Bowdon 1 Southgate 2,
Bowdon Hockey Club, 30th March
Match report by Simon Parker
Southgate claim all three points in a tight encounter beating Bowdon 2-1 on a cold and damp Manchester evening.
The bright and warm early spring day in London gave way to grey skies and a distinct chill in the air by the time Southgate arrived in the Manchester suburb of Altringham to play their final match in Phase 2. It’s been at least 12 years since these teams last met at the Bowdon Club, and thus was a new experience for the majority of the Southgate team who were met by a sizeable and vocal crowd looking for a home win.
The match started with both teams sharing possession as they probed for holes in the opposition’s defence. The Home crowd didn’t have to wait long for the first goal as Tom Ainsworth opened the scoring in the 10th minute after Calum Douglas in the Southgate goal had made an initial save, Ainsworth was on hand to put the rebound away from close range. The rest of the first half was fairly even in terms of possession, but Bowdon were making better use of the ball forcing Douglas to make a number of important saves to keep the score to one goal with the half finishing with Bowdon one goal to the good.
Southgate emerged from the changing room with renewed purpose to start the second half and won a penalty corner after two minutes thanks to a stick tackle on Karan Sofat. Archie Foster got a clean flick off from the top of the circle only to see it illegally stopped on the line by the body of Matt Bellin with Umpire Dan Barstow awarding the resulting penalty stroke. Jack Middleton calmly stepped up to convert and level the scores.
Seven minutes later and Southgate were ahead thanks to Joe Hillyer getting his first goal for the club at a crucial time, with Archie Foster playing the ball into the circle and a handy deflection finding Hillyer on the back post, who then turned and fired past Will Grant in the Bowdon goal.
Southgate’s Richmond Lum. Bowdon v Southgate – EH Men’s Premier Division at The Bowdon Club, Bowdon, Altrincham, UK on 29 March 2025.
Photo by Simon Parker/SP Action Images
The last quarter saw Bowdon dominate possession as they looked for the equaliser with Douglas called into action time and again to deny the home side. The Southgate cause was not helped by Richmond Lum picking up a yellow card four minutes from time, with Bowdon substituting goalkeeper Grant shortly afterwards to give them a two man advantage. The Southgate supporters who had made the long journey north feared the worst, but their defence held firm with much relief at the final whistle.
Southgate now welcome Richmond to Trent Park for the first match in Phase 3, with a win all but securing their place in the Premier Division for next season.