Surbiton’s three-year unbeaten run ended as Leicester beat them 3-2 in the Investec Women’s Hockey League Premier Division on Saturday.
Having not lost in 53 games since they were last defeated in the league, Surbiton were beaten as Leicester kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the Finals Weekend.
Last beaten in February 2014, Surbiton’s last defeat was also at the hands of Leicester, who beat them this time thanks to goals from Maddie Newlyn, Katie Long and Rachel Mack.
Elsewhere Holcombe closed the gap at the top of the table to eight points, a first half goal from Quanita Bobbs giving them a 1-0 victory at home to battling Bowdon Hightown, who remain ninth.
Clifton Robinsons went third in the table after a 3-2 win at bottom placed Reading.
Claire Thomas scored a pair with Olympic gold medal-winning former Reading ace Alex Danson also on target for the visitors.
East Grinstead kicked off their double-header weekend with a defeat, falling 2-1 at home to the University of Birmingham.
Jess Dean gave East Grinstead a first half lead, but two goals in the last ten minutes from Rebecca Condie and Alicia Caillard gave Birmingham all three points.
Clifton, East Grinstead and the University of Birmingham are all now level on points as the battle for the top four intensifies.
Elsewhere, Slough earned a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Canterbury.
Victorine Vankemmel opened the scoring for the hosts, only for Louise Bevan to hit back within a minute
Investec Women’s Conference East
Wimbledon continue to lead the way from Sevenoaks after the top two in the Investec Conference East both recorded comfortable victories on Saturday.
The leaders ran out 5-0 winners at Chelmsford, Tamsyn Naylor, Cherry Seaborn, Crista Cullen, Rosie MacPherson and Rose Winter all on the scoresheet.
Sevenoaks remain three points behind after a 7-0 home win against winless Northampton Saints, Maddie Thompson scoring a brace.
Conference leading scorer Maria Andrews was on target again for Harleston Magpies but they lost ground on the top two after being held to a 2-2 draw at Southgate, Caitlin Wales with a brace for the hosts.
Amy Askew netted twice as Hampstead and Westminster won 2-1 at West Herts, whilst St Albans and Cambridge City finished all square.
Cambridge City entertain leaders Wimbledon on Sunday, with the match now starting at 2.30pm rather than the originally stated time of 4pm.
Investec Women’s Conference North
Brooklands Poynton remained four points clear at the top of the Investec Conference North after a 2-0 home win over Liverpool Sefton.
Helen Turner and Jessica Berry scored at the end of each half to give the hosts the points.
Beeston kept up the pressure after a 7-0 home win over Wakefield, Sophie Robinson taking her season tally to 15 goals in a match that had seven different scorers.
Ben Rhydding won for the first time in four matches, a Kate Hesketh brace helping them to a 4-2 victory over Sutton Coldfield.
Elsewhere, the University of Durham beat bottom side Belper 3-1, whilst Loughborough Students came from behind to win 3-2 at Timperley.
Investec Women’s Conference West
The gap between Stourport and Buckingham remains at three points after both sides picked up home wins in the Investec Conference West on Saturday.
Lora Symonds took her total for the campaign to 17 with a brace in a 3-0 win for Stourport over Exe, Claire Pearson also on target.
Abbie Brant scored the only goal of the game just before the break as Buckingham defeated Swansea City 1-0.
Third place side Olton and West Warwicks twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw at Gloucester City.
Elsewhere, goals from Cat Horn and Heather Batten gave Trojans a 2-1 win at Oxford Hawks, whilst Isca beat Bristol Firebrands 2-1.
* The lead photo shows Leicester’s Maddie Newlyn celebrating a goal against Surbiton.
Investec Women’s Hockey League (Saturday, February 25, 2017):
Investec Women’s Premier Division: Canterbury 1, Slough 1; East Grinstead 1, University of Birmingham 2; Holcombe 1, Bowdon 0; Leicester 3, Surbiton 2; Reading 2, Clifton Robinsons 3.
Investec Women’s Conference East: Chelmsford 0, Wimbledon 5; Sevenoaks 7, Northampton Saints 0; Southgate 2, Harleston Magpies 2; St. Albans 1, Cambridge City 1; West Herts 1, Hampstead and Westminster 2.
Investec Women’s Conference North: Beeston 7, Wakefield 0; Ben Rhydding 4, Sutton Coldfield 2; Brooklands Poynton 2, Liverpool Sefton 0; Timperley 2, Loughborough Students 3; University of Durham 3, Belper 1.
Investec Women’s Conference West: Buckingham 1, Swansea City 0; Gloucester City 2, Olton & West Warwicks 2; Isca 2, Bristol Firebrands 1; Oxford Hawks 1, Trojans 2; Stourport 3, Exe 0.
Report courtesy of England Hockey by Snowdon Sports.
| Women’s Premier Division |
| East Grinstead | (1) | 1 | – | 2 | (0) | University of Birmingham | ||||
| Jess Dean 32 – PC | Rebecca Condie 64 – PC Alicia Caillard 67 – F |
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| Holcombe | (1) | 1 | – | 0 | (0) | Bowdon Hightown | ||||
| Quanita Bobbs 21 – PC | ||||||||||
| Leicester | (2) | 3 | – | 2 | (1) | Surbiton | ||||
| Madeleine Newlyn 8 – PC Katie Long 26 – F Rachel Mack 70 – PC |
Robyn Collins 33 – PC Julia King 45 – F |
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| Reading | (1) | 2 | – | 3 | (1) | Clifton Robinsons | ||||
| Emma Thomas 33 – F Georgie Blackwood 58 – PC |
Alex Danson 25 – F Claire Thomas 54 56 – F PC |
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| Canterbury | (1) | 1 | – | 1 | (1) | Slough | ||||
| Victorine Vankemmel 25 – F | Louise Bevan 26 – F | |||||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | Surbiton | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 11 | 29 | 35 |
| 2 | Holcombe | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 31 | 19 | 12 | 27 |
| 3 | Clifton Robinsons | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 35 | 23 | 12 | 25 |
| 4 | East Grinstead | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 25 |
| 5 | University of Birmingham | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 32 | 29 | 3 | 25 |
| 6 | Leicester | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 19 | 3 | 23 |
| 7 | Canterbury | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 33 | -14 | 13 |
| 8 | Slough | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 30 | -17 | 11 |
| 9 | Bowdon Hightown | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 26 | -12 | 8 |
| 10 | Reading | 14 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 15 | 40 | -25 | 2 |
| Women’s Conference East |
| Sevenoaks | (2) | 7 | – | 0 | (0) | Northampton Saints | ||||
| Jess Denniff 6 – PC Maddie Thompson 18 45 – F F Jen Wilson 38 – F Susie Rowe 54 – PC Kate Reynolds 60 – F Samantha Danckert 63 – PC |
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| Chelmsford | (0) | 0 | – | 5 | (1) | Wimbledon | ||||
| Tamsyn Naylor 27 – F Cherry Seaborn 48 – F Crista Cullen 57 – PC Rosie Macpherson 59 – F Rose Winter 61 – F |
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| St. Albans | (1) | 1 | – | 1 | (0) | Cambridge City | ||||
| Adele Sammons 6 – PC | Rebecca Hayward 65 – F | |||||||||
| Southgate | (1) | 2 | – | 2 | (1) | Harleston Magpies | ||||
| Caitlin Wales 35 66 – F F | Maria Andrews 25 – PC Abby Gooderham 51 – PC |
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| West Herts | (0) | 1 | – | 2 | (1) | Hampstead and Westminster | ||||
| Anna Coppel 70 – F | Amy Askew 33 45 – PC F | |||||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | Wimbledon | 13 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 53 | 12 | 41 | 36 |
| 2 | Sevenoaks | 13 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 10 | 35 | 33 |
| 3 | Harleston Magpies | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 43 | 20 | 23 | 30 |
| 4 | Hampstead and Westminster | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 36 | 19 | 17 | 28 |
| 5 | Cambridge City | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 18 |
| 6 | St. Albans | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 27 | -4 | 18 |
| 7 | Chelmsford | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 18 | 32 | -14 | 14 |
| 8 | Southgate | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 28 | 36 | -8 | 13 |
| 9 | West Herts | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 18 | 54 | -36 | 4 |
| 10 | Northampton Saints | 14 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 68 | -59 | 1 |
| Women’s Conference North |
| Brooklands Poynton | (1) | 2 | – | 0 | (0) | Liverpool Sefton | ||||
| Helen Turner 35 – PC Jessica Berry 67 – F |
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| Beeston | (4) | 7 | – | 0 | (0) | Wakefield | ||||
| Sophie Robinson 4 – F Fenella Scutt 14 – F Paige Gillott 23 – F Meg Byas 28 – PC Alice Huddlestone 43 – F Rebekah Walker 46 – F Rosy Stephens 62 – PC |
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| Ben Rhydding | (1) | 4 | – | 2 | (2) | Sutton Coldfield | ||||
| Jenny Wilson 25 – PC Kate Hesketh 47 62 – F PC Amy Cordukes 70 – PC |
Nicole Whalley 33 – PC Beth Peers 35 – F |
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| Timperley | (0) | 2 | – | 3 | (0) | Loughborough Students | ||||
| Jessica Mortimer 43 – PC Kate Goalen 57 – PC |
Lucy Millington 41 – F Sharon Seaton 63 – PC Beth Bingham 65 – PS |
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| University of Durham | (1) | 3 | – | 1 | (0) | Belper | ||||
| Lorna Bennell 30 – F Briony Hearn 57 – PC Lorna Jane Cruickshank 68 – F |
Charlotte Hobbs 45 – F | |||||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | Brooklands Poynton | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 6 | 33 | 39 |
| 2 | Beeston | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 41 | 9 | 32 | 35 |
| 3 | Ben Rhydding | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 18 | 9 | 24 |
| 4 | University of Durham | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 23 |
| 5 | Sutton Coldfield | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 26 | 28 | -2 | 19 |
| 6 | Wakefield | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 30 | -13 | 18 |
| 7 | Loughborough Students | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 21 | -5 | 17 |
| 8 | Liverpool Sefton | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 26 | -10 | 10 |
| 9 | Timperley | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 18 | 42 | -24 | 10 |
| 10 | Belper | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 38 | -28 | 4 |
| Women’s Conference West |
| Oxford Hawks | (0) | 1 | – | 2 | (1) | Trojans | ||||
| Catherine Reaney 48 – F | Cat Horn 16 – PC Heather Batten 44 – F |
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| Stourport | (1) | 3 | – | 0 | (0) | Exe | ||||
| Lora Symonds 15 46 – F F Claire Pearson 50 – PC |
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| Buckingham | (1) | 1 | – | 0 | (0) | Swansea City | ||||
| Abbie Brant 33 – F | ||||||||||
| Gloucester City | (1) | 2 | – | 2 | (1) | Olton & West Warwicks | ||||
| Emily Rogers 14 – F Sian Evans 50 – F |
Anna Griffiths 22 – PC Katie Brough 66 – PC |
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| Isca University | (2) | 2 | – | 1 | (1) | Bristol Firebrands | ||||
| Millie Attwell 10 – PC Beth Marriott 21 – F |
Holly Savage 17 – F | |||||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | Stourport | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 53 | 12 | 41 | 37 |
| 2 | Buckingham | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 7 | 32 | 34 |
| 3 | Olton & West Warwicks | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 27 | 28 | -1 | 23 |
| 4 | Trojans | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 32 | -9 | 22 |
| 5 | Swansea City | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 16 | 1 | 19 |
| 6 | Isca University | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 28 | -11 | 18 |
| 7 | Gloucester City | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 25 | -4 | 16 |
| 8 | Oxford Hawks | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 23 | -7 | 13 |
| 9 | Bristol Firebrands | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 29 | -18 | 6 |
| 10 | Exe | 13 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 37 | -24 | 5 |
