W1 Finish Second In Super Sixes Premier Division
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women finished second after the round-robin stage of the Super Sixes Premier Division at Repton and will take on third-placed Buckingham in the semi-finals at Derby Arena on 26 January.
Last weekend, Surbiton ended Sutton Coldfield's three-match one hundred per cent record and on Sunday, became the only team to beat first-placed East Grinstead with a stunning 5-2 win after trailing 2-0.
Mollie Mason and Chloe Brown put East Grinstead into a commanding position after just seven minutes as the West Sussex club seemed to be on their way to qualification with maximum points from their eight matches.
Erica Sanders, who finished as the Premier Division top scorer with twenty goals, started the comeback in the 14th minute before finding the equaliser in the 22nd minute. A minute from the end of the third quarter, she completed her hat-trick to turn the match around.
East Grinstead failed to score from a third quarter penalty stroke and Surbiton took full advantage, Jordan Homann giving Surbiton breathing space with a 33rd minute penalty corner conversion before Sanders added the fifth goal two minutes from time.
Surbiton went on to beat Slough 3-0, as Homann scored against her former club for the second match running, having played for East Grinstead at the 2023 finals and Slough at the 2024 edition.
Homann is now on course for a hat-trick of Finals appearances, all with different clubs, after scoring in the 14th minute from open play and a 34th minute penalty stroke against former Surbiton goalkeeper, Asha Tranquille-Day.
Emily Guckian sealed the win with four minutes remaining, to ensure Surbiton finished in second place on 20 points, one behind East Grinstead.
Buckingham and Sutton Coldfield met in the last match to decide which team finished third and fourth, with Buckingham winning 5-1 to earn a second successive semi-final match-up with Surbiton at Derby Arena. East Grinstead will meet Sutton Coldfield.
At the bottom of the table, Repton were relegated after losing all eight matches with Guildford losing their top flight status on goal difference from Slough and Harleston Magpies, Harleston making a last minute escape by beating Repton 7-1 and Guildford 8-2 on the final day to finish in a more secure sixth place.
More information about the Women's Premier Division tournament can be found at the England Hockey Altius website here.
Clifton Robinsons and Beeston finished first and second in Women's Division One and will play in the Women's Premier Division in 2026. Beeston should have joined Reading in the 2025 Premier Division, but Beeston fielded an ineligible player in 2024, the amended results also denying Reading promotion as Holcombe and Sutton Coldfield were promoted instead.
Leicester City and Wakefield were relegated to Division Two. They will be replaced by the top two teams from next weekend's Division Two National tournament which will comprise of six teams, three qualifying from Division Two North and three from Division Two South.