Story by Joe Acklam

The final match of the season was always going to be a momentous one for Teddington Ladies 1s as they made the trip to Southgate in search of promotion to the top tier National League for the first time in the Club's history.

With Teddington, London Wayfarers 2s, Tulse Hill & Dulwich, and Wapping 1s in contention for the league title, a win for the Teddies would secure promotion.  

And they showed they meant business by attacking from the push back and managed to make some inroads down the left. Southgate held strong and set up some fast counter attacking moves themselves.

It really was end to end in the first half with lots of chances but it weas Southgate who managed to convert first with a high press putting pressure on the Teddington defence and the Southgate left wing managing to steal the ball and slip it into the goal. Teddington responded within five minutes when Lily St Clair weaved her way at speed through the Southgate midfield and then the defence to slip the ball to Emily Cane who slotted the ball into the back of the net to score her first goal for the Ladies 1s. 

Southgate attacked once again and regained the lead after only a few minutes. A long ball was hit into the Teddington D and was calmly deflected into the goal by the Southgate forward.

Teddington remained calm and continued to pass the ball and link up well. With 10 minutes to go until half time, Teddington equalised as Eleanor Jolly scored from a penalty stroke which was awarded after a stick tackle on Riley Flecker-Lister in the D. The final few minutes of the half continued to see exciting attacking hockey with several scoring opportunities but they went into the break 2-2. 

The second half was just as close as both teams looked for a winning goal. Teddington had the majority of the chances, including several short corners, but were unable to break through the Southgate defence. Alex Hurst and Mimi Harvey continued to make some excellent runs down the wings which troubled the Southgate defence.

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The Teddies defence also had to stand strong, forced to defend a few short corners themselves with keeper Isabel Pinder making some crucial saves to keep hopes alive. Teddington pushed for the all-important winner, but time ran out and hearts sank at the 2-2 draw.

The team and their travelling support then had a nervous wait to find out the scores from the other fixtures in the league to establish whether they would make promotion. It was an interesting day of results, with the four teams in contention all drawing their final games. IN the end the word came through that whilst London Wayfarers took the league title by 1 point, Teddington had made it to the very top tier in English hockey. 

Clare Freer, Teddington Club Captain said: "The ladies were under so much pressure as they were the team out front for a good part of the season, but they showed real resilience and professionalism to make it in the end and everyone at our great Club is so proud of them.

"They are a very young team and so the future is looking very bright in our ladies section where we now have seven teams competing every week. Huge thanks go to our fantastic team of coaches, the parents who have followed us everywhere and to the many volunteers who help keep our teams on the road and our club moving forward."

THC Ladies 1s 2-2 Southgate HC