Hockey Clifton Robinsons finish season with entertaining draw
CLIFTON Robinsons and Beeston drew 3-3 in an entertaining final Vitality Top 6 fixture of the season.
Beeston ended the second half of the season in fifth place with Clifton Robinsons sixth. Although they finished sixth, the local side faced the top sides in the country and competed strongly in most games.
Beeston controlled the early exchanges and went ahead with a goal from Paige Gillet. There was no further scoring in the first half, although both sides had chances to score.
Beeston increased their lead early in the second half through Lucy Millington, but Catherine Macauley reduced the deficit when she scored following some interpassing involving a number of players when she scored with a wonderful backhand strike.
Phoebe Richards equalised for Clifton Robinsons before Izzy Webb gave them the lead. Beeston, however, were not to be foiled and, with just four minutes remaining, equalised through a second Millington strike.
On Sunday, in England Hockey Tier 1 Championship, Clifton Robinsons travelled to face Surbiton 2nds. The home side scored an early goal, but Clifton Robinsons soon equalised with Abi Porter and Claire Jones combining for the lat
ter to score. A penalty corner strike from Pip Stewart was deflected past the ‘keeper to put Clifton Robinsons 2-1 up. Surbiton gambled with nine minutes left and played without a ‘keeper, but Clifton took advantage and scored a third goal on the break from Porter.
In the National Over-35 Ladies Cup semi-final, Clifton Robinsons
made the long journey to face Canterbury
Canterbury took an early lead and put lots of pressure on the Clifton Robinsons defence with numerous breakaway plays. Clifton Robinsons withstood the pressure and equalised through a short corner strike by Jo Walton just after half-time.
In a tense last quarter, Clifton faced a barrage of short corners but eventually succumbed to a home attack in the last two minutes when the winning goal was scored
Clifton Robinsons’ Jo Walton said: “It was a very good game and the team wish Canterbury all the best in the final against Bedford at Lee Valley in a few weeks.”