Old Georgians and Surbiton were crowned Premier Division Champions.
The 2023–24 season culminated over the Finals weekend, where the winners—the Surbiton women and the Old Georgians men—took home the Champions trophy.
Lucas Ball went over the events of the day.
Ladies:
Final Four/Third Round:
After losing in the semi-finals yesterday, East Grinstead bounced back to earn bronze in the Women’s Premier Division Finals, defeating Wimbledon 4-3 in a shootout after the teams were tied 1-1.
Though the shootout was not without controversy, the Sussex team made it back-to-back seasons with medals at this event, with greats Laura Roper and Sophie Bray playing their final club matches.
Meg Crowson won the shootout the first time around, but the second attempt was unsuccessful due to an early hooter. Ellie Rayer scored for Theo Dowse’s team to take third place after Becky Manton tied the score in Wimbledon’s final shootout.
It was a game of limited opportunities overall, even though both teams occasionally produced excellent build-up play.
After a driving run by Pippa Lock, Roper had the opening opportunity of the game on the reversal, but he erred. Later in the first period, Suzy Petty deflected Paige Gillo’s slap narrowly off target from the other end.
On the only opportunity of the second quarter, Issy Field made a great save against Becky Manton.
Five minutes into the second half, two rapid aerials started a flowing attack that should have given East Grinstead the lead. Alex Malzer found Ellie Rayer in the circle, but her ball across goal, when she probably should have shot, was well-defended.
But a minute later, Lily Walker cut in from the right side and put a low reverse past Nicki Cochrane to give Dowse’s team the lead.
Amelie Rees came dangerously close to equalizing the score on the reverse as well, but her shot went just wide.
In the last quarter, Cochrane stopped Rayer from going up 2-0 early on, and with nine minutes remaining, Crowson gave Wimbledon an equalizer.
Wimbledon’s first-ever goal in the Women’s League Finals was scored by Crowson after Gillott executed a brilliant cross-field reverse and drove into the circle, beating Field.
A minute later, Roper had a penalty corner attempt stopped, but the rebound was missed, and in the last seconds, neither team could muster any convincing opportunities, forcing a shootout.
After Wimbledon’s Crowson scored and the retake was missed, East Grinstead took the lead thanks to Walker’s victory over Cochrane.
After two attempts apiece, Fiona Crackles tied the score for Wimbledon before Malzer missed with a 1-1 shootout score.
After Jen Eadie’s miss, Bray scored to put further pressure on Manton. Anna Toman and Liv Breed also scored for a 2-2 result.
Manton scored, but Rayer’s shootout attempt to win bronze was flawless.
Throughout the season, the two teams split their meetings, with Wimbledon emerging victorious 3-2 and East Grinstead triumphing 2-1.
Men:
Fourth/Third Playoff:
In the second game of the day, Wimbledon and Hampstead & Westminster engaged in another shootout. Karl Stagno’s team emerged victorious in the shootout, 4-3, after a 2-2 draw, and so qualified for the Euro Hockey League alongside Old Georgians and Surbiton for the upcoming season.
Before the first quarter ended, Hampstead had a two-goal lead thanks to Kai Kaeppeler and Matt Guise-Brown. However, Wimbledon responded with goals from David Condon (27′) and Sam Hooper (51′) to tie the third/fourth place play-off.
After five attempts apiece, the two teams were tied 3-3 in the shootout. Jolyon Morgan attempted to score for Andrew Wilson’s team, but he failed, and Jack Waller then scored his second shootout goal to give Wimbledon the win.
The first meaningful chance of the game came from Kaeppeler’s goal; his reverse shot looked to be easily going off-target until it was deflected past the once-again powerful Ore Ogunlana by a Wimbledon stick.
After Ogunlana’s save onto a defender’s foot, Hampstead scored twice through a penalty corner, where Guise-Brown scorched a low drag-flick past the former Surbiton goalkeeper to double the lead.
Halfway through the second quarter, Guise-Brown saw another drag-flick saved, and then Wimbledon, off a penalty corner of their own, saw Sam Hooper hit the post.
But shortly after, Condon gave Wimbledon fresh hope just before the half by putting a back-foot hit past Toby Reynolds-Cotterill, cutting the score in half.
But before the half, Wilson’s team had a chance to extend their lead to two goals again when captain Sam French diverted a pass near to goal into the post.
After long periods of time in which both teams neutralized one another, Wimbledon eventually won a penalty corner with nine minutes remaining. James Oates broke early, and Stagno’s team took full advantage as Hooper’s slider beat Reynolds-Cotterill, leading to the former Holcombe player’s second Premier Division Finals goal.
In the shootout, Hooper went up first but missed, and Jolyon Morgan handed Hampstead & Westminster the advantage.
After two goals apiece from Euan Gilmour and Kaeppeler, the score was tied at three after Jack Waller’s conversion and Tom Crowson’s miss.
Ben Francis (Wimbledon) and James Sutcliffe (Hampstead & Westminster) scored goals, but Rory Patterson (Wimbledon) and French (Hampstead & Westminster) missed in the final two of the first five shootouts for both teams.
With the sides switching roles, Waller scored to set off wild celebrations for the Raynes Park squad and guarantee their first position in the Euro Hockey League since 2022–2023 when Wimbledon lost in the opening round. Morgan had tried to score first in a sudden death situation but was denied.
During the regular season, both teams prevailed in their meetings, with Hampstead winning 3-2 in Phase One and Wimbledon winning 5-0 in Phase Two.
Women’s Championship:
In a thrilling comeback victory, Surbiton defeated Hampstead & Westminster 3-1 in the Women’s Premier Division Final to earn their eighth championship in ten seasons.
Leah Wilkinson, Alice Sharp, and Sophie Hamilton of Surbiton scored three goals in the second half to flip the game around after Madi Ratcliffe scored a spectacular first goal in the first half, her 16th goal of the season.
A year after Surbiton fell to East Grinstead in the Final at the same event, they now had a victory in front of their home supporters.
The most of the opportunities were provided by David Beckett’s team, and in the first half, Miriam Pritchard made several saves to keep Giselle Ansley and Megan Dowthwaite at bay.
However, six minutes into the second quarter, Ratcliffe gave David Cooper’s team the lead against the run of play by hitting a first-time reverse low into the far corner beyond Amber Walton.
Wilkinson stopped a Ratcliffe drag-flick from a penalty corner before Hamilton missed a close-range opportunity to tie the score for the defending champions.
Shortly after the break, Ansley had another effort stopped. Then, halfway through the third quarter, Wilkinson found space to slam a shot into the far corner after a fake variation at another penalty corner.
Soon after, Amy Costello, a Paris 2024 contender, missed the mark on a reverse attempt at another corner, drawing even with two minutes remaining in play.
Before Wales great Wilkinson saw his effort cleared off the line, Sharp was there to complete another variation sequence early in Q4. She deflected Wilkinson’s slap beyond Pritchard.
With two minutes remaining, Hamilton scored a fantastic goal to ensure the victory by beating several players and shooting a reverse into the top corner after Costello’s drag-flick was smacked away and Pritchard had been substituted.
Surbiton defeated Cooper’s team for the fourth time this season; in five encounters, they had scored 12 goals and given up only three.
With the victory, Surbiton now sits just two titles shy of Slough’s all-time record of 11, with six Premier Division victories ahead of Leicester in third place.