Reading are one match away from their first women’s title for 12 years when they take on finalists Surbiton, while the two men’s scoring powerhouses of Premier Division hockey will go head-to-head in Sunday’s showdowns.
Reading women reached the final after coming through a tight semi-final on a shoot-out against Hampstead & Westminster after a 1-1 draw.
Caroline Spencer gave the Royals a 20th minute lead before Phoebe Willars levelled for H&W four minutes from time.
The Londoners looked threatening towards the end before Reading held out for the shoot-out.
It worked in their favour as H&W missed all their efforts and Mia Moore and Abbie Dixon netting for a jubilant Reading, the last team to win the title in 2013 before the rise of Surbiton’s annual stranglehold.
“All year we’ve playing brilliant hockey and we play quite attacking hockey and take risks,” said Reading’s Jo Pinner.
“The game plan was to play together, play attacking fun, exciting hockey. We delivered that for parts of the game, not the whole game.”
“It felt like the gods looking down on us today,” added Pinner, as Reading also cleared a certain H&W goal off the line.
Standing in their way will be Surbiton, the defending champions, after they edged East Grinstead 3-2.
Darcy Bourne’s brace proved the difference after her instinctive second late on after Biba Mills’ double had given EG hope.
Surbiton will now be aiming for their first men’s and women’s double title triumph since 2020.
Season-long men’s league leaders Old Georgians will play Surbiton after both clubs ran through the gears at Nottingham Hockey Centre.
OGs, gunning for a fourth title in a row, beat Finals Weekend first-timers Oxted 4-0 on Saturday.
Missing the injured Sam Ward, Phil Roper and Alan Forsyth scored in the first two quarters before a killer punch just before half-time through Kyle Marshall. Chris Procter then scored a fine fourth in the circle in the 42nd minute.
The defending champs will play last season’s runners-up Surbiton as Struan Walker stood tall with an 18-minute hat-trick in a 6-2 win over Wimbledon.
The Scot scored from a PC before two open play goals, his third via some superb individual skill for Surbiton’s fifth.
Wimbledon had opened the scoring before Gareth Furlong notched the first of two PCs.
