Cambridge City lose England Hockey Women’s Conference Midlands top-of-the-table clash against Repton

Cambridge City’s England Hockey Women’s Conference Midlands title hopes took a big blow at the weekend.

Second-placed City headed into their home encounter against table-topping Repton with just one point separating the two sides. However, rather than replace their visitors at the summit, the deficit has swollen to four points after Repton ran out 1-0 winners at Wilberforce Road.

City dominated possession and created more chances throughout the contest, yet it was the league leaders that broke the deadlock just before the half-time whistle via an overload.

The hosts kept up the pressure during the second half but it was not be as Repton held firm.

City will look to get back on track on Saturday (24 February) when they play host to the University of Birmingham, while they are also likely to have an eye on Repton, who head to third-placed St Albans.

Elsewhere, Cambridge City look set to be relegated from the England Hockey Men’s Division 1 North following their latest defeat – a 5-2 reverse at Harborne.

After falling behind early on, City got themselves level in the eighth minute when Callum Middleton marked his return from long-term injury with the equalising goal.

Hamish Weir then gave City the lead as the first quarter came to an end, but two green cards in quick succession allowed Harborne to restore parity.

The scoreline remained locked at two goals apiece until the third quarter when Harborne took a firm grip on proceedings.

The loss has left City second from bottom in the table, seven points from safety.

Cambridge City IV, who sit bottom of the East Men’s League Division 2 North West standings, suffered an 8-3 defeat at promotion-chasing St Neots.

Zeke Durrani, Tom Hall and Barnaby Warr were all on target for City.