Premier Division Review - 22nd & 23rd March

Old Georgians enjoyed a great double header weekend, securing top spot in the Top 6 and with it a European place and seeing off their nearest rivals to make it 15 wins out 15.

On Saturday OGs beat Oxted 6-2. Oxted had come back to 3-2 with two goals in as many minutes with half an hour left but OGs pulled away for the win. On Sunday they made the short trip to Surbiton and were trailing 3-1 just after the half time break. Another strong second half saw them win 4-3. 

The day before Surbiton won 5-1 at Wimbledon with Gareth Furlong netting a hat-trick and their 2nd place finish was confirmed after Wimbledon drew 2-2 at Holcombe on the Sunday. This result ended a run of three defeats for Holcombe who lost 3-2 at home to Hampstead & Westminster on the Saturday. However fortunes were reversed for Hampstead on the Sunday as they went down 3-2 to Oxted, Ollie Bennett scoring twice for the victors who picked up their first Top 6 points but can finish no higher than sixth, Hampstead will be fifth.

Final standings in the Top 6 determine how many home games teams have in the Phase 3 play-offs. 1st & 2nd – 3, 3rd & 4th – 2, 5th & 6th -1. The Pools are 1st 4th 5th 8th and 2nd 3rd 6th 7th. No points are carried over.

No more than one goal separated the teams in the five Lower 6 matches at the weekend, a good 48 hours for Beeston who secured a play-off place by Sunday evening. On Saturday they were level at 2-2 at Southgate before George Fletcher hit the winner with five minutes to go. They left it late on Sunday too. Henry Croft powering home a corner with just two minutes left for the only goal of the game against East Grinstead. Croft has only failed to score in one of Bees 15 matches to date this campaign. 

Saturday had seen EG need a 70th minute corner conversion from Simon Faulkner to earn a home point in a 2-2 draw with Bowdon. EG are now three points behind Cardiff & Met, who won 2-1 at Richmond on Saturday, to occupy the second play-off spot. Cardiff host Beeston on Saturday and EG go to Richmond needing a win and a Bees win to displace the Welsh team. 

Bowdon’s point at EG was followed up by a 2-1 win over Richmond that sees the Cheshire side move off the bottom of the table for the first time since 12 October to within three points of Southgate. Richmond slip to the bottom These three teams plus either Cardiff or East Grinstead will play in the relegation play-offs, the bottom four teams meeting once more with points carried over from all other games.

TOP SCORERS 

Sam Ward (Old Georgians) 29

Struan Walker (Surbiton) 20

Henry Croft (Beeston) 19

Teague Marcano (Holcombe) 16

Tom Carson (Old Georgians) 14

Alan Forsyth (Old Georgians) 14

CLEAN SHEETS

Ore Ogunlana (Wimbledon) 4 

James Mazarelo (Surbiton) 3

Mark Philpot (Cardiff & Met) 2

George Pinner (Old Georgians) 2

Toby Reynolds-Cotterill (Hampstead & Westminster) 2

Hampstead & Westminster are now two points in front of the Top 6 and with one match to play in Phase 2 are in pole position to earn the European place that is up for grabs. They held off the challenge of nearest rivals Surbiton on Saturday the game ending 1-1 at Sugden Road. A win for Surbiton would have put them top. Hampstead opened the scoring through Rachel Greenwood on 25 minutes and missed a chance to go two up with Amber Walton saving Esme Burge’s 52 minute stroke. Darcy Bourne hit the equaliser with 10 minutes to go and moves joint top of the goalscorers’ list in the process. 

Reading who were second going into Saturday’s games miss out on a chance of topping the Top 6 losing an incredible 11 goal game with Wimbledon. Caroline Spence gave Reading a 1st minute lead but this was quickly cancelled out by Katie Birch. A further nine goals came before the last 15 minutes but Reading were never in front, Wimbledon winning 6-5 continuing their great away form with five of their seven wins on the road. 

East Grinstead returned to winning ways after a loss and a draw with a 4-2 defeat of Loughborough Students. Loughborough will finish fifth and EG need a point from their game at Surbiton to ensure they keep hold of fourth. Final standings in the Top 6 determine how many home games teams have in the Phase 3 play-offs. 1st & 2nd – 3, 3rd & 4th – 2, 5th & 6th -1. The Pools are 1st 4th 5th 8th and 2nd 3rd 6th 7th. No points are caried over. 

In the Lower 6 Bowdon continued their fine form with a fourth consecutive win. Annabel Mills hit a hat-trick as they beat Nottingham University 4-3 to secure a place in the play-offs whilst Nottingham will play in the relegation play-offs, the bottom four teams meeting once more with points carried over from all other games. 

Clifton Robinsons beat Holcombe 2-0 to put them in touching distance of the play-offs too. A win against Sutton Coldfield this weekend would confirm that. Sutton were beaten 5-0 by Birmingham University and now cannot avoid relegation. Birmingham are two points behind Clifton; they face Bowdon this Saturday and need to win and hope Clifton fail to do so to pip them for the last play-off place. 

TOP SCORERS

Darcy Bourne (Surbiton) 11

Biba Mills (East Grinstead) 11

Mia Moore (Reading) 10

Lucy Hyams (Hampstead & Westminster) 9

Ellie Mackenzie (Surbiton) 9

Becky Manton (Wimbledon) 9

CLEAN SHEETS

Miriam Pritchard (Hampstead & Westminster) 5

Amber Walton (Surbiton) 4

Mila Welch (East Grinstead) 4

Nicola Cochrane (Reading) 3

Aline de Visser (Clifton Robinsons) 3

Molly Smith (Loughborough Students) 3

Evie Wood (University of Birmingham) 3