Top six position just the start for Beeston's women

Rod Gilmour of The Hockey Paper speaks to Beeston women, who are riding high ahead of the final match before the Christmas break in the Vitality Women’s Premier Division.

Should results fall their way, which includes beating Hampstead & Westminster at home, Beeston could finish the first half of the season in third place ahead of the league split.

This would cap a fine start to the season in the Women’s Premier Division after what coach James Sordillo describes as 'eleven cup finals' in their bid to reach the Top 6. 

“When people look at us on paper they probably underestimate us,” adds midfielder Paige Gillott. “We don’t have a lot of GB centralised players but we have a really good core who work hard and are willing to put shift in for the team - and that’s started to reflect in our results.”

Gillott, 24, is a one-club player who started at Beeston as a seven year-old. She made her senior club debut a decade later, a few weeks after GB won Olympic gold in Rio when Beeston women’s 1s played Belper. 

She now has a gruelling weekly schedule. Most days she will be up before 6am and head straight into the crossfit gym or put in a running session. “I’m into fitness generally and I do crossfit most mornings, doing something a little bit different that will benefit hockey and also take my mind off what is quite a stressful job,” Gillott says.

A full working week will then ensue from 8am to around 6pm at national law firm Knights, where she is a trainee solicitor. In the evenings, there will be Beeston 1s training on Tuesday and Thursday. There’s more. She also still plays university hockey for Nottingham Trent - training on a Monday or Wednesday - where she is a part-time student. “It gives me enough credit to still play BUCS,” she smiles.

Gillott didn’t play any junior international hockey, but in her final year of school, she was picked, as an 18-year-old, for the England under-21 programme and also moved up to the Beeston women’s 1s. Her career took off. 

But after finishing her degree, she decided that she couldn’t carry on playing GB while training to be a solicitor and manage a dual career. Her focus shifting to law, Gillott is currently on a two-year training contract, experiencing four different areas of law, before qualifying.

Beeston also made sure of Top 6 qualifying this month. “We have a working team, who all stand up for themselves,” says Gillott. “James plays his part as coach but we also know what makes each other tick and that really shows on the pitch.”

Her club loyalty has left Gillott to witness firsthand the professional set up at Beeston and believes it has reflected results on the pitch. She says: “They have people working there day in, day out and really trying to improve the way we do things. I think it shows on weekends with the services we have. It feels great to be a part of and is a really innovative place to be.”

On the pitch, Beeston’s form and position is 'as good as I can remember.' according to coach Sordillo. “Historically we have been mid table or lower half but now it is how we could push on and be a top six side,” he said.

Ahead of the season - Beeston have been in the top flight since promotion in 2018 - they added depth to their squad with the likes of Ireland’s Jane Kilpatrick and Lauren Dunn moving from Swansea. Meanwhile, Scottish international Charlotte Watson is set to start in 2023 after injury and so too Nic Moss, who suffered a knee injury last January.

Sordillo says he has been largely satisfied with the first 10 games, bar a first half against Clifton (they lost 3-0) and a 'mad' last 15 minutes against Nottingham, which finished in a 2-2 draw. “As a team we know we have more of a tank,” adds Gillott. “We had those results against Clifton and Nottingham, which actually we could have won. We have more potential.”

A win over Hampstead & Westminster on Saturday and their table position, adds Sordillo, would leave Beeston with a good foothold in the league. “The formats have changed but it would be the first time we could be in the play-offs with a chance of winning,” he said. “You can get to that situation where it’s a group stage and one-off games and anything can happen. We really back ourselves and the only side in the league we haven’t beaten is Surbiton in the last year. They are a superbly coached side but give us a final let’s see what we can do, and so it’s about finishing as high as we can.”

Saturday: Beeston v Hampstead v Westminster, 2pm