Review of week five of the England Hockey League

Barnes maintain their position at the top of table in Womens Division 1 South with another 3-0 win over newcomers Bristol Firebrands, while Slough picked up their first win of the season beating Southgate 1-0 in a tightly contested match with Bryna Holmes finding the net in the 65^th minute to score the only goal of the game. Charlotte Graham & Millie Holme helped secure University of Exeter a 2-0 win over Surbiton 2s to maintain second place in the table. Harleston Magpies won 3-2 against Sevenoaks with Maddison Taylor scoring two of their three goals & Bethany Gardens the third in the 40^th minute from a penalty corner. Wimbledon 2s travelled to Guildford but came away defeated 3-1 by the home side.

Beeston’s impressive 5-0 victory over Buckingham sees Buckingham fall to second place in Division One North with goals coming from Beeston’s Hannah Grieve (2), Lucy Millington (2) & Jane Kilpatrick. Durham University continued with winning ways with a 4-0 win over Ben Rhydding, to maintain their 100% record which moves them to top of the table. Pendle Forest dropped points at home to Olton & West Warwicks losing 2-1, the home side opened the scoring through Anna Scott in the 43^rd minute Olton, responded through Alice Conquest scoring two goals in the 46^th & 52^nd minute. Repton beat struggling Wakefield 2-1 in a closely contested game, whilst Leicester City’s Olivia Back scored a hat trick for the home side but this was still not enough, to overcome the visitors Gloucester City who secured their first win of the season with a 4-3 win with two goals coming from Emily Austen, one each from Maddie Children & Emma Done.

Clifton Robinsons 2s 6-0 win over Exeter was still not enough to move them from second place in the table of Conference West as Reading also continued their winning ways with Eliza Chippendale scoring a hat trick to beat Team Bath Buccaneers 5-2. Elsewhere struggling Witney narrowly missed out again with another 2-1 defeat to Trojans. Swansea picked up another three points this week courtesy of the only goal of the game scored for the home side by Ruth Rowe to beat Lansdown 1-0 whilst the game between Cheltenham and Marlow saw a 2-2 draw with Cheltenham’s Emily Hobbs putting the home side 2-0 up in the first quarter before the visitors hit back.

Leeds’ 4-1 win over Alderley Edge moves them to top of the table in Conference North, with Jess Ferguson scoring two of their four goals. Whitley Bay & Tynemouth secured their third win beating Doncaster 2-1 see them move to second place in the table. Newcastle University’s Harriet Snell scored two early goals in the 4^th & 5^th minutes of the game to help take all three points from their visit to Durham University beating the home side 2-1, whilst Bowdon 2s, league leaders before Saturday, suffered their second consecutive defeat losing 2-0 to Fylde. Despite scoring three goals this week this was not enough again for struggling Harrogate who lost out 5-3 to Didsbury Northern leaving Harrogate bottom of the table having only picked up one point so far this season.    

London Wayfarers continue a 100% winning start beating struggling Canterbury 2-0, to maintain their position at the top of Conference East. Teddington who secured all three points away to Hampstead & Westminster beating the home side 3-2 continue to press Wayfarers with a 3-goal difference separating the two sides. Spencer beat Old Georgians 2-1 in a tightly contested game. Elsewhere Madeleine Newlyn, Katie Gleeson & Emily Holmes all found the net for Old Loughtonians 3-1 victory over East London and Wapping beat Sevenoaks 2s 2-0 to take their first three points of the season with goals from Pippa Jones & Nicole Bowler

Loughborough Students 2s 4-1 win away to Bedford keeps them top of the Conference Midlands table, with their  goals coming from Maddison Scott, Emma Huxley, Elloise Jorritsma & Kirby Harris. Cambridge University secured another win this week beating Beeston 2s 4-1 with Emma Furness scoring two of the University side’s four goals. Having got back to winning ways last week Cambridge City narrowly lost out 1-0 to Stourport with Sade Gerald scoring the only goal of the game in the 54^th Minute. Despite Oxford Hawks 4-2 defeat at home to Cannock they remain sixth in the table just behind St Albans on goal difference who were also unable to secure a win this week narrowly losing to University of Birmingham 2s 3-2 with Sophie Saunders scoring the winning goal for the university side in the fourth quarter.

Division One and Conference action returns after a week’s break on 2 November.

Reading made it five wins in five to stay clear at the top of Mens Division One South but were made to work hard for a 2-1 win at Havant. A hat-trick from Indian Gymkhana’s Daman Bansal helped them to a 4-3 win at Team Bath Buccaneers, his third coming just a minute before time. Gymkhana are four points behind Reading with Sevenoaks a further two back thanks to a 2-0 win in the Kent derby with bottom of the table Canterbury. Teddington enjoyed a 5-1 win over Exeter University whilst Bristol University jumped from 9^th to 6^th by beating Old Loughtonians 3-2 on their travels.

Brooklands MU retain top spot in Division One North after a 5-1 defeat of early leaders Deeside Ramblers with five different players on the scoresheet. Deeside are now third in the table whilst Loughborough Students trail Brooklands on goal difference after beating Harborne 3-1. Jack Webb scored twice as relegated Nottingham University held off a late challenge at Lindum to win 4-3. After two defeats, Nottingham have three successive wins to move into fourth. Another 4-3 scoreline saw 69^th minute goal from Jacob Fenwick give Olton & West Warwicks the points in a win over Birmingham University. Stourport remain bottom without a point after surrendering a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at Durham University.   

Both Timperley and Doncaster maintained 100% records in Conference North but it is the Cheshire side who now on top on goal difference after they bear Didsbury Northern 5-0, whilst Doncaster overcame Brooklands MU 2s 4-2. They are both five points clear of Leeds and Sheffield. Leeds won 5-3 at Wakefield whilst Sheffield were 4-0 victors at Oxton. Wakefield are now bottom as previously pointless Durham University 2s beat Ben Rhydding 4-1.

There were big away wins for both of the top two teams in Conference East. Leaders Spencer won 6-3 at Old Cranleighan and London Wayfarers, who trail them by a point, went one better, as they ran out 7-3 winners at West Herts with Toby Pratt hitting a hat-trick. Their nearest rivals lost ground with Wimbledon 2s losing 3-0 at Bromley & Beckenham and Hampstead & Westminster 2s going down 2-1 at home to Brighton & Hove, the Sussex side’s first points of the campaign. Tunbridge Wells and Surbiton 2s drew 2-2.

The two promoted teams continue to lead the way in Conference Midlands. Chelmsford won 4-3 at Cambridge City to stay top. David Agar settled a fluctuating game with a 68^th minute stroke, his second goal of the game. Repton are unbeaten in second, drawing their third match of the campaign, 3-3 at home to Nottingham University 2s.  Birmingham University 2s are level on points with them thanks to a 3-1 win at St Albans, Lewis Ingram with all their goals. Barford Tigers are a point further back thanks to their 4-3 defeat of Norwich City and Banbury beat Harleston Magpies 2-0.   

Guildford and Clifton Robinsons both made it five wins out of five and extend the gap on the rest of the teams in Conference West. Leaders Guildford won 3-1 at Isca and Clifton Robinsons had a comfortable 5-0 home win against Exeter University 2s following on from a 4-1 defeat of Ashmoor in Saturday’s rearranged game. Fareham in third lost ground after being held 2-2 by Chichester, Sam Ratliffe earning them a point with a 69^th minute equaliser.    Reading came out on top in the 2s battle with Team Bath Buccaneers, winning 5-2 and Ashmoor got something out of the weekend beating Oxford Hawks 2-0 on Sunday. 

Division One and Conference action returns after a week’s break on 2 & 3 November.