Vitality Women's Hockey League Week 5 2022 Preview

With a truncated weekend of hockey due to half term, Jade Bloomfield of Hockey World News looks over the Vitality Women's Hockey League Premier Division, the only division with a complete list of fixtures.

League leaders Surbiton are travelling to Wimbledon for only the second time in Premier Division history, where one team's form will end. Home side Wimbledon hopes to end Surbiton's fine start and 100% record to the season, whilst the visitors will be eager to inflict the first defeat of the season to the west London side.

Second-placed side Clifton Robinsons will be hoping for favours from Wimbledon so they can close the gap on the leaders. Sitting just three points behind but in awe of Surbiton's far superior goal difference (+17 compared to +5), Clifton Robinsons would need to quadruple their biggest-ever Premier Division win against visitors East Grinstead and hope for a Wimbledon success to go top.

Loughborough Students head to London, still searching for their first win of the season. Things do not get any easier when they face Hampstead & Westminster, having never beaten the hosts at the Paddington Recreation Ground.

Separated by two points, Holcombe hope to continue their excellent form against Beeston when the East Midlands club is in Kent. Having won all three games by three-goal margins, keeping two clean sheets in the process, Holcombe will welcome Beeston to Holcombe Park for the first time since September 2019. 

Gaining their first point of the season in last week's 0-0 draw with Holcombe, Reading will entertain the University of Birmingham at Sonning Lane. Making their first trip to Reading since February 2017, when Erica Sanders' hat trick was enough to give Birmingham a 3-2 win, the visitors will be looking to continue their winning run in Berkshire. Having won the last three away meetings, the first of those three, Anna Toman scored the only goal in November 2014 to give the West Midlands students their first top-flight win at Reading.

Buckingham, eager to avoid their fifth straight defeat, travel to the Nottingham Hockey Centre to line up against the University of Nottingham.

Image by Andy Smith