TRIPLE chasing Trojans will bank their first silverware of the season at Thames Ditton on Saturday when they put the final seal on the Hampshire/Surrey Regional League championship.
Already 99 per cent certain of the title, Trojans will only fail to be crowned champions if they lose by a 20-goal margin to already relegated Old Cranleighans, who have won only one match all season.
Trojans, in comparison, have swept virtually all before them, losing only two and drawing two other matches in a season that has yielded 114 goals - with the prospect of more to come.
"We scored 198 goals in all competitions this season, but there's been no celebrating - yet," said coach Lindsay Hilton.
"I've been in sport long enough now to know that nothing is guaranteed and we still need a result against OCs at the weekend."
A goal fest against the hapless Cranleigh School old boys will put Trojans in good stead for Sunday's EHA Harrod Trophy semi-final clash with Staines, who knocked out Hamble in the quarter-finals.
The Middlesex club finished in the bottom half of South Premier Division 2 - the league newly-promoted Trojans will play in next season - and Hamble manager Chris Marsh expects the Stoneham boys to win.
"We had an off-day against Staines and played very poorly, compared with the way we've gone all season. It will be a tough test for Trojans, but I fancy they've got the flair and the goalscoring clout to win," Marsh said.
But according to their club website, Staines - floored 6-2 and 5-1 by Fareham this season - are already through to the Harrod Trophy final!
Staines 4 Trojans 3 is the result already posted on the Staines site - five days before the semi-final has even taken place!
Slough host Mansfield in the other semi-final.
While Trojans' men are chasing league and cup glory, the Stoneham ladies side will be fighting for their lives to stay in the top flight of English Womens hockey.
Second from bottom with four matches left to play, the best Trojans can probably hope for is a place in the Premier Division 1 relegation play-offs.
They visit fourth-placed Canterbury on Saturday and then host fifth-from-bottom Clifton in a 'must win' affair at Stoneham Lane on Sunday (2pm).
Southampton, meanwhile, have ended the season in good form, but face a daunting weekend with visits to Leyland Motors and Liverpool Sefton.
More than 1,000 hockey players from all over the country took part in Trojans' Seige of Troy Easter festival, which was won by Midlands club Khalsa.
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