Holcombe lost ground at the top of the Investec Women’s Hockey League Premier Division after being held to a 3-3 draw at Bowdon Hightown on Sunday.
Sarah Jones opened the scoring in the first minute, and doubled Holcombe’s tally to give them the lead at the break.
Goals from Lily Wolstenholme and Lisa Garbutt drew Bowdon Hightown level. However Eleanor Watton looked to have won the game for Holcombe four minutes from time with her fifth of the season.
But Garbutt had the final say, scoring her second of the game with two minutes left to play to earn the hosts a point and see Holcombe fall to third in the table.
A bumper crowd of over 500 turned out to watch Olympic gold medal winner Alex Danson make her debut for Clifton Robinsons, and they went home happy as the hosts ran out 5-1 winners against bottom side Reading.
Isabel Palmer (2), Claire Thomas, Joanna Leigh and Hannah Coulson were all on the scoresheet, and despite Maddison Rosser levelling the game 1-1 at half time, Clifton took all three points and move fourth in the table.
Leaders Surbiton made no mistake as they maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-0 win over Leicester.
Giselle Ansley and Sarah Page scored before the break, with Stephanie Addison adding a third to keep the hosts top.
East Grinstead moved second in the table after a 1-0 home victory against Slough.
Alice Pyrgos converted a 47th minute penalty corner to keep the hosts just two points off the leaders.
The University of Birmingham twice came from two goals down to earn a point in a thrilling 4-4 draw at home to Canterbury.
Two goals in two minutes from Mary Flint and Sarah Kerly had given the visitors the lead at half time, but were cancelled out by Amelia Andrew and Jo Turnbull.
Tinesha Carey and Mel Clewlow restored Canterbury’s two goal advantage with just seven minutes left, but Lily Owsley and a last-minute Erica Sanders goal, her tenth of the campaign, rescued a point for the hosts.
Investec Women’s Conference East
Sevenoaks remain top of the Investec Women’s Conference North despite their first defeat of the season.
A single Maria Andrews penalty stroke was enough to wrap up all three points for Harleston Magpies in a very closely-contested game.
Wimbledon are now second on goal difference only, and they beat Southgate 6-2 with Libby Sherriff hitting a brace.
Northampton Saints continue to search for their first win after a 6-1 defeat at home against St Albans. Samantha Archer-Overall and Bethan Davies both scored twice for St Albans.
Elsewhere Chelmsford beat Cambridge City 1-0, and Hampstead and Westminster beat West Herts 3-0.
Investec Women’s Conference North
Timperley came out on top in the clash of the bottom two in the Investec Conference North, beating bottom club Belper 4-2. Kate Goalen, Jessica Mortimer, Kim Nkonde and Leonnie Molloy were on target.
Brooklands Poynton remain at the top of the table after a 2-0 win over the University of Durham and Beeston are second, beating Liverpool Sefton 2-1.
A Bethan Merriman double helped Sutton Coldfield to a 3-1 win over Wakefield and Ben Rhydding drew 1-1 at home to Loughborough Students.
Investec Women’s Conference West
It’s tight at the top in the Investec Conference West with just one point separating three teams.
Stourport still hold first place despite losing for the first time this season. It was second-placed Buckingham, now level on points, who beat them by 2-1 with goals from Abbie Brant and Phoebe Richards.
Olton and West Warwicks are third and played fourth-placed Trojans. Olton won 2-0 and the win puts them three points ahead of their opponents.
Bristol Firebrands picked up only their second point of the season with a 0-0 draw against Gloucester City and Isca University beat Swansea City 2-1.
Investec Women’s Hockey League (Sunday, November 13, 2016):
Investec Women’s Premier Division: Bowdon 3, Holcombe 3; Clifton Robinsons 5, Reading 1; East Grinstead 1, Slough 0; Surbiton 3, Leicester 0; University of Birmingham 4, Canterbury 4.
Investec Women’s Conference East: Chelmsford 1, Cambridge City 0; Hampstead and Westminster 3, West Herts 0; Harleston Magpies 1, Sevenoaks 0; Northampton Saints 1, St. Albans 6; Southgate 2, Wimbledon 6.
Investec Women’s Conference North: Beeston 2, Liverpool Sefton 1; Ben Rhydding 1, Loughborough Students 1; Brooklands Poynton 2, University of Durham 0; Sutton Coldfield 3, Wakefield 1; Timperley 4, Belper 2.
Investec Women’s Conference West: Bristol Firebrands 0, Gloucester City 0; Buckingham 2, Stourport 1; Isca 2, Swansea City 1; Olton & West Warwicks 2, Trojans 0; Oxford Hawks 2, Exe 1.
| Women’s Premier Division |
| University of Birmingham | (0) | 4 | – | 4 | (2) | Canterbury | ||||
| Amelia Andrew 37 – PC Jo Turnbull 55 – F Lily Owsley 69 – F Erica Sanders 70 – PC |
Mary Flint 27 – F Sarah Kerly 28 – PC Tinesha Carey 58 – F Mel Clewlow 63 – PC |
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| East Grinstead | (0) | 1 | – | 0 | (0) | Slough | ||||
| Alice Pyrgos 47 – PC | ||||||||||
| Surbiton | (2) | 3 | – | 0 | (0) | Leicester | ||||
| Giselle Ansley 13 – PC Sarah Page 30 – PC Stephanie Addison 58 – F |
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| Bowdon Hightown | (0) | 3 | – | 3 | (2) | Holcombe | ||||
| Lily Wolstenholme 46 – F Lisa Garbutt 63 68 – F F |
Sarah Jones 1 12 – F F Eleanor Watton 66 – PC |
|||||||||
| Clifton Robinsons | (1) | 5 | – | 1 | (1) | Reading | ||||
| Isabel Palmer 10 43 – PS PS Claire Thomas 52 – F Joanna Leigh 58 – F Hannah Coulson 62 – PC |
Maddison Rosser 30 – PC | |||||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | Surbiton | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 15 | 20 |
| 2 | East Grinstead | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 18 |
| 3 | Holcombe | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 17 |
| 4 | Clifton Robinsons | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 15 |
| 5 | University of Birmingham | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 16 | 7 | 13 |
| 6 | Leicester | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 10 |
| 7 | Canterbury | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 8 |
| 8 | Bowdon Hightown | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 19 | -8 | 6 |
| 9 | Slough | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 22 | -15 | 4 |
| 10 | Reading | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 25 | -18 | 1 |
| Women’s Conference East |
| Hampstead and Westminster | (2) | 3 | – | 0 | (0) | West Herts | ||||
| Annebeth Wijtenburg 30 – PC Helen Cathcart 35 – F Cressida Grant 62 – PC |
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| Northampton Saints | (1) | 1 | – | 6 | (3) | St. Albans | ||||
| Danielle Hagan 7 – PC | Samantha Archer-Overall 8 35 – PC F Katie Hockley 14 – F Bethan Davies 48 59 – PC F Adele Sammons 69 – F |
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| Chelmsford | (0) | 1 | – | 0 | (0) | Cambridge City | ||||
| Georgia Davies 40 – F | ||||||||||
| Harleston Magpies | (0) | 1 | – | 0 | (0) | Sevenoaks | ||||
| Maria Andrews 42 – PS | ||||||||||
| Southgate | (2) | 2 | – | 6 | (3) | Wimbledon | ||||
| Alexandra Fenwick 1 – F Caitlin Wales 13 – F |
Lizzie Rae 16 – F Tamsyn Naylor 18 – F Nicola Lloyd 34 – PS Libby Sherriff 59 68 – F F Rosie Macpherson 63 – F |
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| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | Sevenoaks | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 6 | 24 | 21 |
| 2 | Wimbledon | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 9 | 21 | 21 |
| 3 | Harleston Magpies | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 17 |
| 4 | Hampstead and Westminster | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 16 |
| 5 | Cambridge City | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 11 |
| 6 | Southgate | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 22 | -4 | 9 |
| 7 | St. Albans | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 8 |
| 8 | Chelmsford | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 18 | -6 | 8 |
| 9 | West Herts | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 35 | -24 | 1 |
| 10 | Northampton Saints | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 40 | -33 | 1 |
| Women’s Conference North |
| Timperley | (2) | 4 | – | 2 | (1) | Belper | ||||
| Kate Goalen 4 – PC Jessica Mortimer 20 – PC Kim Nkonde 37 – F Leonnie Molloy 48 – F |
Louisa Boddy 27 – PC Charlotte Hobbs 43 – F |
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| Sutton Coldfield | (0) | 3 | – | 1 | (1) | Wakefield | ||||
| Bethan Merriman 45 56 – F F Charlotte Cross 67 – PC |
Aisling Madden 17 – F | |||||||||
| Beeston | (2) | 2 | – | 1 | (1) | Liverpool Sefton | ||||
| Alice Huddlestone 13 – F Sophie Robinson 26 – F |
Hannah Gavigan 22 – PC | |||||||||
| Brooklands Poynton | (0) | 2 | – | 0 | (0) | University of Durham | ||||
| Annie Mills 37 – F Jessica Bestall 40 – PC |
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| Ben Rhydding | (1) | 1 | – | 1 | (1) | Loughborough Students | ||||
| Laura Smith 12 – PS | Sharon Seaton 30 – PC | |||||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | Brooklands Poynton | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 3 | 19 | 21 |
| 2 | Beeston | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 19 |
| 3 | Ben Rhydding | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 13 |
| 4 | University of Durham | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| 5 | Loughborough Students | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 13 |
| 6 | Sutton Coldfield | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 13 | -1 | 10 |
| 7 | Wakefield | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 15 | -6 | 10 |
| 8 | Liverpool Sefton | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 8 |
| 9 | Timperley | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 24 | -13 | 7 |
| 10 | Belper | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 24 | -18 | 0 |
| Women’s Conference West |
| Isca University | (0) | 2 | – | 1 | (1) | Swansea City | ||||
| Megan Crowson 45 – F Emily Davies 49 – PC |
Abi Welsford 18 – PC | |||||||||
| Olton & West Warwicks | (1) | 2 | – | 0 | (0) | Trojans | ||||
| Mandy Gatherer 14 – F Sally Walton 55 – PC |
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| Bristol Firebrands | (0) | 0 | – | 0 | (0) | Gloucester City | ||||
| Buckingham | (1) | 2 | – | 1 | (1) | Stourport | ||||
| Abbie Brant 29 – F Phoebe Richards 45 – F |
Lora Symonds 15 – PS | |||||||||
| Oxford Hawks | (2) | 2 | – | 1 | (1) | Exe | ||||
| Lucy Stewart 31 – PC Jo Tolson 32 – F |
Clare Whitworth 28 – PC | |||||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | Stourport | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 8 | 23 | 19 |
| 2 | Buckingham | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 6 | 19 | 19 |
| 3 | Olton & West Warwicks | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 18 |
| 4 | Trojans | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 15 | -2 | 15 |
| 5 | Isca University | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 18 | -7 | 12 |
| 6 | Swansea City | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 11 |
| 7 | Gloucester City | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 14 | -3 | 10 |
| 8 | Oxford Hawks | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 14 | -7 | 6 |
| 9 | Exe | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 23 | -15 | 4 |
| 10 | Bristol Firebrands | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 19 | -16 | 2 |
The photograph above shows Clifton Robinsons on the attack against Reading.
Report courtesy of England Hockey via Snowdon Sports
