W1 Extend Lead Advantage To Nine Points
By Colin Pike
With one round of matches remaining, Surbiton Women extended their lead advantage over second placed Hampstead & Westminster to nine points in the Women's Hockey League Premier Division Top Six with a comprehensive 5-2 win at East Grinstead on Sunday afternoon.
Hampstead, who were not in action on Sunday as they brought forward their scheduled match at Reading, who are competing in the Euro Hockey League on Wednesday, are guaranteed to finish second as they lead Wimbledon and East Grinstead by four points. Wimbledon moved into third above the West Sussex club after a 5-0 home victory over Durham University.
Surbiton will face Wimbledon at Raynes Park High School on 11 April, with the final round of matches all scheduled to start at 1400.
On the first day of British Summer Time, the weather was cold and the floodlights were switched on before the start of the match at Saint Hill. The East Grinstead Hockey TV stream can be watched here
In the first meeting in October, Maddie Axford had opened the scoring in the first minute and five months later, Surbiton were equally quick in forcing their first penalty corner after 47 seconds, East Grinstead goalkeeper Charley Warren making an early save.
Warren also held her nerve to save after finding herself in a one on one situation with Erica Sanders, the rebound finding its way back for Sanders to smash the ball past the left post.
Seconds later, Surbiton were awarded a penalty stroke and Sanders slotted the ball into the bottom right corner to give the visitors the opening goal.
Surbiton then quickly extended their lead to 3-0 with two goals in as many minutes. Sanders became the goal provider, running down the right wing and then along East Grinstead's backline, forcing Warren to commit at the right post and giving Axford the opportunity to tap the ball in to an empty goal in the 31st minute.
A minute later, Darcy Bourne, returning to the Surbiton squad, collected the ball outside the 23 metre area before running towards goal and finding the left sideboard inside the goal as East Grinstead found that Bourne's thirteenth goal of the campaign was unlucky for them.
East Grinstead fought back in the 42nd minute after being denied from two penalty corners, Grace Balsdon having failed in the first quarter and Surbiton's Ayeisha McFerran saving from the hosts' second penalty corner before a third set-piece was awarded. McFerran saved again but was unlucky as the rebound found its way to Millie Giglio, whose shot ended up in the top right corner.
Surbiton responded in the only way they could, catching out the East Grinstead defence with two quick goals again and this time in the reverse order scored in the 31st and 32nd minutes. Bourne converted Surbiton's second penalty corner of the match, evading a home defender's stick in the 46th minute and then Bourne crossed from the right for Axford to score from close range at the right post a minute later as Surbiton led 5-1.
East Grinstead scored a second consolation goal with seven minutes remaining as Chloe Brown had space at the left post to poke the ball over the line to make the final score 5-2.
A day after going down 2-1 at Sugden Road, Durham University's weekend tour ended with a 5-0 loss at Wimbledon. Becky Manton, Charlotte Watson, Anna Toman and a Pippa Lock brace handed Durham their biggest defeat of a season in which they have battled to get to where they are. Durham are three points behind Reading, who cannot finish higher than fifth as Wimbledon and East Grinstead are seven points ahead of them.
In the Lower Six, the University of Birmingham and Loughborough Students have guaranteed their places in the Premier Division Finals pools. Birmingham ended Bowdon's hopes of qualification with a 3-2 win in Altrincham, Lottie Atkinson, Carter Ayars and Sarah Parkinson-Mills opening up a 3-0 half time lead. Lauren Burrell replied for Bowdon on the stroke of half time, but Bowdon could only score a second goal through Nicola Moss.
Loughborough lost 3-2 at home to the University of Nottingham, but with Bowdon four points behind with only one match left, they booked their place even though they lost. Mia Moore opened the scoring before Freya Robinson and Amelia Pollock earned Nottingham a 2-1 lead. Maddison Taylor levelled for Loughborough with five minutes remaining, but Robinson's second goal of the game secured the points for Nottingham, who stay two points behind Clifton Robinsons.
Clifton beat Barnes 3-0 with goals from Sarah-Jayne Thorburn, Steph Botha and Victoria McCabe. After the final round of matches on 11 April, Bowdon, Clifton Robinsons, the University of Nottingham and Barnes will meet each other one final time to decide which two teams will be relegated to Division One.