Surbiton Ladies captain Sarah Haycroft remains confident they will secure fourth spot in the WHL Premier Division, and with it with an all-important Championship/Euro play-off berth.

After a double-header 3-3 draw at home to Clifton, followed by a 3-1 defeat at Leicester, Surbiton sit  in fourth – one point ahead of Bowdon Hightown – with two games remaining.

They go to bottom club Slough on Saturday, before top club Canterbury visit Sugden Road on March 23.

While Haycroft is targeting two wins, the skipper believes four points will be enough to clinch fourth spot.

There was disappointment after Sunday’s defeat at Leicester, where Emma Batten scored the only goal, but Haycroft is taking the positives.

“The 3-1 scoreline suggests we were trounced, but in truth it was our best team performance of the season,” she said.

“We had our chances, but we did not take them and you have to do that against a team like Leicester.”

She added: “If you make a mistake they will punish you, and they are very clinical, whereas we lacked that clinical edge in the D.

“So we were quite frustrated at the end as we thought we had matched them.”

Against Clifton, Jo Leigh gave the visitors an eighth minute lead before Sandra Frankland levelled for Surbiton just a minute later.

Zoe Leach’s 29th minute goal gave the visitors a 2-1 half time lead, but five minutes into the second half, Hannah Coulson scored her first goal for Surbiton to level the scores, then Vicky Bryant gave the hosts the lead for the first time with 15 minutes left. 

Clifton’s third goal was an own goal, the ball deflecting into the goal off a defender’s stick.

Bowdon Hightown missed the chance to leapfrog Surbiton into fourth after losing 2-1 at Reading.

The Surbiton players now travel to bottom club Slough with Haycroft’s warning ringing in their ears.

She said: “Slough maybe bottom but they picked up their first win last weekend, so they will be feeling a little bit more confident.

“They may not have the international players like Leicester or Canterbury, but they are playing for their pride and they are not going to lie down.
“We cannot underestimate them at all.”

She added: “But if we play against Slough and Canterbury in the same manner we did against Leicester, then I can see there being no problems.”

Should Surbiton finish in the top four, they will face the division’s winners for a place in the European play-off final.