Premier Division Review - 8th March 2025

At the top of the Mens Top 6 Old Georgians’ 100% record was maintained with a 3-1 defeat of their nearest rivals Holcombe. Alex Pendle gave Holcombe an early lead before goals from Chris Proctor and Alan Forsyth made it 2-1 at the break. Sam Ward sealed the win with a minute to go and keep up OGs record of scoring three or more in every game to date. The result ended Holcombe’s six match winning streak. They drop to third below Surbiton who beat Oxted 5-3 at Sugden Road.  Surbiton conceded three for the third successive game although they never trailed on Saturday.  The Wimbledon – Hampstead & Westminster game saw the lead change hands before Wimbledon ran out 4-3 winners. Jonathan Lankfer gave Wimbledon an early lead but a strong period after the break saw Hampstead 3-1 up with 15 minutes to go. Wimbledon then also responded in triplicate inside seven minutes securing the win with an Ed Horler stroke in the 63rd minute.

Cardiff & Met lead the Lower 6, bouncing back from their loss against Southgate last weekend to defeat Bowdon 5-3. Jack Pritchard and Scott Rawlings both scored twice for Cardiff who are three points clear of Beeston. Beeston beat Richmond 2-1 with two goals from Henry Croft, including the 64^th minute winner. Croft has only failed to score in one of Beeston’s 12 games to date. Richmond remain a point above bottom side Bowdon. East Grinstead ended Phase 1 with a 6-2 defeat of Southgate but found the reverse game at Trent Park a lot tighter, the game ending 3-3.   A 69^th minute goal from EG’s Louis Tipper looked to have secured three points but Charles Hamilton netted his second of the game for Southgate just twenty seconds later.  

PREMIER DIVISION TOP SCORERS

Sam Ward (Old Georgians) 22

Struan Walker (Surbiton) 18

Henry Croft (Beeston) 15

Teague Marcano (Holcombe) 14

Tom Carson (Old Georgians) 14

CLEAN SHEETS

Ore Ogunlana (Wimbledon) 3

James Mazarelo (Surbiton) 2

Mark Philpot (Cardiff & Met) 2

George Pinner (Old Georgians) 2

Toby Reynolds-Cotterill (Hampstead & Westminster) 2

Top 6 leaders Hampstead & Westminster stay four points clear after their seventh successive win, beating East Grinstead 4-3 and in doing so avenged their only defeat of the season to date.  A high scoring game saw Hampstead concede more than one goal for the first time this season but they did end Biba Mills six match scoring streak. Reading stay second after another narrow win. They beat Loughborough Students 3-2, the fifth time the students have lost by the odd goal in this campaign. They had battled back from 2-0 down looked to have secured a point before Anna Crowley’s 69^th minute winner. This was Anna’s second goal of the season, amazingly her first was also a 69^th winner against Holcombe back in October. Surbiton gained revenge for their 1^st phase home loss against Wimbledon winning 4-1 at Raynes Park, Darcy Bourne scoring two of their goals, both from the spot, as they extend their unbeaten run to eight games.   

Bowdon have made a great start to the Lower 6 with two wins out of two to lead the table. Their latest win a 5-1 home defeat of Holcombe which leaves the Kent side one off the bottom and Bowdon a point clear of Nottingham University at the top. Nottingham beat bottom of the table Sutton Coldfield 2-0, their first win since October, again against Sutton.   Clifton Robinsons and Birmingham University played out their second 1-1 draw of the campaign.

PREMIER DIVISION TOP SCORERS

Biba Mills (East Grinstead) 11

Darcy Bourne (Surbiton) 9

Lucy Hyams (Hampstead & Westminster) 9

Maddie Axford (Nottingham University) 8

Becky Manton (Wimbledon) 8

Mia Moore (Reading) 8

Madi Ratcliffe (Hampstead & Westminster) 8

PREMIER DIVISION CLEAN SHEETS

Miriam Pritchard (Hampstead & Westminster) 5

Mila Welch (East Grinstead) 4

Nicola Cochrane (Reading) 3

Molly Smith (Loughborough Students) 3

Amber Walton (Surbiton) 3