W1 Host Pool A Decider Against Wimbledon On Saturday
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women host Wimbledon in the final Pool A match to decide which team will finish top of the pool and determine the Premier Division Finals semi-final line-up at Surbiton HC on 2/3 May.
As it's the final round of matches, all the matches in Pool A and Pool B will start at 1400.
Supporters unable to attend Sugden Road can watch the match via the Surbiton HC channel on You Tube here
Both teams booked their places at the Premier Division Finals last weekend as Surbiton beat Reading 6-1 and Loughborough Students 2-1, whilst Wimbledon beat Loughborough 1-0 and Reading 2-1 to ensure that the Berkshire club's title defence was ended.
Reading will host Loughborough in what is now a dead rubber.
Both matches between the teams have been hard-fought with the first meeting at Sugden Road in November ending in a goalless draw, and two weeks ago, Erica Sanders scored the only goal at Raynes Park High School to avoid both meetings ending 0-0.
Wimbledon boasted the best defensive record at the end of Phase 2, conceding 14 goals compared with Surbiton's 15, and the 1-0 win against Loughborough last weekend saw goalkeeper Jess Buchanan keep her ninth clean sheet of the season.
Her opposite number, Ayeisha McFerran has also helped Surbiton's defensive record, in spite of missing games at the end of Phase One due to injury.
Flo Fletcher is Wimbledon's leading goalscorer with seven goals, but Charlotte Watson, who has scored five goals this season, has netted in three of Wimbledon's last five games, so has found her form.
Becky Manton and Anna Toman have both scored four goals with Sarah Jones and Pippa Lock on three. Millie Holme has scored twice with Hannah Bond, former Surbiton players, Olivia Chilton and Hannah French; Lydia Macdonell and Sarah Robertson all having found the target once.
Meanwhile, Surbiton's top two scorers, Darcy Bourne on 16 and Erica Sanders on 15, are battling for the Premier Division's top scorer title with East Grinstead's Biba Mills on 15 and Durham University's Lizzy Pocknell on 14.
Mills won't be appearing at the Premier Division Finals after East Grinstead's qualification hopes were ended by two 3-2 home defeats to the University of Birmingham and Durham University, but Pocknell could help Durham reach the finals in their maiden top-flight season.
Durham host the University of Birmingham with either the winners or the shootout victors if the match ends in a draw after 70 minutes, joining Hampstead & Westminster in the Final Four.
Hampstead are at home to East Grinstead and need a point to finish top of Pool B and face the Pool A runners-up in the semi-final on 2 May.
In the relegation playoffs, Barnes will return to Division One after being relegated and they could be joined by Clifton Robinsons, who have only ever spent one season outside the top tier in their history, if the Bristol club fail to win at another traditional historic club, Bowdon on Saturday. Bowdon and Clifton Robinsons were founder members of the Women's Hockey League, although in 1989-90 they were known as Hightown and Clifton respectively.
Barnes travel to the University of Nottingham, but they will play their final Premier Division match at Bowdon on 2 May. Clifton Robinsons finish at the University of Nottingham.