Bowdon Hightown started the 2016-17 Super 6s Championship Women’s Premier Division with a bang, registering two big wins in the opening round of competition in Telford.
Bowdon were in action first and they took no time to get going at the Phoenix Sport and Leisure Centre, hitting double figures against Buckingham winning 10-5.
Sally Walton was the star of the show, hitting the target four times whilst Tina Cullen netted a brace in a convincing win.
Cullen continued her fine form in Bowdon’s second game of the day, as this time she scored four in a 7-2 win over the University of Birmingham.
That leaves Bowdon top after the first two games on maximum points, the only side with two wins, and Cullen joint top scorer with six goals.
Cullen shares that accolade with Georgina Bathurst of Reading, who had a mixed day with one win and one defeat.
Bathurst hit a brace in Reading’s opening game against Sutton Coldfield that looked to have earned them a share of the spoils, only Vicky Woolford to convert a penalty corner for Sutton in added time, to give them a 4-3 victory.
Reading bounced back in style though by inflicting more misery on Buckingham. Bathurst scored four with Emma Thomas and Rebecca van Berkel hitting two apiece in a 10-2 victory, Buckingham conceding double figures in both their opening games.
The only other unbeaten side is Slough, who sit second in the table after a win and a draw.
A late Ashpal Bhogal brace earned them a point in the day’s only draw, 3-3 with East Grinstead, which they followed up with a 9-3 win over Sutton Coldfield, a game which saw hat tricks for Dilly Newton and Betsy Ommala.
Canterbury were involved in two of the day’s closest games, as Holcombe edged them out 4-3, helped by two Eleanor Watton goals.
Canterbury came from behind three times in their second game though, as Nina Steikowsky scored in the last minute to secure 6-5 against East Grinstead, with Sarah Kerly also scoring a hat trick.
Holcombe missed the chance to make it two wins from two in the final game of the day, as they went down 4-2 to the University of Birmingham, Lucie Daman scoring a brace for the winners.
* For goalscorers and full competition details, including live updates click here .
Saturday 17 December 2016
| Bowdon Hightown | (3) | 10 | – | 5 | (1) | Buckingham |
| Reading | (1) | 3 | – | 4 | (2) | Sutton Coldfield |
| Slough | (1) | 3 | – | 3 | (1) | East Grinstead |
| Canterbury | (0) | 3 | – | 4 | (1) | Holcombe |
| Univ of Birmingham | (1) | 2 | – | 7 | (3) | Bowdon Hightown |
| Buckingham | (0) | 2 | – | 10 | (5) | Reading |
| Sutton Coldfield | (2) | 3 | – | 9 | (3) | Slough |
| East Grinstead | (1) | 5 | – | 6 | (1) | Canterbury |
| Holcombe | (0) | 2 | – | 4 | (2) | Univ of Birmingham |
Fixtures – Sunday 18 December 2016
| Reading | () | – | () | Slough | ||
| Canterbury | () | – | () | Univ of Birmingham | ||
| Buckingham | () | – | () | Sutton Coldfield | ||
| East Grinstead | () | – | () | Holcombe | ||
| Bowdon Hightown | () | – | () | Reading | ||
| Slough | () | – | () | Canterbury | ||
| Univ of Birmingham | () | – | () | Buckingham | ||
| Sutton Coldfield | () | – | () | East Grinstead | ||
| Holcombe | () | – | () | Bowdon | ||
Women’s Premier Division Table
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | Bowdon Hightown | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 6 |
| 2 | Slough | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| 3 | Reading | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| 4 | Canterbury | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Holcombe | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 3 |
| 6 | University of Birmingham | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 3 |
| 7 | Sutton Coldfield | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -5 | 3 |
| 8 | East Grinstead | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
| 9 | Buckingham | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -13 | 0 |
Report courtesy of England Hockey via Snowdon Sports.
