M1 Visit Cardiff On Saturday Night
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Men travel to Cardiff to face newly-promoted Cardiff & Met in the Men's Hockey League Premier Division on Saturday night (push back 6 pm).
Supporters who are unable to travel to Wales can watch the game via the Cardiff & Met HC channel on You Tube here
It will be the first time that the teams have met in the Men's Hockey League as Cardiff & Met were in the Conference West from 2008-09 until 2018-19, becoming members of Division One North in 2019-20, the division replacing the Conferences as the second tier.
Cardiff & Met came close to winning promotion on three occasions whilst they were in the Conference West as they were champions in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2015-16, but missed out on promotion as they finished third in the subsequent Promotion Tournament on all three occasions.
Cardiff & Met were even more frustrated as they lost out on goal difference in both 2012-13 and especially in 2015-16, when the top three teams all finished on six points.
Cardiff & Met are currently tenth on seven points and have had mixed fortunes this season, losing 4-1 at home to Southgate before winning 3-2 at Reading. A 4-4 draw at home to Oxted was followed by successive defeats: 4-1 at home to Beeston and and 2-1 at East Grinstead. They bounced back to win 4-3 at the University of Nottingham last Saturday before crashing 9-1 at home to Old Georgians on Sunday.
Scott Rawlings is the Welsh club's top scorer with six goals, with Ioan Wall on three and Rhys Gowman on two. Alf Dinnie, Luke Hawker, Tom Wood and Nicholas Morgan have all scored once.
Surbiton also had a 9-1 scoreline on Sunday, but were winners at Beeston to follow up their 6-0 home win over Oxted on Saturday. Leaders Old Georgians still have a six better goal difference than second-placed Surbiton, with both teams on 18 points from seven games.
Struan Walker on eight and Gareth Furlong on seven are Surbiton's leading goalscorers but trail Old Georgians' Sam Ward on 14 and Beeston's Henry Croft on eleven at the top of the Premier Division top scorers list.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Old Georgians are at home to Hampstead & Westminster; Oxted host Beeston; Wimbledon have a London derby with Southgate; Holcombe travel to the University of Nottingham and East Grinstead visit Reading in the last round of matches before the clocks go back on Sunday.