Sugden Road on Saturday evening.
Wimbledon lost 4-2 at home to East Grinstead last weekend, ending an unbeaten run of seven games comprising four wins and three draws.
That run came after Wimbledon won 2-1 at Sugden Road in October, coming from behind after Martha Taylor gave Surbiton the lead in the first half. Megan Crowson and Phoebe Barnett scored twice in four minutes to give the visitors the win.
The match report for the first meeting v Wimbledon can be found here.
Becky Manton is Wimbledon's top scorer with eight goals, with Barnett and Katie Birch on three. Lydia Macdonell, Sarah Jones, and former Surbiton players Olivia Chilton and Lucy Holder are all on two.
Beth Bingham, Crowson, Flora Peel and Bronwyn Shields have each scored on one occasion.
The draw with Reading ended a run of five successive wins for Surbiton, a run which started immediately after the 4-4 draw at Sonning Lane in October.
With a European place awarded to the team which finished top of the Top Six table at the end of Phase 2, Hampstead will be confident going into the 13th round of matches with a four point lead over Reading.
Hampstead are at home to East Grinstead and both Surbiton and Reading will be hoping that Hampstead drop points to keep both teams' hopes of securing the top place finish a possibility.
Reading are at home to Loughborough Students.
In the Lower Six, Sutton Coldfield, who are strong favourites for automatic relegation, visit the University of Nottingham with the aim of mounting a remarkable comeback. With only one points separating first to fifth in the Lower Six, there is all to play for to try and finish in the top two and joint the Top Six in the League Finals pools.
Clifton Robinsons are at home to the University of Birmingham and Holcombe make the long trip to Bowdon.