TWO matches to go - and Trojans are within touching distance of a place among the elite of England Women's hockey next season.

They go into Saturday's penultimate match against fourth-placed Harleston at Wellington (1.30pm) with a narrow one-point lead over Loughborough Students, who surprisingly spilled points in two drawn matches last weekend.

While Trojans were beating Hounslow & Ealing 3-0, the students were held by both Woking and basement club Bradford.

Trojans, in excellent post-Christmas form, got off to the best possible start with Nyssa McNeill scoring after just four minutes at Hounslow.

A splendid pass down the touchline found Laura Hudson, who had made a diagonal run across the pitch. She slotted the ball into the D for Nyssa McNeill to give Trojans the early advantage.

"The game became predictably scrappy, but Trojans kept their patience knowing that the most important thing was to go away with three points, regardless of the scoreline," said coach Louise Carter.

Trojans were unable to create a solitary penalty corner in the first half but soon turned things around after the break.

The visitors' pressure soon told, with England teenager Alex Danson making it 2-0 from a short corner five minutes after the break. Trojans added a third, decisive goal, nine minutes later when Nadine Devereux's strike beat the keeper from another penalty corner routine.

"It's vitally important we remain totally focussed for our two remaining games against Harleston on Saturday then at Bradford after Easter," the Trojans coach stressed.

"The fact that Loughborough drew with the bottom two teams shows that there are no easy games in this league and we will have to maintain a 110 per cent effort rate to keep hold of the top position."

l There was no holding Romsey III, who went on a ten-goal scoring spree, whipping United Services 4-0 before hammering Gregarians 6-1. Positive from the outset, they took an early lead against US and were 3-0 up at the break through Emma Holloway (2) and Jill Livingstone. Sarah Harper scored the fourth from a second-half penalty flick.

Holloway continued her zest for goals in the 6-1 victory at Haslemere, joining Anne Bonham on the hat-trick trail against Gregarians.