W1 Up To Third After 5-1 Win Over Sutton Coldfield
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women moved up to third in the Women's Hockey League Premier Division after a 5-1 win over bottom team, Sutton Coldfield at Sugden Road on Saturday afternoon.
Surbiton moved above East Grinstead, who lost 3-2 at Reading. The Berkshire club will be at home to second-placed Hampstead & Westminster next Saturday to decide which team will end 2024 on top of the Premier Division table.
Surbiton's hopes of finishing top after Phase One were ended by Reading's victory as the reigning champions go into the final round of matches four points off first place.
The match versus Sutton Coldfield can be watched back via the Surbiton Hockey Club You Tube channel here
Sutton Coldfield have struggled in the top flight this season after winning promotion from Division One North last season, and found themselves 2-0 down within the first two minutes as Surbiton made a lightning start.
An attack starting from the left touchline saw Surbiton initially play the ball back into their own 23 metre area before Lottie Ross found Eloise Stenner near the right touchline. A deft pass enabled Alice Sharp to evade a Sutton Coldfield defender before slipping the ball to Sophie Hamilton to find Ellie Mackenzie just outside the circle. Mackenzie had space to smash the ball into the top right of the goal past Becky Batsford-Webb after just 55 seconds.
Sutton's defence was caught out again 50 seconds later with an attack which again involved Stenner near the right touchline. This time she found Darcy Bourne, who ran towards goal whilst Mackenzie and Sharp penetrated the visitors' defence, Sharp slipping the ball back for Bourne to rebound her shot off the backboard and double Surbiton's lead.
To their credit, Sutton battled by forcing a penalty corner in the sixth minute, only for the manoeuvred routine to break down after being intercepted. Beth Peers had a chance to score from their second award in the 15th minute, but her shot went wide of the right post.
Surbiton extended their lead in the 21st minute, Hamilton receiving the ball before moving towards the edge of the circle and then rotating to smash the ball against the backboard to give Surbiton a 3-0 advantage.
Two minutes later, Sutton trailed 4-0, Alice Sharp scoring from close range as Surbiton threatened to run up a cricket score.
Yet, they were destined to only add one goal, Mackenzie scoring her second goal of the match and sixth of the season in the 29th minute, receiving a pass from the right from her fellow top scorer, Bourne to turn the ball into the goal and against the backboard.
Surbiton will not only be disappointed that they didn't score any goals in the second half, but that all the goals came from open play when they forced ten penalty corners during the match. To be fair, Batsford-Webb made several saves, especially from Jordan Homann as Sutton battled hard after half time.
Sutton had failed to score in their previous two matches, with their last goal. scored by Susan Wood to earn a point against Holcombe in a 1-1 draw, 213 minutes before they finally scored their eighth goal of the campaign from their fifth penalty corner of the match.
In added on time after the final whistle, another manoeuvred routine resulted in Freya Duchars preventing Amber Walton from keeping a second successive clean sheet, but gave the West Midlands club something to celebrate for the hard work they have put in this season.
Annie Wilson, Mia Moore and Caroline Spence gave Reading a 3-0 lead over East Grinstead after just 39 minutes at Sonning Lane, but East Grinstead's comeback fell short after Carlota Gomez and Biba Mills reduced the deficit to 3-2 with just three minutes to play.
Hampstead & Westminster can go into 2025 in first place if they win at Reading next weekend and they warmed up for the clash with a 2-0 win at Bowdon thanks to Catherine Ledesma and Lucy Hyams.
Wimbledon booked their place in the Top Six with a 3-1 win at the University of Nottingham. Becky Manton's brace after Olivia Chilton's opener put Wimbledon in control and Nottingham had to wait until the 68th minute before Amelia Pollock netted their consolation.
Loughborough Students have found their form since they lost 3-2 at Surbiton at the end of October and followed up their 3-0 win at Holcombe with a 2-0 win at the University of Birmingham to move into sixth. Jess Dyson and Beth Alexander gave Loughborough an excellent chance of taking the last Top Six qualification place.
Clifton Robinsons are just a point behind Loughborough following their 2-0 home win over Holcombe. Phoebe Richards and Evie Grindal kept the Bristol club's hopes of a Top Six place alive.
Surbiton travel to the University of Birmingham for their last league game in 2024 next weekend when as it is the final round of matches in Phase One, all games are scheduled to start at 1400.