Source: Andrew Smith

Investec Women’s Hockey League previews, Oct 13 2018

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Both unbeaten after the first three matches, the University of Birmingham head to Surbiton on Saturday for what could prove a crucial clash for both sides in their Investec Women’s Hockey League Premier Division campaign.

Last season’s champions Surbiton top the early table with two wins and a draw, while the University of Birmingham are third, having drawn twice and won once in their first three games.

“The girls always look forward to a trip to Surbiton,” said the University of Birmingham head coach Phil Gooderham. “We always have a good game with them as we both play quite attacking hockey. And having a few of our old players down there now, it will be good to see them.

“We didn’t have a great pre-season because of player availability, so we started the season a little bit under cooked, but we’ve been getting better and getting used to playing together again. We would’ve liked to have won all three of our games, but it hasn’t been a bad start.”

Elsewhere, East Grinstead go to bottom of the table Slough, and will look to take the win having held Surbiton to a draw last weekend.

Holcombe are another unbeaten team so far, and they play host to Kent rivals Canterbury on Saturday evening.

Buckingham are at home against Bowdon Hightown, while Clifton Robinsons go to Beeston in the top flight’s other match-up.

In the Investec Women’s Conference East, two unbeaten sides face each other on Saturday with Hampstead and Westminster going to Sevenoaks, while Cambridge City will also want to make it three wins in a row when they go to Bedford.

Last season’s champions Stourport are unbeaten after the first two weeks of the Investec Women’s Conference West, and they will want to remain so as they play at Isca on Saturday.

Also unbeaten, Olton and West Warwicks are hosting Barnes, while Gloucester City could also make it three out of three as they go to Reading.

The only two teams with 100% records, Ben Rhydding and Leeds are preparing to face each other in the Investec Women’s Conference North on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Loughborough Students head to Belper while the University of Durham are in action at home against Fylde.

Lead photo shows the University of Birmingham’s Jo Turnbull celebrating a goal.

FIXTURES

Investec Women’s Hockey League

Saturday, 13 October 2018

Investec Premier Division

Buckingham v Bowdon Hightown 12:00

Slough v East Grinstead 12:30

Surbiton v Univ of Birmingham 13:00

Beeston v Clifton Robinsons 14:00

Holcombe v Canterbury 18:00

Investec Conference East

Bedford v Cambridge City 13:30

Wimbledon v Ipswich 14:00

Southgate v Harleston Magpies 14:00

Horsham v St Albans 15:30

Sevenoaks v Hampstead & Westminster 16:30

Investec Conference North

Univ of Durham v Fylde 12:00

Belper v Loughborough Students 12:00

Brooklands Poynton v Sutton Coldfield 13:00

Ben Rhydding v Leeds 13:30

Leicester v Timperley 15:00

Investec Conference West

Olton & West Warwicks v Barnes 12:00

Isca v Stourport 12:00

Oxford Hawks v Exe 12:00

Trojans v Swansea City 12:00

Reading v Gloucester City 16:30

Courtesy of England Hockey via Snowdon Sports