- England Hockey Leagues
England Hockey League Premier Division Finals 2023
England Hockey League Premier Division Finals 2023
The final day of England Hockey League Premier Division 2022/23 saw some enthralling action of hockey on Sunday in Surbiton. East Grinstead emerged as the winners of the Vitality Women’s Hockey League, while Old Georgians clinched the Men’s Hockey League title with scintillating wins in their respective final matches.
Surbiton settled for the silver medal and Hampstead & Westminster finished third in Vitality Women’s Hockey League. Whereas Holcombe finished second and Surbiton finished at third in the Men’s Hockey League.
Vitality Women’s Hockey League
Hampstead & Westminster secure third place in Vitality Women's Hockey League
In the first match of the day, Hampstead & Westminster registered a comprehensive 4-2 win over Clifton Robinsons to finish third in the Vitality Women’s Hockey League 2022/23.
Hampstead & Westminster started the match on the front foot, creating multiple entries into the Clifton Robinsons' circle and troubling their defence. After missing a series of penalty corners, Hampstead & Westminster finally opened the scoring off their fourth attempt. It was Sarah Robertson who found the back of the net from a well worked penalty corner routine in the 10th minute. The lead was short-lived however as Clifton Robinsons against the run of play scored an equaliser through Amy Burton in the 16th minute.
Hampstead & Westminster started the second quarter with the same attacking intent as the first earning yet another penalty corner, which was duly converted by Lucy Hyams with a deflection in front of the post after 27 minutes. Under continued mounting pressure, Clifton Robinson gave away a penalty stroke that saw Hampstead & Westminster extend their lead to 3-1 through Grace Balsdon in the 31st minute.
It was a quiet third quarter as both teams manage to keep each other's strikers out of the striking circle and averted the danger. Grace Balsdon scored her second goal from the penalty stroke in the 53rd minute to extend Hampstead & Westminster's lead to 4-1 right at the start of the final quarter. Clifton Robinsons responded with a through a powerful penalty corner strike from Livvy Hoskins's in the 61st minute, but that wasn't enough as Hampstead & Westminster took control of the game in the closing stage to secure third place with a comfortable 4-2 win.
East Grinstead clinch Vitality Women’s Hockey League Premier Division title with win 3-2 over Surbiton
East Grinstead ground out a hard-fought 3-2 win over the home side Surbiton to clinch their first Vitality Women’s Hockey League title.
The final started with both teams showcasing good attacking intent and making dangerous runs in each other's half. It was East Grinstead who drew the first blood from a penalty corner with Laura Roper finding the net in the 11th minute of the match. Surbiton had a good chance to equalise but missed out on converting their penalty corner. East Grinstead then doubled their lead in the 18th minute through a fine field goal from Anna Faulstich who beat the Surbiton goalkeeper in a 1 on 1, having found herself in space after a defence splitting pass.
The second quarter unfolded in a similar fashion, both teams taking it in turns to make inroads in each other's circle, but without causing any danger. East Grinstead had a good share of possession, but it was Surbiton who closed the gap in the score line with a goal from Leah Wilkinson in the 33rd minute. She deflected the ball up into the goal from a well-worked penalty corner routine to make the score line 1-2 at the end of the first half.
It was all level four minutes into the second half thanks to a field goal from Sophie Hamilton who made a scintillating run from the right wing into the circle to make it 2-2. The momentum now appeared to be with Surbiton who were the attacking side for the majority of the third quarter but were unsuccessful in converting penalty corners. They missed out on a couple of good opportunities to turn things around in their favour.
High on confidence, Surbiton started the last quarter aggressively, but East Grinstead managed to clear the danger and then made what would prove to be the decisive counterattack. It ended with Sally Sime converting a fine goal from open play to make it 3-2 for East Grinstead in the 61st minute. Surbiton continued to attack as they looked for an equaliser, but the East Grinstead defence did enough in the remaining minutes of the game to clinch the Vitality Women’s Hockey League 2022/23 title. It ends a run of 8 successive titles for Surbiton.
Men’s Hockey League
Surbiton stage come back to finish third in Men's Hockey League
In the men's 3rd /4th play-off, finals hosts Surbiton produced a great performance to come-from behind with a 4-2 victory over Wimbledon.
Wimbledon got off the blocks swiftly, pushing the Surbiton defence from the word go and were quick to take a two-goal lead inside the opening 10 minutes. Ben Hooper scored an excellent field goal in the 7th minute, then Sam Hooper converted the penalty corner in the 9th minute of the first game. Surbiton responded with a field goal from Alex Williams who made a brilliant run from the left side of the goal to find the net in the 11th minute.
Surbiton pushed hard for an equaliser in the second quarter and a foul defending the penalty corner in the 20th minute, saw Wimbledon concede a penalty stroke. Luke Taylor was on target to convert, bringing the scores level at 2-2. He then on went on to score his second goal from a rebound at a penalty corner to put the home side 3-2 ahead in the 23rd minute. The hosts had a flurry of penalty corners in the final minutes of the second quarter but failed to find a way past the Wimbledon defence. Surbiton 3 Wimbledon 2 at half-time.
The home side continued to ride on this momentum, and they extended the lead to 4-2 with a well worked attacking move inside Wimbledon's circle. It was Ben Park who slotted the ball into the net in the 51st minute. Both teams continued to test each other but neither found the goal in the final quarter. Final score 4-2 to Surbiton.
Old Georgians retain League title after comfortable 5-1 win over Holcombe
Old Georgians were crowned Men's Hockey League Premier Division Champions for 2022/23 on following a comprehensive win against Holcombe.
James Tindall, Lee Morton, Chris Proctor, Tom Carson and Sam Ward scored a goal each to help Old Georgians clinch their second league title. Tim Guise-Brown scored the solitary goal for Holcombe in the match.
Old Georgians raced to a 2-0 lead inside the first five minutes of the match as James Tindall opened the scoring in the 2nd minute and Lee Morton scored the second in the fifth minute both from open play. Holcombe responded with a goal through Tim Guise-Brown's low drag flick from a penalty corner in the 9th minute to make it 2-1. Old Georgians continued to attack, and Chris Proctor added the team's third goal in the 13th minute of the game.
The second quarter by contrast saw no goals, Holcombe retained most of the possession and created opportunities but failed to convert them. Old Georgians on the other hand, were content to slow things down and maintain the two-goal cushion at the end of the first half to keep the score 3-1.
It was a cagey second half in terms of clear-cut chances. The first meaningful effort came in the form of a penalty corner in the 49th minute when Tom Carson made no mistake in converting it to take Old Georgians into a commanding 4-1 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Holcombe earned a couple of penalty corners in the last quarter, but Old Georgians’ defence held firm to deny their opponents a goal. Old Georgians took control of the match as the last quarter played out. Sam Ward added their fifth goal with a powerful reverse stick strike in the final minute and seal the win, with a final score of 5-1.
Congratulations to East Grinstead and Old Georgians for their 2022/23 season victories. And thank you to Surbiton HC for putting on an amazing Finals Weekend and welcoming the hockey community to their home.