The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
City of Peterborough face a month of high-quality games
Hockey - Fareham are the first play-off opponents
City of Peterborough face a month of high-class fixtures after landing in the National League promotion play-offs.
City won their final East Conference fixture 2-1 at archrivals Cambridge City last weekend, but a draw between top six rivals Brighton and Teddington meant the city side finished seventh on goal difference.
But promotion to Division One of a restructured National League is still possible. City need to finish in the top two of a three-way play-off battle against Preston of the North Conference and Fareham of the West Conference.
That battle starts on Sunday when Fareham host Preston. Fareham are scheduled to visit Bretton Gate on April 14. That date is also taken up by the annual Roger Brummitt Mixed Hockey tournament so a big crowd is guaranteed.
City finish at Preston on April 28, 24 hours after they host Bowden in the English KO Cup semi-final.
There was no disgrace in City’s seventh placed finish as they were adrift at the bottom a month ago. Three wins - including one against second-placed Oxted - and a draw against champions Old Georgians in their final four matches shot them up the table.
It was tough against Cambridge before second-half goals from Ben Read and Ross Ambler made a home reply 15 minutes from time irrelevant. Read scored a terrific individual goal, while Ambler struck from a short corner.
City of Peterborough Ladies seconds will play in East Division One next season for the first time in the club’s history.
They deserve it as well having dominated Division Two North West from the get-go.
City made it 21 wins from 22 unbeaten matches with a 7-1 hammering of Pelicans in their final outing as Rosie Bond and Holly Finding both cracked hat-tricks. Hope Elkins completed the scoring for a team who finished with 89 goals scored and a goal difference of +81.
City were equally strong defensively conceding just eight goals all season. Goalkeeper Ellis Srnska kept 16 clean sheets.
Ed Whybrow finished the season in style for City fourths with a douhle hat-trick in their final Division Four North West game at Leadenham. Libby Smith scored the other goal in a 7-2 romp.
City finished third and just missed out on promotion. Goalkeeper Karen Wilson kept 10 clean sheets.
Bourne Deeping seconds claimed the Division Three North West crown without losing a match. They won 19 of 20 matches.
Champions Long Sutton seconds and Spalding thirds filled the top two spots in the men’s Division Four North West table.
Spalding finished two places and eight points ahead of their own second team!
Roger Brummitt Trophy preview in next week’s PT. Local bowler Nicky Brett is the new national indoor two-bowl singles champion.
Carrying the colours of the Huntingdon club, the former world champion from Yaxley defeated Dorchester’s Martin Puckett 21-17 in the final at Nottingham.
In the same event, Stamford-based junior international Stephen Harris, who plays out of the Spalding club, reached the quarter-finals, where he was beaten by Puckett.
The women’s equivalent also came to the area with Spalding’s Chelsea Tomlin beating Riverain’s D. Cooper 21-12 in the final.
There are hopes for more national success at the same venue over the next week with local bowlers involved in the last 16 of five different competitions.
First up on Saturday is the men’s over 60 four from Stamford – Malcolm Cullingworth, Tony Scarr, Trevor Collins and Jeff Newson – who face a quartet from the Sussex club Adur.
Then on Monday, the Stamford club are represented in both the men’s and women’s over 50 triples.
Bob Warters, Cliff Watson and Keith Rippin face North Wilts, while Sue Moir, Jan Want and Chris Ford play West Denton.
There is also local representation in both the men’s and women’s over 60 pairs on the Wednesday, with Peterborough’s Liz Hext and Sheila Craig in action against Newark, while the opponents for Stamford’s Malcolm Smith and Martyn Dolby are yet to be confirmed.
■ In the Cambs Seniors League, Whittlesey and Peterborough & District shared rink honours and the points following a 6868 tie.
There were wins for host club rinks skipped by Bob Burbridge and Dennis Pinshon, while Rod Maplethorpe and Mick Linnell responded for Peterborough, who remain sixth.