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England Hockey

Canterbury moved to the top of Womens Premier 1 with a convincing 4-1 win over Harleston Magpies. Mel Clewlow provided the killer punches with a hat-trick of penalty corner conversions for Canterbury who will of course soon be losing their coach, Danny Kerry, to the England Senior post. Previous leaders Chelmsford dropped down a place after they were beaten 2-0 at in-form Fyffes Leicester whose goals came from Georgina Sharples and Hannah Macleod. Leicester stay fourth, a point behind Ipswich, who won 5-1 at bottom of the table Sutton Coldfield. Slough won by a similar scoreline at second from bottom Doncaster with Jane Smith scoring a hat-trick and two Naomi Jones goals helped Olton to a 3-0 win at Clifton. Bowdon Hightown beat Trojans 6-0 with their player coach Tina Cullen scoring five and also won Sunday’s rearranged game at Sutton, but by a lot closer margin. The final score was 4-3 with two more Cullen goals and Michelle Robertson netted the winner with five minutes to go to deny the home team their first point of the season.

Mens Premier 1 leaders Reading won 4-3 at Surbiton to end the home club’s unbeaten record with Andy Watts continuing his rich scoring vein with two more goals for Reading. Second placed Cannock enjoyed a comfortable 7-2 win at Firebrands whilst Loughborough Students extended the gap between the top three and the rest as they won 3-2 at Hampstead with Paul Wicken scoring twice. There was significant action at the other end of the table as teams battle to avoid the play offs or the drop. Guildford move up to sixth as a result of their 5-0 win over Teddington and Canterbury produced a fine 3-1 win at Old Loughtonians. Chelmsford added to bottom of the table St Albans’ woes with a 7-1 win with Gareth Carr and David de Prez both scoring hat-tricks.

Old Loughtonians remain a point clear at the top of Womens Premier 2 but left it late to win 4-2 at Exmouth. Exmouth lead 2-0 with 15 minutes to go before Stephanie Dessart pulled a goal back and then held out until the last five minutes when they conceded three goals. Wimbledon stay second and recorded their first win in three games with a 1-0 victory at Bedford and Loughborough Students are a point further back as coach Amanda Partington masterminded the downfall of her previous club Poynton in a 3-2 win. Fourth placed Reading were held 1-1 by Sunderland whilst the University of Birmingham continued their recent good run of form with a 4-0 win over Worcester with Fiona Holdcroft and Rebecca Hevingham both netting a brace. Woking and Hounslow & Ealing drew 2-2 with Triona Doyle’s 68th minute goal looking like it would be decisive for the visitors before Donna Cox equalised from a 70th minute corner.

There is a change of leadership in Mens Premier 2 where Bath Buccaneers have regained top spot from East Grinstead. Bath beat Doncaster 4-0 with Jono Holt registering a hat-trick whilst East Grinstead dropped two points as they were held 3-3 by visiting Bournville. Third placed Belper stay in touch after a 4-2 win against Stourport and Southgate jumped from seventh to fourth after defeating Old Georgians 2-1. Georgians misery was compounded by a red card for Ben Gallagher for verbal abuse. Beeston move up three places to eighth after a 2-1 win over Bowdon whilst fellow strugglers Brooklands MU and Nottingham drew 2-2.

Womens Premier 3 leaders Bradford enjoyed a 4-2 win in their local derby with Ben Rhydding. They lead Liverpool Sefton on goal difference after Liverpool secured a 2-1 win at St Albans and the two teams meet on Merseyside this weekend. Chester move up to third having beaten Aldridge 3-1 whilst Nottingham Highfields who beat Bradford last week were well beaten at Southampton, Southampton won 3-0 to record their first EHL win. St Austell beat bottom of the table Letchworth 4-1 and fellow strugglers Swansea were beaten 3-2 at home by Preston Leyland. Preston Leyland and Aldridge drew Sunday’s re-arranged game 1-1

A five goal haul from South African international Greg Nicol was instrumental in Mens Premier 3 leaders Holcombe winning 9-4 against Indian Gymkhana for whom Jashpal Jutla scored a hat-trick. They remain four points clear of Whitchurch who beat Barford Tigers 6-1 with Welsh international Jamie Westerman scoring four of their goals. Whitchurch are now four points clear of third paced University of Birmingham who were surprisingly beaten 5-1 at Leek. A point from a 0-0 draw with Cambridge University was enough for Oxford Hawks to go fourth whilst Harrogate join Formby on 13 points after defeating them 2-1. Bottom of the table Lewes lost again, 4-2 at Havant and are now six points behind 11th placed Cambridge University.

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