Premier Division Review

Old Georgians have already clinched top spot in stage 2 and a European place in 2026 but saw their 100% record this season ended by Wimbledon after a 5-5 draw. Sam Ward put OGs two up in the first quarter but Euan Gilmour and Liam Ansell levelled things up. Ward completed his hat-trick and Tom Carson made it 4-2 before Ansell pulled one back. Chris Griffiths made it 5-3 early in the last quarter but a second for Gilmour and one for Fred Newbold made it 5-5. Wimbledon drop down to fourth, overtaken by Holcombe, who won 5-0 at Oxted with Teague Marcano scoring twice. After a 4-1 win at Paddington Rec Surbiton will finish second and Hampstead & Westminster fifth. 

The teams now go into play-offs with the two qualifying teams from the Lower 6. Pools are 1,4,5,8 and 2,3,6,7 positions. These are new pools and no points are carried over. Home matches are determined by teams’ standings at the end of stage 2. Teams If matches are drawn teams play a shootout for a bonus point. The top two teams in each pool play in crossover semi finals at the finals weekend at Nottingham Hockey Centre, 3-4 May. 

Beeston made it five wins out of five with a 4-0 victory at Cardiff & Met in the second stage to top the Lower 6. To join them Cardiff were left needing East Grinstead to fail to win at Richmond. Two Josh Smith goals gave Richmond the lead going into he final quarter and possible crucial points for them in the battle for survival. However EG roared back with four unanswered goals in the final quarter, a 4-2 win dashing both Richmond’s and Cardiff’s hopes. Southgate secured a 2-1 win at Bowdon in a six-pointer at the lower end of the table to go six points clear of the Cheshire team with the relegation play-offs ahead. 

Cardiff, Southgate, Bowdon and Richmond play once more in the relegation play-offs with all points, goals for and against carried over from stage 1 and 2. The bottom two teams are relegated. 

PLAY OFFS POOL A

Sat 5 April - Old Georgians v East Grinstead, Wimbledon v Hampstead & Westminster

Sat 12 April - Old Georgians v Hampstead & Westminster, Wimbledon v East Grinstead

Sat 26 April - Old Georgians v Wimbledon, Hampstead & Westminster v East Grinstead

POOL B

Sat 5 April - Surbiton v Beeston, Holcombe v Oxted

Sat 12 April - Surbiton v Oxted, Holcombe v Beeston

Sat 26 April - Surbiton v Holcombe, Oxted v Beeston

RELEGATION PLAY OFFS

Sat 5 April - Bowdon v Cardiff & Met, Southgate v Richmond

Sat 12 April - Cardiff & Met v Richmond, Southgate v Bowdon

Sat 26 April - Cardiff & Met v Southgate, Richmond v Bowdon 

TOP SCORERS

Sam Ward (Old Georgians) 32

Henry Croft (Beeston) 20

Struan Walker (Surbiton) 20

Teague Marcano (Holcombe) 18

Tom Carson (Old Georgians) 15

Alan Forsyth (Old Georgians) 14

Matt Guise-Brown (Hampstead & Westminster) 11

Archie Foster (Southgate) 10

Matt Ramshaw (Holcombe) 10

Ioan Wall (Cardiff & Met) 10

CLEAN SHEETS

Ore Ogunlana (Wimbledon) 4

James Mazarelo (Surbiton) 3

Despite being held to a 2-2 draw by Reading a point was enough for Hampstead & Westminster to secure top spot in the second stage of the Premier Division and with it a European place for 2026. Catherine Ledesma and Lucy Hyams twice gave Hampstead a first half lead only to be pegged back by goals from Caroline Spence and Annie Wilson. Second placed Surbiton could have overtaken Hampstead with a win but were defeated 5-3 at home by East Grinstead. Giselle Ansley and Erica Sanders put Surbiton two up but goals from Biba Mills and Tess Howard made it 2-2 at the break. Darcy Bourne again put Surbiton in the lead but Howard equalised again and goals in the final quarter from Olivia Shannon and a second for Mills made it 5-3 to EG who finish fourth. Wimbledon in fifth beat Loughborough Students, who did not win a game in stage 2, 2-0. 

The teams now go into play-offs with the two qualifying teams from the Lower 6. Pools are 1,4,5,8 and 2,3,6,7 positions. These are new pools and no points are carried over. Home matches are determined by teams’ standings at the end of stage 2. Teams If matches are drawn teams play a shootout for a bonus point. The top two teams in each pool play in crossover semi finals at the finals weekend at Nottingham Hockey Centre, 3-4 May. 

Bowdon qualified for the play-offs but their four match winning streak was ended at Birmingham University who beat them 3-0. The result was not enough for Birmingham to secure a play-off place as they needed Clifton Robinsons to slip up against already relegated Sutton Coldfield. However Clifton won 2-1 to top the Lower 6 and join Bowdon. Nottingham University beat Holcombe 3-2. 

Birmingham, Nottingham, Holcombe and Sutton play once more in the relegation play-offs with all points, goals for and against carried over from stage 1 and 2. The bottom two teams are relegated.

PLAY OFFS

POOL A

Sat 5 Apr - Hampstead & Westminster v Bowdon, East Grinstead v Wimbledon

Sat 12 Apr - Hampstead & Westminster v Wimbledon, East Grinstead v Bowdon

Sat 26 Apr - Hampstead & Westminster v East Grinstead, Wimbledon v Bowdon

POOL B

Sat 5 Apr - Surbiton v Clifton Robinsons, Reading v Loughborough Students

Sat 12 Apr - Surbiton v Loughborough Students, Reading v Clifton Robinsons

Sat 26 Apr - Surbiton v Reading, Loughborough Students v Clifton Robinsons 

RELEGATION PLAY OFFS

Sat 5 Apr - Birmingham University v Holcombe, Nottingham University v Sutton Coldfield

Sat 12 Apr - Birmingham University v Nottingham University, Holcombe v Sutton Coldfield

Sat 26 Apr - Sutton Coldfield v Birmingham University, Nottingham University v Holcombe 

TOP SCORERS

Biba Mills (East Grinstead) 13

Darcy Bourne (Surbiton) 12

Becky Manton (Wimbledon) 11

Lucy Hyams (Hampstead & Westminster) 10

Mia Moore (Reading) 10

Maddie Axford (University of Nottingham) 9

Ellie Mackenzie (Surbiton) 9

CLEAN SHEETS

Miriam Pritchard (Hampstead & Westminster) 5

Amber Walton (Surbiton) 4

Mila Welch (East Grinstead) 4

Evie Wood (University of Birmingham) 4

Jessica Buchanan (Wimbledon) 3

Nicola Cochrane (Reading) 3

Aline de Visser (Clifton Robinsons) 3

Molly Smith (Loughborough Students) 3