Holcombe women were beaten narrowly in both of their fixtures across the double-header weekend, losing 3-2 to table-toppers Reading on Saturday at Holcombe Park before a 1-0 reverse at East Grinstead on Sunday afternoon.

Olivia Shannon scored twice within the opening ten minutes to put Holcs into a surprise 2-0 lead, deflecting in from Kaitlin Cotter’s penalty corner effort before winning the ball inside the opposition 23 and driving into the circle to lift over the onrushing Nicki Cochrane.

The hosts, captained by Robyn Hodges, made a strong start to the match and their calm passing in their own defensive areas helped keep Rob Foxall-Smith’s side at bay, who struggled to test Tilly Woodhead for long spells.

A goal back in the third quarter through Georgia Jones gave the visitors hope, however, and – with a couple of Holcombe opportunities going unconverted at the other end – they made Brad Read’s side pay with eight minutes left on the clock as Anna-Ross Gabbitass scored a controversial equaliser.

That was not to be the end of the story, however, as with just over a minute remaining, Anna Crowley broke Holcombe hearts with a devastating winner to make it three straight defeats for Holcs.

On Sunday, Holcs put in a huge defensive shift against East Grinstead and, again until late on, looked as though they may come away with a reward for their efforts.

Woodhead, again brilliant between the posts, made a number of superb saves throughout the match to deny the likes of Alex Malzer, with Holcs’ threat at the other end only coming very occasionally – particularly in the first half when perhaps the only chance of note came through Shannon, who saw her effort saved after a driving run into the circle.

Early in the second half, though, Holcombe were awarded a penalty stroke for a foul on Eloise Richards which was then overturned after some deliberation between the two umpires.

It was a more positive third quarter for Holcs – they also hit the post through Kaitlin Cotter amid a string of penalty corners for the home side, while Woodhead was again called into action in open play to keep out a goal-bound effort before being aided by some last-ditch defending with the rebound.

With around 10 minutes to play, though, the hosts finally took the lead from a penalty corner with Amy Thompson deflecting in to keep East Grinstead in the battle at the top and push Holcombe further down the table, to ninth.

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Sutton Coldfield suffered their fifth and sixth straight defeats respectively as they lost 6-1 to the University of Nottingham and 2-0 to Bowdon, while Clifton Robinsons earned their first win of the campaign on Saturday.

The south-west outfit beat Loughborough Students 3-2 before drawing 1-1 at the University of Birmingham on Sunday.

East Grinstead took four points from the weekend having also drawn 1-1 with Wimbledon in their first match while Reading saw their 100% record ended on Sunday with a 4-4 draw against champions Surbiton at Sonning Lane, though they remain unbeaten after six matches.

Meanwhile, University of Nottingham also took four points with a draw at Loughborough on Sunday, with Birmingham earning the same points haul after beating Bowdon by the odd goal in a seven-goal thriller on Saturday. 

Hampstead & Westminster also took four points from six, winning 2-0 at Surbiton – who have lost twice already after losing just three times in their first 16 matches last season until the end of Phase Two – and drawing 1-1 with Wimbledon in their first match of the double-header.

Image courtesy of Jon Goodall