From 44 To Four As The Women's Over 45S Championships Reaches The Semi-Final Stage

The competition began with 44 teams and we're now down to the final four in the Women's Over 45s Championships!

 On 29 April, a new champion will be crowned in both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 Championships.

TIER 1 CHAMPIONSHIPS

In the Tier 1 Championships, the semi-finals see a home draw for Plymouth Marjon as they host Midlanders Rugby & East Warwickshire, whilst St Albans play host to Alderley Edge who can boast that they eliminated the reigning champions, fellow north-westerners Bowdon, in the Quarter Finals.

Plymouth Marjon's Over 45s ladies began their campaign against Gloucester and were 7-4 victors before moving on to wipe out Wimborne Wayfarers 3-1 in Round 2. They can then take pride in beating the reigning Tier 2 Champions, Guildford, 2-0, before then removing Redland by winning 2-1 to secure their semi-final spot.

Their opponents, Rugby & East Warwickshire, have seen some hefty scorelines on their way to the final four amassing 22 goals across their four games, and conceding only two, so they look like the team to beat. They netted eight without reply against Letchworth at the beginning of their journey but could ‘only’ manage four against Kettering in Round 2 as they emerged as 4-1 victors. They were back with another dominant 8-0 win against Teddington in Round 3 before being pegged back by Bedford with a narrow 2-1 win in the quarter-finals.

Plymouth will have to be at their best to make it to their first Over 45s final if they are to overcome high-scorers Rugby & East Warwickshire, who are also looking to book their place in their first Over 45s final.

In the other semi-final, St Albans, who perhaps have the best pedigree in this competition having been runners up in 2021 and 2019 and winners in 2020, will be looking to make their fourth final in the past five years. They can boast the highest scoreline in the competition so far as they began their route to the semi-final with a comprehensive unlucky-for-some 13-0 victory against Burnt Ash (Bexley) at home. However, they had to rely on penalties to squeeze through against Bishop's Stortford after a 2-2 stalemate at full-time. They found their shooting boots again in Round 3 and fought their way to four goals without reply as they visited Cambridge City and the quarter-finals saw them back on the road again with a trip to Canterbury where they emerged as 3-0 victors.

Their opponents, Alderley Edge, have had arguably the easiest route to the semis. Round 2 saw them awarded a bye as the competition got down to the last 32, and then they received a walkover in Round 3 as their visitors, West Bridgford, failed to field a team. However, the action that they have seen so far has resulted in a 7-1 win away to Deeside Ramblers in Round 1 and then in a test of nerves, they won on penalties against reigning champions Bowdon after the two teams were tied on two goals apiece at full time.

Draw in Full
Plymouth Marjon v Rugby & East Warwickshire
St Albans v Alderley Edge

TIER 2 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Turning to Tier 2, we still have two quarter-final ties still to be settled as the freezing conditions have made it difficult to complete the fixtures, but we know that Sevenoaks will play host to either Blueharts or Gloucester City, whist either Telford & Wrekin or Aire Valley will be welcoming Berhamstead and Hemel Hempstead.

To participate in Tier 2, you need to have played and lost in Tier 1 and with reigning T2 Champions, Guildford, winning their first few matches in T1, they were not eligible to defend their crown this year.

Sevenoaks see themselves in Tier 2 having lost out to Cambridge City by the narrowest of margins in Round 1 of Tier 1 when a 1-1 full-time scoreline saw them lose out 5-4 on penalties. They then received a bye in Round 1 of Tier 2 before putting six past Marden Russets whilst keeping a clean sheet on the road. Their quarter-final was a tighter affair when they won 1-0 as visitors against Team Bath Buccaneers. With two ties away from home, they will be looking forward to playing hosts against either Blueharts or Gloucester City.

Berkamstead and Hemel Hempstead’s first match in Tier 2 was locked in a 2-2 tie against Letchworth but it had a happy ending after they were 3-1 victors on penalties. Their quarter-final tie was a narrow 1-0 win over Norwich Dragons and they will now need to travel north to play the winners of the Telford & Wrekin v Aire Valley quarter-final tie.

Draw in Full
Sevenoaks v Blueharts or Gloucester City
Telford & Wrekin OR Aire Valley v Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead

The finals for both Championships will be held at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on 29 April.