Vitality Women's Hockey League Week 7 2022 Review

Week 7 in the Vitality Women's Hockey League sees Surbiton extend their lead at the top, Loughborough Students climb the table and Hampstead & Westminster move into third.

Jade Bloomfield of Hockey World News looks over the day's action.

Surbiton opened a three-point lead at the top of the Premier Division after Wimbledon dropped points for the third time this season.  Facing Holcombe, who had just one win in their last seven encounters before today's match, Surbiton were by far the favourites to take all three points.  After a tight first quarter, Darcy Bourne broke the Holcombe defence in the 27th minute to give Surbiton the lead.  Hannah Martin doubled the lead from a penalty corner in the 49th before a capitulation by Holcombe in the last quarter.  Conceding three goals in four minutes through Amy Costello (57-PC) and a Martha Le Huray double (60,61), Holcombe will need to regroup ahead of their must-win clash against Loughborough Students next weekend.

Climbing five places in the table, Loughborough Students put in a fine first-half display to ensure they took all the points on offer in the 'Match of the Week' versus Buckingham.  An early goal from Ellie Mackenzie (3) and Becca Malyon (27) extending the lead shortly before halftime gave the hosts a 2-0 lead that they would hold on to, securing their second win of the season.

After a solid start to the season, winning their first three matches, Clifton Robinsons have suffered a little setback of late with just one win in their last five.  Unbeaten Opponents Wimbledon went into the game at Raynes Park looking for their third consecutive win.  A tight first half saw the sides trading chances before Katrin Gierak broke the deadlock from a penalty corner in the 29th minute.  A halftime pep talk from Alex Danson-Bennett had Wimbledon fired up, with Flora Peel taking less than a minute to get her side level and score the first of her two goals.  Holly Munro's penalty corner in the 42nd minute restored Clifton's lead before Peel struck again to rescue a point for the hosts.

Beeston, who face Wimbledon at home next week, made the journey to Saint Hill to face East Grinstead.  Unbeaten at home this season, East Grinstead made the worst start, conceding in the 3rd minute to Cerys Miller.  Beeston, having the best start to a Premier Division season, were pegged back as a Tess Howard (17-PS, 35,49) hattrick gave the visitors a mountain to climb to rescue the match.  Coach James Sordillo urging his side forward was rewarded in the 51st minute as Miller scored her second of the game.  With pressure mounting on the East Grinstead defence and the Beeston attacks coming thick and fast, the visitors were awarded a penalty stroke in the last minute of the game.  Lucy Millington expelled any nerves and fired home to secure the point for her side, ensuring Beeston stayed in the chasing pack at the top of the division.

Climbing the table into third place, Hampstead & Westminster overcome a tricky away tie at the University of Birmingham.  Scoring in either half, through Melanie Wilkinson (11) and Lauren Hunt (54), Hampstead had other results in their favour, as they climbed three places in the table.

For the second time this season, Reading scored four goals on their way to victory as they proved too strong for the University of Nottingham.  Taking a four-goal lead, Reading was in dominant form before two very late goals in the 67th and 69th for the University of Nottingham, making the scoreline look less one-sided.  Beth Marriott (18-PC), Shona McCallin (32), Olivia Saligo (41-PC) and Star Horlock (46) were all on the scoresheet for the Berkshire club.  

In Division 1 North, Bowdon overcame a potential banana skin of a fixture as they ran out 3-0 victors at Leicester City.  League leaders Stourport maintained control of the division with a 4-2 away win at Ben Rhydding.

Isca & University of Exeter opened a two-point lead over Barnes at the top of Division 1 South.  With Barnes drawing 0-0 away At Harleston Magpies, Isca grabbed the opportunity to put daylight between them and their closest challenger with a 5-3 win against Wimbledon 2's.

A two-horse race is starting to develop in the Conference East, as Southgate and Guildford open a five-point gap in the table.  With Southgate leading their rivals on goal difference, fans of both clubs are already looking forward to the 26th of November, when the two sites meet.

Olton & West Warwickshire had their unbeaten run ended in Conference Midlands, as St Albans produced a fine performance to move into second place and close the gap on the leaders to two points.

Fylde suffered heavily in the Conference North; the division leaders at the start of the day tumbled down the standings after a 4-0 defeat to Wakefield, who moved to the summit of Conference North.

The four-way tie in Conference West was reduced to three teams as Exe was victorious against a travelling Penarth side.  With two of those sides meeting in next weekend's fixtures, will we see a clear leader emerge in the West?

For full league tables and results, head to the Vitality Women's Hockey League section HERE