W1 To Face Reading In Final Of Premier Division Finals
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women will meet Reading in the final of the Athleteq.App Premier Division Finals on Sunday after snatching a dramatic 3-2 win over East Grinstead at Nottingham Hockey Centre in the second semi-final on Saturday.
Reading will be aiming for their first title since 2012-13 after ending Hampstead & Westminster's chances of following up finishing in first place after 16 league matches by winning a maiden title, Reading achieving a 2-0 shootout win after a 1-1 draw after 60 minutes in the first semi-final. Hampstead are guaranteed the England's second European ranking but the winners of the final will be ranked as England's first team as national champions.
2012-13 is also the only time that Surbiton Women have failed to reach the final of the playoffs, finishing fourth in their first-ever season in the top flight.
Surbiton had had mixed fortunes in their league meetings with the West Sussex club, winning 2-0 at Saint Hill, but losing 5-3 at Sugden Road after holding 2-0 and 3-2 leads, but got off to a superb start, Darcy Bourne converting Surbiton's first penalty corner in the third minute, closely followed by Erica Sanders doubling their lead from open play a minute later.
In the 5-3 league defeat, it had been Sanders who scored Surbiton's second goal after Giselle Ansley opened the scoring from a penalty corner and history started to repeat itself as Biba Mills scored East Grinstead's first goal in the ninth minute, beating Surbiton goalkeeper Amber Walton with a penalty stroke, having scored from a penalty corner in the previous meeting.
East Grinstead pressurised the Surbiton defence by consistently forcing penalty corners, with Walton making some saves.
The first half was free of any cards, but after East Grinstead's Courtney Hansford was shown a green card in the 41st minute following their sixth penalty corner, Surbiton's Liz Thompson was sent to the naughty step for a similar punishment a minute later.
Mills, who finished the 19 game schedule as the Premier Division's top goalscorer with 17 goals, left the game in the balance with ten minutes remaining, making the score 2-2 from open play.
But the heroine was destined to be Surbiton's Bourne, who had finished four goals behind Mills on 13 goals after the 19 game schedule, even though the momentum seemed to be with East Grinstead after Thompson received a yellow card with just five minutes to play.
Three minutes into Thompson's suspension, Bourne made the breakthrough from open play, and although East Grinstead had a final chance to equalise from a penalty corner awarded just nine seconds from time, they couldn't take advantage, Surbiton's delight evident from Walton's celebration at the corner being defended successfully and the opportunity for a fourth meeting this season with Reading.
Hampstead & Westminster were hopeful of at least building on last season's final defeat to Surbiton and thought they had taken the lead on the half hour before the goal was ruled out.
Reading had led the league until the final league match of 2024 when they crashed 5-1 at home to Hampstead who never relinquished the lead for the rest of the regular season, but having lost 3-0 to Surbiton last weekend, they took the lead in the 39th minute through Caroline Spence. Hampstead remained patient and found the equaliser four minutes from the end thanks to Phoebe Willars, both goals coming from open play.
The 1-1 draw saw the first shootout of the Premier Division Finals weekend, with both Hampstead's Miriam Pritchard and Reading's Nicki Cochrane on top of their game in defending the one on one situations.
The breakthrough came with Reading's Mia Moore lobbed Pritchard and with Cochrane unbeatable, Abbie Dixon gave Reading an unassailable 2-0 lead from the Berkshire club's fourth attempt to earn Reading their place in the title decider.
Surbiton will face Reading at 1800 on Sunday.
More information about the Women's Premier Division Finals can be found via the England Hockey Altius website here.
The Men's and Women's matches on Saturday can be watched back via the England Hockey channel on You Tube here.