Review of the Premier Division Week Ten

In the Men’s Premier Division Old Georgians made it 11 wins out of 11 with a narrow 4-3 win against Wimbledon, a converted penalty corner in the 62nd minute by Wimbledon’s Sam Hooper levelled the score at 3-3 but Old Georgians’ Tom Carson scored his fourth goal of the game in the 68th minute to give Old Georgians all three points.

Holcombe maintained second place, five points behind Old Georgians with a 4-2 win over Beeston with Teague Marcano scoring his third hat-trick this season.

Surbiton’s 6-3 win over Hampstead & Westminster secured third place in Phase 1 despite Surbiton conceding the first goal for the fifth time in eleven matches, when Hampstead’s Kiran Arunasalam got the visitors off the mark within two minutes.

Oxted’s Owen Williamson’s hat-trick helped secure a 5-1 win at Richmond and was a repeat of the scoreline when the teams last met in Conference East at Richmond in Mar 2019.

East Grinstead hosted Southgate but although the score was 3-2 at halftime, the home side came out in the second half to secure a comfortable 6-2 victory with goals from Louis Tipper, Simon Faulkner, Sam Knight, Nick Bandurak (2) and Malcolm Curley. Despite East Grinstead’s efforts, Oxted’s win over Richmond denies East Grinstead a top-six place.

The Cardiff & Met v Bowdon fixture was postponed and will be replayed this weekend, but neither side can finish in the top-six.

The Review of the rest of the league will be out tomorrow. The Goals of the Week will be out on Wednesday and the EHL Premier Phase 1 review podcast, lands on Thursday evening. Also see our new league web pages here.

Top Scorers (23 Nov):

Sam Ward (Old Georgians) 21

Struan Walker (Surbiton) 17

Teague Marcano (Holcombe) 14

Tom Carson (Old Georgians) 14

Henry Croft (Beeston) 13

Alan Forsyth (Old Georgians) 11

Matt Ramshaw (Holcombe) 10

Clean Sheets:

Ore Ogunlana (Wimbledon) 3

James Mazarelo (Surbiton) 2

Mark Philpot (Cardiff & Met) 2

George Pinner (Old Georgians) 2

Reading’s unbeaten run came to an end following a 5-1 defeat by their closest rivals Hampstead & Westminster who moved to the top of the Women’s Premier Division for the first time this season to push Reading into second place. Hampstead’s win extends their unbeaten run to ten games since their opening day defeat at East Grinstead. 

Surbiton maintained third place following a narrow 2-1 win over Birmingham University with goals in the 29th minute from Ellie Mackenzie and the 40th minute from Darcy Bourne, meaning Birmingham University miss out on a top-six place.

Clifton Robinsons gained a point from their draw at East Grinstead, with both teams struggling to find the net until East Grinstead’s Biba Mills broke the deadlock converting a penalty corner in the 53rd minute, however Clifton responded quickly, Rebecca Daniel converting a penalty corner at the other end only two minutes later. This is the fourth draw between teams in the last five meetings.

Holcombe hosted Nottingham University, both teams battling to a 1-1 draw with the away team taking an early lead from a field goal scored in the ninth minute by Claudia Swain. Holcombe eventually managed to equalise in the 53rd minute through a converted penalty corner from Robyn Hodges.

Wimbledon’s Becky Manton’s five goals helped secure an impressive 10-1 win over a struggling Sutton Coldfield side. Tania Escaich of Holcombe was the last player in the Women’s Premier Division to score five goals in a game in their meeting with Loughborough back in February 2022.

This result now guarantees Wimbledon a fifth-place finish in Phase 1, despite Loughborough Students still having to play Bowdon following their game having been postponed this weekend. The rearranged fixture will take place this Saturday, 30th November.

The Review of the rest of the league will be out tomorrow. The Goals of the Week will be out on Wednesday and the EHL Premier Phase 1 review podcast, lands on Thursday evening. Also see our new league web pages here.

Top Scorers (23 Nov):

Biba Mills (East Grinstead) 9

Becky Manton (Wimbledon) 8

Lucy Hyams (Hampstead & Westminster) 8

Maddie Axford (Nottingham University) 8

Madi Ratcliffe (Hampstead & Westminster) 8

Mia Moore (Reading) 8

Clean Sheets:

Miriam Pritchard (Hampstead & Westminster) 5

Mila Welch (East Grinstead) 4

Nicola Cochrane (Reading) 3

Amber Walton (Surbiton) 3