It was a great weekend for Holcombe’s sides with both the men and women victorious.
18/03/17 12.30pm
England Hockey Women’s National Premier League
University of Birmingham HC 1-3 Holcombe HC
Scorers: UOBHC: Erica Sanders
Holcombe HC: Emily Maguire, Flor Zapulla, Lucy Wood
University of Birmingham, Birmingham
Following last weekend’s draw at Slough, Holcombe went into their second consecutive away game at play-off hopefuls University of Birmingham knowing a point would be enough to guarantee them a top 3 finish and a spot in the second playoff semi-final.
The students, after having a disrupted period either side of Christmas, were looking to hit form at a crucial stage of the year as they looked to book their ticket to Lee Valley at the end of April.
The visitors immediately took the ascendency from their hosts and earned a penalty corner inside two minutes of play. A well-struck shot from Emily Maguire cannoned into the Students’ goal via the foot of a defender to give Holcombe the perfect start to the contest.
Erica Sanders looked threatening in the opening exchanges but Holcombe’s defensive quartet of Leah Wilkinson, Emma Trunks, Erin Hunter and Harriet Pittard negated the Birmingham sides’ immediate threats.
With just under 10 minutes to play in the opening period, Holcombe doubled their lead through Flor Zapulla. With the initial penalty corner breaking down, Zapulla was on hand to convert from close range to provide the cushion that the visitors had been searching for.
A rejuvenated University of Birmingham side came out strong in the second half and began to put together some strong passages of play. Intermittent pressure finally brought its reward 12 minutes in when Erica Sanders reduced the deficit for the home side.
With the score-line delicately poised, chances at both ends went begging as both sides pushed for a crucial fourth goal in the contest.
With time winding down and the Students’ pushing forward in search of an equaliser, Ellie Watton’s brilliant carry across the heart of the home defence opened up a route for Lucy Wood. With just the goal keeper to beat, Wood waited on the ball before gently rolling it into the bottom corner to secure the victory for the Kent side.
Speaking after the game, Holcombe’s Quanita Bobbs was very happy with the performance; “We knew that it was a must-win game for the University of Birmingham, however we went into the game with a specific game plan and tried to implement it for a full 70 minutes; something we failed to do last week. It paid off with 3 good team goals and we are happy it secured us second position in the league.”
Holcombe close out their regular season at home to Leicester next Saturday who are also vying for a spot in England Hockley’s coveted post-season playoffs.
19/03/17 1.30pm
England Hockey Men’s National Premier League
Holcombe HC 4-3 Beeston HC
Scorers: Holcombe HC: Sam Ward x2, Robert Field, Nick Bandurak
Beeston HC:
Holcombe Park, Rochester
With Hampstead and Westminster losing to first placed Wimbledon the day before, Holcombe went into their clash with Beeston on Sunday knowing that a victory will secure their place in the second semi-final of the Playoff weekend which sees 2nd face off against 3rd.
The two sides have met twice already this season in the league and Cup with both games being played at Nottingham Hockey Centre. With Holcombe claiming a dramatic win in the league after Beeston took the Cup tie on penalties, their third clash of the year promised to have the makings of another close encounter.
The game opened at a frantic pace with both sides pushing forwards in the early exchanges. Early chances went begging for both sides until Stephen Lawrence pounced on a loose ball in the Holcombe circle to put the visitors ahead after 5 minutes.
The sides exchanged penalty corners to no avail as both defensive units came to the fore in keeping their respective teams in contention. With time running down at the end of the first period, Sam Ward, formerly of Beeston, latched onto a through ball from Dan Fox before lashing home from the edge of the circle on the half-volley in his first domestic outing since November.
With the scores level at the break, a wild opening to the second half saw two goals in the opening three minutes.
Good work from Chris Proctor along the Holcombe baseline led to the ball being fired across the face of goal for Jonny Wilkinson to convert from close range to put the visitors ahead for a second time in the contest.
From the restart, Holcombe launched an attack down the right flank before Martin Robbins’ accurate cross found Sam Ward alone in the Beeston circle who made no mistake to restore parity and fire up the home crowd once more.
Holcombe settled into their rhythm after Ward’s intervention and created a number of openings. Barry Middleton saw his reverse-stick effort flash across the face of goal and a number of penalty corners went begging. With 15 minutes to go however, the pressure told. A cross fired in from the right was deflected by the predatory Ward towards Rob Field at the back post who turned the ball goal-bound to put the Kent side ahead for the first time.
Holcombe continued to push forward in search of a crucial fourth goal to put the contest to bed but with just 8 minutes to go, were punished by a Beeston counter attack. The Nottingham-based side worked the ball well across from the left flank to release Richard Lawrence into the head of the circle, his powerful shot beat George Pinner to draw the sides level for a third time in the back-and-forth contest.
Holcombe piled forward and were rewarded with a late penalty corner that saw Nick Bandurak’s deflection well saved on the line by a desperate Beeston defensive quartet but with just two minutes to go, Holcombe, and Bandurak, got their reward.
Sam Ward’s straight flick rebounded out to Bandurak who lashed home the volley to secure the three points and a guaranteed top three finish for the Kent side who ended their regular season’s Home-Stand with a win.
Speaking after the game, Holcombe Captain Richard Lane said’ “Beeston came out fighting and put us on the back foot. It was a big game for us though; automatic 2nd/3rd place was in sight and it was the last home game for long serving 1st teamer Gareth Andrew. Sam Ward returned from International duty on fine form; netting 2 and it was great to have youngsters Nick Bandurak and Robert Field continuing to find the net. It was a great performance from the lads.”
Holcombe close out their regular season away at fellow playoff outfit Hampstead and Westminster next Sunday, who sit just 4 points behind them in the league table.
Pictures supplied by www.groutphotography.co.uk