Vitality Ladies’s Hockey League Preview – 19/20 March 2022
After journeys to Hampstead & Westminster and Beeston, Surbiton return to Elmbridge to tackle Clifton Robinsons within the Vitality Ladies’s Hockey League Premier Division Prime Six on Saturday afternoon because the season begins to meander in direction of its conclusion.
Surbiton have been excellent of their final three matches with a 6-0 residence win over East Grinstead; and a 4-2 victory at Hampstead and a 7-1 defeat of Beeston, with Darcy Bourne scoring hat-tricks in all three video games, together with 4 at Nottingham, to develop into the primary participant to attain three successive hat-tricks since Tina Cullen for Hightown and Imogen Robertson for Clifton within the 2001-02 season.
Bourne goes for a possible fourth successive hat-trick in opposition to sixth positioned Clifton on 15 objectives, one behind East Grinstead’s Sophie Bray. Surbiton have a 4 level lead over East Grinstead with 4 video games remaining.
Clifton received on their final go to to Sugden Street in March 2020, the one time that Clifton have overwhelmed Surbiton within the Premier Division going again to 2012-13, however since then, Surbiton have visited Bristol twice, drawing 2-2 on the opening day and profitable 3-1 within the first Part 2 fixture in February.
East Grinstead host Beeston at Saint Hill the place East Grinstead have received all three earlier conferences. After Beeston had been promoted to the highest flight for the second time, East Grinstead received 2-1 in each 2018-19 and 2019-20 and received 3-0 in 2020-21. East Grinstead additionally received each conferences earlier this season within the East Midlands by 2-1 margins in October and February. East Grinstead beat Clifton Robinsons 6-0 at residence and received 2-1 at Wimbledon final week to rebound from their shock 6-0 defeat at Surbiton in late February.
Third-placed Hampstead & Westminster, six factors behind Surbiton, host fourth-placed Wimbledon at Paddington Recreation Floor in a key match for each groups. The primary two matches at Wimbledon had combined outcomes with Hampstead profitable 3-1 on the opening day of the season to start out what culminated in a 9 sport profitable streak, after which as soon as the streak ended, Hampstead misplaced 2-1 in South-West London in February as they struggled to search out some type. Wimbledon will even be upset having misplaced already in 2022 at residence to Surbiton (0-1) and East Grinstead (1-2) and will likely be decided to attempt to choose up all three factors at Hampstead.
Swansea face a key doubleheader weekend within the Backside 5 which might see their prime flight standing come to an finish. With 5 video games to play and two factors on the board, the Welsh membership can get 17 factors, however a defeat at Loughborough on Saturday would see relegation confirmed with Swansea solely capable of get 14 factors and College of Birmingham already on 17, Buckingham on 15 and Loughborough could be on 16. Solely Holcombe, on 13 factors may very well be caught and so they journey to Buckingham, who’ve pulled away from the relegation zone with a 3 sport profitable streak, beginning with a 2-0 win at Holcombe on 26 February.
On Sunday, the College of Birmingham play Swansea in a rearranged sport from 19 February because of Swansea’s European indoor exploits. This weekend was initially supposed to be Birmingham’s second bye weekend of Part 2, with Birmingham eager to ease themselves farther from the relegation zone.
