Investec Hockey League Results
Surbiton 3-1 Loughborough Students
Hampstead & Westminster 1-2 Buckingham
Bowdon Hightown 0-3 Holcombe
Beeston 2-1 Clifton Robinsons
Buckingham boosted their play-off hopes with a 2-1 win over higher-placed Hampstead & Westminster in the Investec Women’s Hockey League Premier Division on Saturday.
Zoe Shipperley put Buckingham ahead by converting a penalty corner on 15 minutes before Lottie Porter doubled the visitors’ lead from open play after half time.
Fran Tew pulled a goal back for Hampstead & Westminster with six minutes of the game left but her side couldn’t find an equaliser.
Surbiton remained unbeaten in the league with their 12th victory in 13 games against visitors Loughborough Students.
Genevieve Hussell levelled for Loughborough after going behind to Erica Sanders’ strike for the league leaders but went behind again five minutes later as Emily Atkinson’s penalty corner found the net.
Atkinson put the game to bed in the 66th minute with her second goal of the day as the game ended 3-1 to Surbiton.
Holcombe’s 3-0 away win at Bowdon Hightown kept them within touching distance of the play-off spots, only four points adrift.
Alice Willis opened the scoring for Holcombe on 27 minutes with Candice Manuel and Eloise Richards’ second half strikes putting the game firmly out of sight.
Beeston boosted their case for Premier Division survival with a 2-1 win at play-off hopefuls Clifton Robinsons.
Two goals in as many minutes from Alice Huddlestone and Courtney Schonell put Beeston two goals to the good but Claire Thomas cut the deficit in half for Clifton only 12 minutes later.
Both sides cancelled one another out in the second half with the score ending as it did in the first half.
Investec Division 1 North
Gloucester City held league leaders Leicester City in the Investec Division One North thanks to a late strike from Megan Brazil.
Leicester City went ahead via Nikki Laybourne’s 48th minute field goal but an eleventh victory of the season wasn’t to be with Brazil slotting home for Gloucester, keeping her side away from the drop zone while Leicester stay five points clear at the top of the table.
Leeds gave themselves a lifeline to survival with an important 4-3 away at Brooklands-Poynton.
The hosts levelled the game at 3-3 in the 58th minute thanks to Annabelle Watton’s strike but Victoria Hill struck for her second goal of the game within seconds after to put Leeds back ahead and sending them home with all three points.
Ben Rhydding beat Belper 2-0 away from home to stay fifth as Stourport held hosts University of Durham to a 1-1 draw.
Investec Division 1 South
Wimbledon’s 7-0 win over strugglers Isca kept their perfect season alive with 13 wins in a row in the Investec Division One South.
Georgie Blackwood and Fiona Burnet were the pick of the bunch with two goals each while Amy Tippen-Smith, Crista Cullen and Olivia Chilton also found the net for the league leaders.
Wimbledon now sit seven points clear at the top of the table with five games remaining.
Second-placed Reading still have work to do to catch Wimbledon but their 1-0 away win at Trojans keeps the possibility of promotion alive.
Alys Richards’ 37th minute goal from open play was the goal to separate the sides.
Harleston Magpies found the net four times against bottom of the table St Albans, winning 4-0 at home.
Lauren Barber was the first player to find the net after 20 minutes with team-mate Annie Nunn taking only a minute longer to join her on the scoresheet.
Lucy Whiting took the score to 3-0 after half time before Elizabeth Clymer scored the fourth and final goal with four minutes left.
Slough leapfrogged Cambridge City into fourth with a 1-0 win at Sevenoaks.
Cambridge City against Canterbury was postponed.
Investec Conference East
Wimbledon’s second team kept a six-point cushion at the top of the Investec Conference East table with a 1-0 win over Southgate.
Ruth Morgan Hampson scored the only goal of the game with her 14th minute effort proving enough to claim all three points.
With Barnes’ tie against Canterbury’s second team called off and Southgate losing, Bedford took advantage and leapfrogged both, moving into second place with a 2-0 win over Bromley & Beckenham.
Eleanor Priston and Ellie Scott scored five minutes apart in the first half to record the win.
Investec Conference West
Top of the table, Surbiton’s second team were shocked as they lost to visitors Oxford Hawks in the Investec Conference West.
The sides went into the half evenly matched at 1-1 but third-placed Hawks scored four second half goals including Claire Werlinger adding another to her first half effort to see her side win 5-1.
Exe capitalised on Surbiton’s loss to close the gap at the top of the table to four points with a 3-1 win over bottom side University of Bristol.
Exe came out firing with Jamie Bulbring’s second minutes field goal opening the scoring with Hannah Rhodes doubling the lead after 11 minutes.
University of Bristol pulled one back but Lorel Wallis restored the two-goal cushion and secured all three points.
Investec Conference North
Alderley Edge lifted themselves out of the bottom three in the Investec Conference North, beating third place Timperley.
Annabel Hebb and Lara Tabachnik put Alderley Edge 2-0 up eight minutes into the game with Charlotte Dennett extending the lead to three before the half.
Isabel Moores strike gave Alderley a 4-0 edge before Timperley replied with two of their own but were too late as the game ended 4-2 in Alderley Edge’s favour.
Hannah Norman’s 47th minute field goal proved the difference for Wakefield in their 1-0 over Cannock.
