Norwich City W1s 2 – 3 Old Loughtonians W1s
After a two hour trip north into Norfolk, Loughts gave everything to overcome a strong Norwich W1s team. Loughts started superbly with player of the match Lucy Price showing outstanding skill on 5 minutes. After entering the D she could only be stopped illegally. Captain Tash Patient stepped up to slot home the resulting penalty stroke to make it 1-0. The second goal for Loughts came 5 minutes into the second half as Katie Gleeson fired on her reverse towards goal from a penalty corner won by Venetia Bailey’s mazy run and Adele Sammons touched the ball past the Norwich keeper. Norwich continued to push Loughts and an excellent penalty corner routine was deflected high into the Loughts net on 45 minutes to halve the deficit.
Halfway through the second half Loughts extended their lead to two again as Patient drove the baseline and her cross was finished with style by Gleeson. Old Loughts had to endure a nervy last 10 minutes as Norwich lobbed the keeper from close range to make it 3-2. However Loughts held firm and managed the clock very professionally to extend their unbeaten run to 19 games. Victory at home to Letchworth W1s next Saturday in their final league game of the season would clinch the East Area Women’s Premier Division title and promotion back to the England Hockey National League. It is Club Day next Saturday and supporters would be very welcome. Admission and parking free.
In the equivalent Men’s premier division the M2’s faced Old Southendians 1’s and despite missing 8 players through injury were 3-1 up at half time after two goals from man of the match Ollie Davies and one from Sam Lowe. Seconds into the second half Davies missed a good chance for his hattrick but Loughts remained dominant. With ten minutes remaining it was 4-2 after Alex Martinez Lewis scored but with only 11 men available, Old Loughts finally ran out of steam and Old Southendians dug deep to win 5-4.

The M3’s were also down to a mere 11 for their trip to Bedford 2’s and came home empty handed losing 3-0 but bounced back on Sunday to win 4-0 away at Blueharts 2’s. The injury shortages cascaded down the club as the M4s lost 0-4 away to Upminster 3’s. The M5’s Willows however won 5-1 against Redbridge & Ilford 2s with two goals from Mark Donnelly and one apiece from Luke Bennett, Daniel Clark and Rob Simmons. The M6’s Willows Woodsmen lost 2-4 to Chelmsford 5’s at Beehive Lane and the M7’s lost 0-2 away against Waltham Forest 5’s. The M8s could not field a team.

The Women’s 2’s lost 1-2 away at Old Southendians 1’s with Elis Halil scoring for Loughts. The W3’s won 5-3 against Maldon 2’s to remain in contention for promotion. Karen Leach scored a hattrick and Jessica Donnelly matched her father with a brace. The defence played exceptionally well against a very strong Maldon attack. The W4’s won 2-1 against Upminster 4’s with goals from Hannah Kelly and Katie Brooks. The L5’s won 6-1 against Old Southendians 3’s with goals from Olivia Collins, Darcey Mackenzie, Isabella Read, Tara Sweetman, Anabel Watson and Lara Williams.

On Sunday the M1s were away at Teddington knowing that a win would guarantee them second place in the league and keep them in contention for promotion. It was not to be. In a very tight match Tom Watson scored two goals for Loughts but it was one of those days where sadly everything went well for Teddington and not for Loughts and Teddington ended up winning 4-2 and narrowing the gap on Loughts. Loughts remain second but despite only drawing 3-3 away at Bristol Uni, Southgate are promoted to the premier division. Congratulations to them. Next week Loughts entertain relegation threatened Oxford Hawks who had a good 5-0 win against Old Cranleighan and will be desperate for more points.