M1 Visit East Grinstead On Saturday Evening
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Men travel to Saint Hill on Saturday evening to take on East Grinstead in the Men's Hockey League Premier Division (push back 6 pm).
If you can't get to Sugden Road to watch L1 play Wimbledon or to East Grinstead to watch the game live, East Grinstead will be streaming the M1 game live via their You Tube channel East Grinstead Hockey TV.
Surbiton first played East Grinstead in the national league in 1992, losing 6-1 in West Sussex. Surbiton are currently unbeaten against East Grinstead since October 2014, when they lost 4-0, the last time they had failed to score in the Premier Division until Oxted beat Surbiton 1-0 in the last game of the 2020-21 season.
However, East Grinstead also went on a ten game unbeaten run against Surbiton between September 2007 and November 2012 when Surbiton won 3-0 at East Grinstead and then ended East Grinstead's run with a 3-2 home win.
This season, Surbiton will be favourites once again after their 9-1 demolition of Brooklands Manchester University saw them catch up Old Georgians' goal difference advantage, Surbiton leading on goals scored (23 to 18) at the top of the Premier Division table.
However, Surbiton found it difficult to break down the University of Durham defence, so the East Grinstead match could be equally difficult.
East Grinstead have struggled after a disappointing opening day home defeat, 2-1 against local rivals, Oxted. East Grinstead then lost 4-2 at Hampstead & Westminster, before earning their only point of the season so far, 3-3 at home to Brooklands Manchester University, having led 3-0. Last weekend, they crashed 7-0 at Old Georgians after unfortunately losing their goalkeeper to a freak injury when trailing 2-0.
Louis Gittens has scored four of East Grinstead's six goals this season with Luke Emmett and Jamie Wallace also scoring.
Surbiton have been rampant this season although they needed a fourth quarter comeback to overcome Holcombe 6-4 in their first game.
The University of Durham held Surbiton scoreless for the first three quarters before Surbiton once again were deadly in the fourth quarter to win 3-0.
Oxted were beaten 5-2 before last week's stunning win over Brooklands.
With the division's leading goalscorer, Sam Ward of Old Georgians out of action due to a hand injury, Surbiton's Luke Taylor, currently on 9, two goals behind Ward's 11, could go to the top of the Premier Division goalscoring charts.
Wimbledon are also playing at the University of Exeter on Saturday, and Old Georgians host the University of Durham; Oxted visit Beeston and Hampstead and Westminster entertain Holcombe on Sunday.