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HOCKEY TALK


Number 42

 

9 November 2015

Our next edition will be uploaded during
the afternoon of Monday 16 November

Television

Investec Women’s Premier League

Men’s Conferences Roundup

Men’s Premier Division

Investec Women’s Cup

England Hockey League

ENGLAND WOMEN VOTED TOP TEAM IN SKY/SUNDAY TIMES  AWARDS – and Brighton & Hove HC get a nomination too! too!

Winners of the Sky Sportswomen of 2015 awards.  Representatives of the England Women’s Team, from right to left of picture:

 Ashleigh Ball, Sam Quek, Alex Danson, Hannah Mcleod and Shona Mccallin.  Also in the picture, Jessica Ennis-Hill,
Dina Asher Smith, Annie Zaidi, Enid Bakewell, and members of the Liverpool Homeless Football Club.  (Picture: Sky Sports)

Hockey took centre stage on Friday night at the Sky Sports / Sunday Times Sportswomen of 2015 Awards.

 

European Hockey Champions, England,  took the Vitality Team of the Year Award, against some stiff opposition from football.  Also nominated were the bronze medal winning England Women’s Football Team, and Chelsea Ladies Football Team, plus rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning.

 

The presentations were made my Jamie Carragher and Jamie Rednapp.

 

Hockey was also represented in the Community Award, which was won by the Liverpool Homeless Football Club.  Brighton & Hove Hockey Club’s Wendy Russel was nominated for her work with deaf players.

 

The Sunday Ties and Sky Sports Sportswoman of the Year went to Jessica Ennis-Hill.

 

Young Sportswoman of the Year went to athlete Dina Asher-Smith, with the Disability Sportswoman of the Year award going to wheelchair tennis player Jordanne Whiley.

 

The LIfetime Achievement Award was won by cricketer 74 year-old Enid Bakewell.

 

The Helen Rollason Award For Inspiration was won by men’s football coach Annie Zaidi.

ERICA SAYS LEAVE THE SCORING TO ME

University of Birmingham looked set to lose their first match of the season when they found themselves 0-2 down at home against Clifton on Saturday. Clifton’s Claire Thomas and Aileen Davis had scored one apiece in each half. But, in a golden spell lasting less than six minutes, the University’s Erica Sanders found the net three times from penalty corners, to give her side a 3-2 lead.

 

Sanders topped off her display with a 69th minute penalty stroke to give her side a 4-3 win.

 

The University remain at the top of the table with a slender lead of two points.  They will have a tough test this Sunday when they face second-placed Surbiton. Clifton are also unmoved in the table at sixth.  They will also be tested next Sunday when they face fourth placed East Grinstead, although EG are currently going through a lean patch.

 

Surbiton Girls On Fire at Holcombe

 

Holcombe and Surbiton share the distinction of both having slow starts to their season – Surbiton had to wait until their third match to record a win, and for Holcombe it was their fifth. But since their first win on the 26 September, Surbiton has been on fire with a straight set of wins.  They were on fire again when the two sides met on Saturday at Holcombe Park.

 

Holcombe has had a very mixed season, but three wins in a row elevated them to fifth, which is where they were on Saturday morning.

 

Surbiton proved to be deadly from penalty corners in the first half, with Jo Hunter and Giselle Ansley both finding the net. Hunter scored a second, this one from open play, early in the second half, to increase the lead to 0-3.

 

Charlotte Calnan and Abi Robinson, both scored in the middle of the half, to finish the match 0-5.

 

There are no changes to the top six places in the Premier Division, with Surbiton remaining in second position and Holcombe in fifth.

 

Next Sunday will give us the clash of the giants when Birmingham University and Surbiton play each other. On current form, our money is on Surbiton.  Holcombe should have a relatively easy draw at home to Buckingham.

 

Bad Weekend For Chasing Clubs

 

It proved a bad weekend for the three clubs occupying the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions, with a sizable gap starting to open up between third and fourth. For the uncommitted follower, this should result in an interesting fight for that valuable Championship Play-off fourth slot.

 

As we have already seen, fifth place Holcombe and sixth placed Clifton both lost on Saturday.  Fourth placed East Grinstead also came away from their home match against Canterbury without points.

 

After a mega start to their season – 13 points from their first five matches – EG suffered their third defeat on the trot over the weekend.  They might take some comfort from the fact that it was a relatively modest defeat. Alice Brown’s 62nd minute goal for Canterbury was all it needed for her side to come away with the points.

 

A four point gap has now opened up between third placed Canterbury and East Grinstead. Next weekend Canterbury are at home to eighth placed Bowdon Hightown.

 

George Farley Score Six!

 

Whereas Saturday’s results left the top six clubs unmoved, it was very different for the clubs at the bottom of the table.

 

One of the winners in terms of position in the table, although a very modest one, was Leicester. Their draw at Buckingham lifts them one place up the table to seventh.

 

Worthy of note in the Leicester v Buckingham match was that six goals were scored, with only two players being the scorers.  It almost has a sense of a dual about it, with Fi Farley scoring for Buckingham, with a reply from Leicester’s Liz George. This was followed by a second from Farley, which attracted a another reply from George.  The plot line of this story becomes easy to follow, with Farley’s third goal having the inevitable response. Yes, it was George who found the net for the third time.

 

The 3-3 result gave Buckingham only their second point of the season, but other results brought some bad news for them. They are now in the automatic relegation place at the bottom of the table.

 

Leicester’s match next Sunday should be an interesting one when they play Reading. The possibility of a resurgent Reading moving out of the relegation zone poses a threat to both Leicester and Bowdon Hightown.

 

Reading Move Off Bottom

 

It seems almost impossible that Reading has occupied bottom place since week two of the season, with only one point to their name.  It’s been a bad season for them, but at Hockey Talk we’ve always believed that they’ve got more in the tank than tenth place would suggest. Was Saturday the start of their revival?

 

In fairness, their opponents on Saturday – the once-great Bowdon Hightown – are not having a great season either. Bowdon only has had a couple of wins and a draw to show for their season so far, but that is still considerably better than Reading’s season.

 

It could not have looked a particularly promising match for either side, with no goals in the first half.  But eleven minutes into the second half Rose Winter found the net for Reading. It is worth noting that Winter’s goal was only the fifth that her side had scored this season, so dire is their situation.

 

Reading has probably lacked the services of a good penalty corner striker, but Kate Richardson-Walsh, returning from injury, proved to be just what they wanted. She scored their second from a corner in the 50th minute. Sophie Shakespeare scored Reading’s third to provide them with a 0-3 win.

 

Reading move up to ninth, the relegation play-off spot, but are only three points behind Bowdon, who slip down to eighth.

 

FULL RESULTS AND TABLES ARE AVAILABLE BY FOLLOWING THE LINKS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS PAGE

LATEST PREMIER DIVISION REGISTRATIONS AND MOVES

 

Men

 

  • Luke Smithard – Holcombe (New registration)
  • Linden Lockhart – Holcombe (New registration)
  • Chris Read – Bowdon to Wimbledon
  • Hamish Roberts – Folkstone to Canterbury
  • Josh Keeling – Wimbledon (New registration)
  • Louise Gittens – Bromley & Beckenham to East Grinstead.
  • Christopher Boyce – Hampstead & Westminster (Re- registration)

 

Women

 

  • Rebecca Arch – University of Birmingham (Re-registration)
  • Naomi Evans – Melville (Australia) to Surbiton.
  • Olivia Camsey – East Grinstead (New registration)
  • Clarissa Schilling – East Grinstead to Sevenoaks
  • Stephanie Addison – Surbiton to University of Bristol
  • Emily Thorpe – East Grinstead (New registration)
  • Alex Hurst – Lurgan (Ireland) to University of Birmingham

 

LEAGUES’ TOP SCORERS

(All Divisions)

 

Men:

 

A second week without goals from Alan Forsyth means that he drops out of our top spot. His place is taken by Richmond’s Charlie Ellison. Although his side suffered their first defeat of the season on Sunday, Charlie’s one goal is enough to move him into first place. Cambridge City’s Euan Gilmour’s penalty stroke against West Herts keeps him in third place

 

1. Charlie Ellison (Con. East, Richmond) 14 penalty corners, 1 penalty stroke.

 

2. Alan Forsyth (Premier Division, Surbiton) 12 field goals, 1 Penalty Corner, 1 Penalty stroke.

 

3. Euan Gilmour (Con. East, Cambridge City) 11 field goals, 2 penalty strokes.

 

Women:

 

Amy Sheehan’s hat-trick in Slough’s 9-0 win over Chelmsford on Saturday keeps her ahead of the scoring table for another week. She is being pressed hard by another player with a hat-trick from the weekend – Sutton Coldfields Vicky Woolford.  She scored three in her side’s 7-1 win against Gloucester City. Two for Beeston’s Sophie Robinson in the 4-4 draw against Brooklands Poynton, keeps her in third place.  One player from each Conference!  So where are the Premiership top scorers? University of Birmingham’s Erica Sanders would be ranked fifth in our table, with seven goals.

 

1. Amy Sheehan (Con. East, Slough) 12 field goals, 1 penalty stroke.

 

2.  Vicky Woolford (Con. West, Sutton Coldfield) 5 field goals, 7 penalty corners

 

3. Sophie Robinson (Con. North, Beeston) 9 field goals, 1 penalty stroke.

 

NB: Where there is an equality of goals we use the standard convention of giving less value to penalty corners and strokes than field goals.

 

 

 

 

THE NAUGHTY BOYS’ (AND GIRLS) BRIGADE

 

Canterbury continue to head the men’s yellow card league with 13 this season. This is despite not picking up any further yellows since we last reported. However, their place in the hall of infamy is being challenged by Sevenoaks, who are now on 12 yellow cards.

 

Whitley Bay & Tynemouth remain at the top of the naughty girls’ brigade, although no more cards have been shown to them since we last updated this table.  Their total is six. The North still seems to be a hotbed of naughtiness, with their two closest rivals also coming from the Conference North.

 

SURBITON EXPRESS DERAILED AT HOLCOMBE

It has been an amazing season for Men’s Premier Division Surbiton.  A 100% record and with it, not surprisingly, has gone the top spot for all but one week. Interestingly, that missing week saw Holcombe, their opponents on Sunday, go briefly to the top. Holcombe have also had a mega season, but a couple of draws have eaten into their points tally, and kept them in second place. So their meeting at Holcombe Park was not a match to be missed.

 

It was a grey and overcast afternoon at Holcombe, although the earlier rain managed to stay away during the match.  A slight wind passing through the wire netting surrounding the pitch made an eerie sound reminiscent of a 1950s horror movie.  Was this to be a horror story for Holcombe or Surbiton?

 

If it was a horror story for either team, it was for Surbiton. We have seen Surbiton play already this season and we were impressed. Todd Williams has done a great job as coach. Holcombe are a great side too, and so they should be. They have a galaxy of stars playing for them. But as a team they have never struck us as being the sum of the parts. On Sunday, facing the top-placed side, we could not help but be impressed.

 

Right from the start, Holcombe seemed to take control of the match. Their reward came early, with a Nick Catlin goal in the fifth minute.  Early goals seem to be the kiss of death for the scoring team this season, but not on this occasion as we were about to find out.

 

Holcombe’s second goal, scored by Gareth Andrew, demonstrated their dominance of the match, and although Rupert Shipperly pulled one back for Surbiton early in the second half, Andrew scored a second indecently quickly to restore the margin.

 

And so the match ended at 3-1 to Holcombe, and they edge to within one point of the top.  Surbiton did not exactly play badly, but they seemed unsettled coming up against a team of Holcombe’s calibre.

 

Next weekend marks the halfway point of the season, and Holcombe play host to the unpredictable Hampstead & Westminster, although the match should be good for three points for Holcombe.  Surbiton will need to pick themselves up and brush themselves off.  They will be playing Wimbledon on Saturday, who can be a tricky side when they are on form.

 

As a final note, for such an important match it was played in the right spirit, and it was well umpired too. No yellow cards when so much is at stake is nothing short of a miracle!

 

Mantell Corners Help Reading Reclaim Third Place

 

Reading’s Richard Mantell has been around hockey for a long time, and the former England/GB Player is known throughout the world as a feared penalty corner striker. And he is still knocking them in for his club!

 

Reading’s visit to Wimbledon on Sunday saw Mantell find the net as early as the second minute.  It only took Wimbledon a few minutes to equalise, via a penalty corner conversion from James Jewell, but Mantell scored the winner for Reading mid-way through the second half.  Final score, 1-2 to Reading.

 

Reading reclaim the third place in the table which they surrendered three weeks ago during a run of bad form which saw them pick up only one point from three matches. Wimbledon drop down to fourth place, two points behind Reading.

 

Reading’s next match is against Cannock.

 

Hampstead’s Late Comeback Moves Them Up Table

 

Beeston’s truly terrible season continued when they visited mid-table Hampstead & Westminster.  Beeston have picked up two points from their five matches, and things were about to get a whole lot worse.

 

Adam Dixon’s 30th minute goal for Beeston might have buoyed them up, and they kept the 0-1 lead for 26 minutes. That was before H&W’s Richard Alexander converted a penalty corner. One point would have been better than none, but they were deprived of that by a late field goal from Hampstead’s Alex Jakeman.

 

The 2-1 result in Hampstead & Westminster’s favour means that both sides move in the table. H&W move up into fifth, three points behind Wimbledon. Beeston’s steady slide continues, which has seen them go from fifth to ninth over the last few weeks.

 

Beeston are five points ahead of bottom-placed Canterbury, and one point behind eighth placed Brooklands MU.  It so happens that Beeston’s next fixture is at home to Canterbury, with perhaps the promise of their second win of the season.

 

Flanagan Saves The Day For Brooklands

 

Brooklands MU versus Cannock was a see-saw affair which saw Cannock take the lead three times, only to have their lead wiped out by Brooklands’ Peter Flanagan.

 

Thomas Morris opened the scoring for Cannock early in the match, only to see Flannagan equalise from a penalty corner just after the break.  Harry Jawanda put Cannock back ahead in the 49th minute, but again Flannagan’s aim was true from a penalty corner.

 

Morris’s second goal, this one from a penalty corner, could have been enough to secure the points for Cannock, but with seconds left on the clock, Flannagan buried his third corner of the match to end the game 3-3.

 

Brooklands MU’s reward for their efforts is to move up one place to eighth, whilst Cannock move down to sixth, but on the same points as fifth placed H&W.

 

Brooklands’ next match is against East Grinstead, which should prove an interesting encounter.

 

BARNES GIANT KILLING CUP RUN CONTINUES


South Clubs League Barnes, who knocked out holders Surbiton in Round Two, continued their successful run with a 1-0 win against East Conference Chelmsford. Their Teddy Middlebrook scored in the 18th minute. They will play Conference North side Brooklands Poynton in the Quarter Finals, due to be played in February.

 

Other minor sides were less lucky. Midlands Premier Division Boots were beaten 0-8 by Premier Division Bowdon Hightown, a match during which Sally Walton scored four goals. South Clubs Staines suffered a 0-7 defeat at the hands of Holcombe.

 

Five Investec Premier Division sides progress through to the quarter finals, which will include two all-Premier Division matches:

 

Investec Women’s Cup Third Round Results

 

Barnes 1 Chelmsford 0

Ben Rhydding 4 Loughborough Students 2

Boots 0 Bowdon 8

Brooklands Poynton 1 Stourport 0

Buckingham 3 Hampstead & Westminster 1

East Grinstead 1 Clifton 3

Staines 0 Holcombe 7

University of Birmingham 3 Beeston 0

 

Investec Women’s Cup Quarter Final Draw

 

Barnes v Brooklands Poynton

Buckingham v Ben Rhydding

Clifton v University of Birmingham

Holcombe v Bowdon Hightown

Kicking Back Almost Saves Canterbury

 

On Sunday East Grinstead won their third game of the season, and their second in succession, to consolidate their seventh place in the table.

 

Before we get too excited we should mention that the match was against bottom-placed Canterbury – and they made hard work of their victory.

 

Canterbury’s Ross Gilham-Jones seems to have been operating under some sort of two-minute rule on Sunday. Joe Naughalty opened the scoring for East Grinstead in the 12th minute, only for Gilham-Jones to equalise two minutes later from a penalty corner. Adam Seccull then gave East Grinstead the lead from a penalty corner in the second half, only for Gilham-Jones to equalise two minutes later.

 

EG increased their lead to 4-2 as the second half progressed, with goals from Sam Driver and Glenn Kirkham. In a desperate bid to get some points from this match, Canterbury substituted their goalkeeper for a kicking back. And it almost worked. Canterbury’s Wei Adams, their saviour in last week’s cup match against Lewes, managed to find the net from a late penalty corner.  Despite going into an attacking mode, it was too late for Canterbury and the match ended 4-3.

 

East Grinstead seem to be moving out of trouble, but the situation at Canterbury is looking increasingly dire. They have recorded no points this season.  When we have seen them play league matches they do not look beyond redemption, although their performance in the cup match against Lewes was really poor.

Brook;ands MU’s Peter Flanagan

OXTED END RICHMOND’S UNBEATEN RUN – LICHFIELD SCORE FIRST POINT – ALL CHANGE IN THE WEST


The big news from the East Conference is that Richmond has lost its first game of the season.  Dylan Thomas and Robert Darling of Oxted struck early at home to Richmond, with the only Richmond goal scored by the League’s top penalty corner striker, Charlie Ellison.  Cambridge City won their home match against West Herts 4-2, whilst Sevenoaks beat Brighton & Hove 1-2. The difference in the two scores means that the City move into second place on goal difference, and Sevenoaks slip down to third. The table remains unchanged other than this.  Richmond’s defeat means that Cambridge City and Sevenoaks are only three points behind them.  Those two clubs in turn are also being keenly chased by Oxted and Southgate. Southgate’s visit to Harleston Magpies saw them come away with a 2-5 win, leaving Magpies five points adrift at the bottom of the table.  Richmond play Sevenoaks next weekend, which could prove to be an important match.

 

Propping up the bottom of the Conference North is Lichfield, whose return to Conference hockey has not been a happy one.  They played a goalless draw against Sheffield Hallam, and thus won their first points of the season. Loughborough Students stay four points ahead of the table with a 1-5 win at struggling Preston. University of Durham, in second place, won their match against Wakefield. Bowdon, who are on the same points as the University, won their match against Deeside Ramblers to stay third. The North table remains unchanged from two weeks ago, other than Doncaster’s rise to fourth place after they beat Olton & West Warwicks 2-3. Their fifth place is taken by Deeside Ramblers.

 

Whilst there was relatively little movement in the other Conferences, the same could not be said for the Conference West. Only two of the ten sides remain where they were at the start of the weekend. Dominating the table is Cardiff & Met, who beat Indian Gymkhana 0-2.  Cardiff remain seven points ahead at the top of the table. Cheltenham and University of Birmingham met in what was effectively a decider for second place, with the 0-2 result moving Birmingham into second and Cheltenham down to third. Due to the compressed nature of the second to seventh places, Birmingham’s rise was quite spectacular. They had been fifth. The weekend’s results have opened up the table a little but only two points separate the clubs in second to fifth place. Mo Rhahman, who was briefly transferred to Fareham, marked his return by putting the icing on the cake for Guildford when he scored the third of their three goals in their match against Bath Buccaneers.  That moves Guildford off the bottom into ninth place. The bottom spot has been taken over by Chichester Priory Park, who drew at home to eighth placed Isca.  Chichester had been 0-3 down until the 47th minute, but managed to flight back to take the one point.

SLOUGH PLOUGH ON UNBEATEN – SPRINGFIELDS RECORD THEIR FIRST WIN – WOOLFORD ON TARGET FOR SUTTON

 

Slough continue to enjoy life in their first season in the Conference East, with a 9-0 win over Chelmsford. Amy Sheehan is their danger woman, scoring a hat-trick. The gap between them and second placed Cambridge City opened up to seven points after Cambridge could only draw 2-2 at home to Harleston Magpies. Wimbledon’s 0-3 win away at Ipswich elevates them from fifth to third.  Under-performing Sevenoaks also enjoy a modest hike up the table to seventh after a 3-0 win at home to bottom placed Maidenhead.

 

There was clearly something in the air in the North over the weekend which favoured the bottom clubs. Men’s Conference North Lichfield picked up their first point, but Women’s Conference North Springfields went one better by winning their match 3-1. Although Katie Penrose opened the scoring for them in their match against Whitley Bay & Tynemouth, it was their Rachel Greenwood who did the damage with two late penalty corner conversions. Wakefield continue to lead the charge at the top of the table, three points ahead of University of Durham after a 2-4 win at Belper. Former England and GB international Jo Ellis was in free scoring mood when Ben Rhydding travelled to Liverpool College to play Liverpool Sefton. Ellis scored four in her side’s 0-7 win. The outcome of that match is that Sefton move into bottom place, whilst Ben Rhyding move up two places to third.

 

Sutton Coldfield remain top of the Conference West, and with an impressive goal difference of 28.  They’ve scored 34 goals this season, 12 of them from their Vicky Woolford. That tally includes three scored against Gloucester City on Saturday in their 7-1 win.  Swansea City, who had led the table until three weeks ago, remain in contention with a 2-0 win at home to Firebrands. The table is largely unchanged after the weekend’s matches, with the exception of Stourport moving up to third after beating bottom placed University of Bristol 0-2, and Oxford Hawks moving up to fourth after 0-3 win at Olton & West Warwicks. Stourport and Oxford Hawks are both on 17 points, separated by goal difference. Gloucester City’s defeat sees them move down to fifth.

Investec Women’s Conferences Roundup

THANK YOU!

 

Our recent request that readers re-tweet announcements from our sister site, Hockey Images, when they put new images on their web site was met with a magnificent result.  We even had a re-tweet from Turkey.  It all helps to keep both our web sites going and we are grateful for people’s efforts.

Surbiton’s Lewis Prosser loses the ball to his Holcome opponent


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