W1 Championships Hopes In Jeopardy After Loughborough Defeat
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women's hopes for qualifying for the Premier Division Finals Day at Nottingham Hockey Centre on 3/4 May suffered a setback when Loughborough Students came from 2-0 and 3-2 down to win 4-3 at Sugden Road on Saturday afternoon.
East Grinstead came back from similar deficits to win 5-3 on the last weekend of Phase Two and the second defeat leaves Surbiton needing to beat Reading on 26 April to have any chance of defending their league title in the East Midlands.
If Surbiton draw with Reading and Loughborough draw with Clifton Robinsons, then qualification would be decided by which teams won their shootouts to earn an extra point.
Reading beat Clifton Robinsons 7-0 at Sonning Lane to all but clinch first place in Pool B, with a plus nine goal difference and six points.
Surbiton and Loughborough both have three points and Surbiton have a five better goal difference, but Surbiton will hope that Clifton Robinsons will inflict a second defeat of the season over Loughborough when they travel to Leicestershire for their final match, having won 3-2 in Bristol on 19 October.
The game v Loughborough can be watched back via the Surbiton Hockey Club channel on You Tube here.
If Surbiton had won, they would have clinched qualification along with Reading and after 12 minutes, they were well on course.
Ellie Mackenzie opened the scoring in the tenth minute, running into the circle from the left before smashing the ball against the backboard. Two minutes later, Holly Wilkinson won possession, spun round and scored from the edge of the circle to put the hosts in control.
Loughborough came into the match having lost their last six games, but found themselves on level terms by half time. Faith Joubert and Mhairl Low set up the first goal for Olivia Breed to score in the 25th minute and Hollie Dring Richardson found Low two minutes before the interval to give the Students hope.
Surbiton created a myriad of chances in the first half, with Issy Yonge unlucky not to score twice in succession in the sixth minute. Loughborough goalkeeper, Molly Smith was outstanding saving shots from Sophie Hamilton, Mackenzie, Alice Sharp and Yonge.
As with the East Grinstead match, Surbiton thought they had turned the tide in the 40th minute when they restored their lead from their fourth penalty corner, Hamilton deflecting the ball past Smith after the ball was slipped to Giselle Ansley.
But in added on time at the end of the third quarter, Loughborough were awarded a penalty stroke after Katie Curtis was judged to have stopped the ball illegally on the goal line following an Amber Walton save.
Beth Alexander had scored from the penalty spot at Reading last weekend and this time slotted the ball to Walton's right to leave all to play for in the final quarter with the score 3-3.
Loughborough took the lead for the first time in the 57th minute when Amy Cradden converted Loughborough's third penalty corner of the match.
Surbiton couldn't find a way through the Loughborough defence with Smith continuing to frustrate the home forwards and the ball scrambled away in the 66th minute.
Surbiton's last throw of the dice came shortly afterwards when Walton was sacrificed for an extra outfield player, but the Loughborough defence held out for their first ever win over Surbiton in the Premier Division.
Reading had to wait until the 22nd minute to breach the Clifton Robinsons defence, but two quick goals from Abbie Dixon and Georgia Jones set them on their way. Katie Partridge added a third on the half hour mark and in the second half, a brace from Mia Moore and further goals from Caroline Spence and Lucie Daman completed a comprehensive 7-0 victory.
In Pool A, East Grinstead and Hampstead & Westminster have booked their places in Nottingham. Tyler Lench scored twice for Hampstead in a 2-1 win after Flora Peel gave Wimbledon the lead just before half time.
East Grinstead beat Bowdon 3-2 after leading 3-0 in the 21st minute. Tess Howard scored in the third minute with Biba Mills converting two penalty corners. Alia Jaques scored both Bowdon goals.
East Grinstead will visit Hampstead on 26 April to decide who tops the Pool.
Holcombe and Sutton Coldfield's relegation to Division One had already been confirmed when the teams met in Kent. Mads Newitt scored in the first minute, only for Sophie Manning to equalise nine minutes later. Mariana Ledesma scored Holcombe's winner in the 21st minute to give them a 2-1 victory.
Sarah Parkinson-Mills scored a hat-trick as the University of Birmingham beat the University of Nottingham 3-2 in the Midlands University derby. Birmingham led 3-0 before Katie Alexander and Maddie Axford mounted a comeback before time ran out for Nottingham.
Surbiton head to 's-Hertogenbosch to play Slavia Prague in the Euro Hockey League FINAL12 on Wednesday at 11.30 BST (12.30 CET).
If Surbiton win, they will meet German club Dusseldorfer in the FINAL8 at 11.45 BST (12.45 CET) on 17 April. If Surbiton lose to Slavia Prague, they will play the loser of Club Campo De Madrid v Braxgata at 09.30 BST (10.30 CET) on 17 April.
The Euro Hockey League will be streamed via EuroHockey TV here and can also be followed on Euro Hockey Altius here.
Passes for the Euro Hockey League are 14.99 Euro and can be bought by selecting the EHTV Passes menu and selecting EHL Finals.