John Adams on Harleston Magpies Ladies' prospects in final weekend of Super 6s Championships Division One campaign

John Adams believes all options are still possible for Harleston Magpies Ladies when they conclude their Super 6s Championships Division One campaign this weekend.

Magpies make the trip to Canterbury Hockey Club for the second and final block of four matches sitting in third, just one place and two points from a promotion spot.

With games against the current top two sides to come this weekend, a promotion back into the indoor competition’s top tier is in their hands. But with only a four-point buffer over the bottom two, Magpies manager Adams says he will start the weekend with a close eye at both ends of the table.

“The two bottom teams won their last game (of last weekend’s fixtures), so that’s just tightened things up a little bit,” he said.

“We’re a long way from being safe in the league as yet, but on the other hand we’re actually only a win away from being top.

“I think we’ll see how the weekend goes and see how the first game goes.

“All the possibilities are still open to us at the moment. You can see from the results that anyone can beat anybody in this league.

“Cambridge (City) and Holcombe went and won their last games which gives them a fighting chance, so there’s still a lot to play for this weekend. We’ll just take it one game at a time and see how we go. We definitely need another win to be fairly confident of staying in the league.”

Harleston’s opening weekend of their 2023 indoor campaign saw them beat Cambridge City 4-2 and draw 4-4 with Stourport on Saturday, followed by a 6-3 victory over Clifton Robinsons the next day.

Magpies were then defeated 3-1 by Reading in their last game at the University of Nottingham, leaving them on seven points at the halfway point of the competition.

“I was very pleased,” Adams reflected. “The girls played superbly.

“We weren’t quite so good against Reading, but everybody was getting very tired by the fourth game and we still had a young side.

“I think there was five girls making their indoor debuts at this level, and six of our squad are from our under-18s, so it’s a long weekend for the youngsters.

“It was a really good weekend. The girls played some of the best indoor hockey that I’ve seen Magpies play for a few years now.”

Youngster Anna Cogdell (seven) and guest player Georgie Gardens (six) caught the eye at the weekend, scoring 13 of Magpies’ 15 goals between them.

Harleston welcome back Liv Thomas and Hannah de Selincourt into the squad this weekend, with Evie Brice and Loulou Ford both absent through school commitments.

Adams also stated his gratitude to Durrants, who sponsor the indoor team.