England Hockey League 2023/24 Premier Division Weekend 6 Review

Surbiton and Reading both convincingly won their weekend double headers to open up a gap at the top of the Vitality Women’s Premier Division, while Loughborough Students won their first of the season to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.

Reading, who have scored in every league game, notched their first clean sheets of the season on their west country tour after a 2-0 win at Clifton Robinson and 3-0 success at Isca & University of Exeter.

Meanwhile, Hannah French (with her eighth of the season) scored twice for a fourth successive league game as Surbiton maintained a two-point lead at the top over Reading. 

French was on hand either side of half-time as Surbiton consigned East Grinstead to their fourth defeat in six as defending champions following a 4-1 win at Saint Hill.

Surbiton then doubled up at home as Wimbledon lost for the first time since the opening day, ending a run of five unbeaten in a 2-0 defeat when Martha Taylor and Leah Wilkinson netted in a four-minute spell after the break.

There was success for East Grinstead on Sunday when they battled back superbly after defeat to Surbiton with their first away victory at Hampstead & Westminster since October 2020. 

A Grace Balsdon penalty corner brace, coupled with goals from Sophie Bray and Tess Howard, with their fifth and sixth of the season respectively, saw EG to a 5-1 win.

Clifton Robinsons also battled back from Saturday defeat to score their first win since the last day of September following a tight 2-1 win over Loughborough Students, who picked up their first victory with a 1-0 success at Isca & University of Exeter. 

The Students also consigned Isca to the bottom of the table after Beth Alexander’s first-half strike. 

A 1-1 draw at Beeston, saw third-placed Bowdon accrue their third successive Premier Division draw, while they share the best defensive record with Surbiton (leaking seven goals in the opening seven matches).

University of Nottingham also enjoyed an unbeaten weekend. After a 2-2 draw with Bowdon on Saturday they followed it up with three points after Eliza Wheeler’s 44th-minute goal proved to be the winner against University of Birmingham in a 2-1 scoreline.

University of Birmingham, however, did record their first victory of the season courtesy of their 2-1 win over Beeston on Saturday. 

Final quarter goals from Carter Ayers and Betsan Thomas gave the students a 2-1 win which saw Beeston rack up a fourth successive defeat. The Bees haven’t won since securing six points from their opening two games.

*All stats provided by Colin Pike

Old Georgians blitzed 21 goals while hitman Sam Ward netted nine goals in two games on an incredible double header weekend in the Men’s Premier Division.

The champions routed Beeston 12-4 before running away with a 9-1 win at Cardiff & Met to stay top on goal difference over Surbiton, with both clubs on 18 points after seven matches.

Ward scored six times against Beeston (he also scored six against University of Nottingham last September) as OGs found the backboard five times in a devastating second-half spell. 

Alan Forsyth also scored a hat-trick, which was matched by Ward in the Welsh capital on Sunday as the Weybridge outfit again ran riot in a second-half onslaught which saw OGs net six times in 23 minutes. 

It was Old Georgians’ biggest away win since that Ward-inspired 8-1 success at UoN last September. Meanwhile Cardiff & Met had beaten UoN 4-3 on Saturday, with Ioan Wall netting two minutes from time.

Beeston, who conceded 21 goals this weekend, felt the full force of the league leaders on Sunday as they fell to a 9-1 defeat to Surbiton.

Surbiton have now won their last nine meetings at Beeston as Gareth Furlong netted a 20-minute penalty corner hat-trick. On Saturday, they accrued their second clean sheet following a dominating 6-0 victory at home to Oxted.

Holcombe lost ground at the top after falling to only their second defeat in seven matches when Wimbledon left the Medway with a 3-0 victory - and their first at Holcombe Park for three years.

On a goal-frenzied Saturday, Barry Middleton’s side recorded a fine 7-1 win at East Grinstead, with Alex Pendle and Thomas Russell netting doubles.

East Grinstead rallied superbly on Sunday, however, with a gutsy 1-0 win at in-form Hamsptead & Westminster thanks to Josh Gravestock’s 34th minute strike.

It was East Grinstead’s first win at Hampstead for nine years as they ended Hampstead’s run of five successive wins since the opening day of the season.

Conversely, Oxted ended a run of five games without a win on Sunday as they fought back from defeat at Surbiton with a 5-1 home win against Reading.

Southgate scored a second successive Premier Division win thanks to their 5-1 victory over University of Nottingham, who have now lost all seven games this season after winning their last three games in 2022-23.

It proved a successful weekend for Kwan Browne’s side. After beating Reading 4-1, they returned home as Teague Marcano’s first-half brace set up a six-pointer in less than 24 hours. Browne, 46 in December, netted a last-minute penalty corner.