SURREY thwarted Here-fordshire for the second year in a row at the National Women's Hockey Champion-ships in Cannock when they pipped them to a place in the final.

Herefordshire, who lost to Surrey in the final last year, had a good start to their Pool A campaign when Nina Emery found the target for a 1-0 win against Northamp-tonshire.

Surrey, who boasted 12 players from National Division 1 club Wimbledon, were a tougher proposition and the county went down 5-2 after scoring goals through Kelly Greenstreet and Coral Handley.

Goalkeeper Nerys Hamlett was in superb form against Northamptonshire and Surrey before leaving to link up with the Wales under-21 squad, while Colwall's Anna Price was an able deputy.

Despite a fine 5-2 victory over Yorkshire, thanks to a brace from Handley and strikes by Sue Ladd, Polly Bounds and Karen Hackley, Herefordshire finished second to Surrey in the group by a single point.

However, the performance did ensure that Hereford-shire finished third overall in the competition, while Surrey retained their title with a 2-1 victory over Gloucestershire in the final.