Wimbledon Men A-A Reading Men
Wimbledon Ladies 3-2 Bedford Ladies
Wimbledon Men must wait to find out the result of their game with Reading after the floodlights went out with 10 minutes left on Saturday.
Wimbledon were losing 2-0 in the NOW: Pensions National Hockey League Premier Division game and must now wait for a league committee to determine the outcome of the fixture.
There were no such problems for the ladies team earlier in the day though as they secured a final minute 3-2 home victory over Bedford in the Investec National Hockey League Conference East.
It was the unusual situation with the men that caught the eye though, with coach Ben Marsden unsure what will happen.
“We’ve never been in this position before,” he said.
“Such a lot of time, energy and preparation goes into these games and for it to be cut short is a big shame.”
Reading took the match to the home side and took the lead early on before following it up not long after with a second short corner flick goal to give them a 2-0 lead at half time.
Wimbledon were dominated the latter stages until, with just over nine minutes remaining, the Kings College School Sports Ground pitch descended into darkness and the decision to abandon the match was made a short time later.
“Reading took two good corners and flicked well and, unfortunately, we didn’t take any of our chances,” added Marsden.
“But we are still pleased with the way we played and looking forward positively regardless of the outcome.”
Wimbledon Ladies’ twice came back from behind to steal a much-needed victory following three consecutive defeats.
Rosie MacPherson scored a hat trick, tapping in two goals from their ‘Versace’ named short corners, and she was delighted.
She said: “I am absolutely over the moon, I can’t believe we got that last goal. It was such a team effort.
“We deserved to win, we trained really hard this week working really hard on our short corners and it paid off.”
Bedford took an early lead in the first half before Wimbledon equalised soon after with a great strike by MacPherson.
The second half saw Bedford move 2-1 ahead but Wimbledon dug deep to equalise and in the final minute scored from another ‘Versace’ short corner set piece.
Wimbledon goalkeeper Roseanne Thomas saved a great drag flick from the final play of the match to secure victory for the home side.
Captain Nathalie Riches was admittedly relieved and paid tribute to some of the older club members who inspired the players to victory.
She said: “We have quite a new team this year and we wanted to convey the Wimbledon culture to them about what the club means to us and our pride – I think it showed out there.”
Coach Sarah Kellner added: “They like to keep me going right until the end!
“I know everyone put everything on to that pitch and I think they have the belief they can keep doing it.
“I said to the girls you get turning points often in seasons and that was our turning point.”
Next week the men take on Brooklands MU at home at 2pm and the women face Horsham away at the same time.
