M1 Home To Old Georgians On Saturday Night
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Men have an eagerly awaited Elmbridge derby on Saturday night when reigning champions and current Men's Hockey League Premier Division leaders, Old Georgians come to Sugden Road (push back 1800).
Surbiton are locked together with Old Georgians on 33 points at the top of the table, with Old Georgians leading by a one superior goal difference as the teams meet for a top of the table clash.
Supporters unable to go to Sugden Road can watch the game online via the Surbiton Hockey Club channel on You Tube here
Old Georgians will be hoping to avenge their sole defeat in the top flight this season, when Surbiton won 3-2 at St. George's College in the second match of the season in September.
Having gone unbeaten for the whole of the 2022-23 season on the way to their first ever outdoor national title, losing their unbeaten record this season on their own pitch came as a shock to Old Georgians. Surbiton lead 3-0 through goals from Luke Taylor, Gareth Furlong and Struan Walker before Old Georgians just failed to snatch a point with James Albery and James Cunningham reducing the deficit to 3-2 with ten minutes remaining.
Ironically, although Surbiton have won twice at St. George's College, including winning a seven goal thriller 4-3 in the teams' first Premier Division clash in November 2019, they have never beaten their local rivals at Sugden Road with the first meeting ending 3-3 in February 2020 before Old Georgians stormed to a 5-1 win in February 2022 and won 2-1 in November 2022.
Old Georgians have won ten games in succession since their home defeat and battled to a 3-2 home win over Holcombe last weekend. Sam Ward has scored 25 goals this season, with former Surbiton player, Alan Forsyth on 14. Forsyth scored for Surbiton in the 4-3 victory and could become the first team to score for both teams in the fixture if he nets on Saturday.
James Carson has ten goals to his name with Tom Carson on seven. Ed Carson and Lee Morton have each scored three goals whilst Albery and Chris Proctor have scored twice. Cunningham, Elliot Messem and Matt Brown have all scored once.
Surbiton's Walker has been nearly as prolific as Ward with 21 goals following last week's hat-trick at home to Southgate. Taylor scored the other goal in the 4-0 win to edge ahead of fellow penalty corner specialist, Furlong with eleven and ten goals respectively.
Alex Williams has scored six goals, Louis Gittens is on five, with Ben Park and Jack Hobkirk both on three. James Gall has scored twice with Tim Nurse, David Goodfield, Brendan Creed and Nick Park all scoring once this season.
There is only one other Top Six fixture this weekend with Southgate hosting Hampstead & Westminster. Wimbledon's scheduled fixture versus Holcombe has been rescheduled for 29 February as Wimbledon are currently in Vienna taking part in the EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup. Wimbledon finished fourth in Pool A and will face the third team in Pool B on Saturday afternoon, when a win will ensure survival, a defeat will mean relegation and Old Georgians playing in the Trophy in 2025.
In the Lower Six, Cardiff & Met are also in European indoors action, taking part in the EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge I in Ferrara, Italy but have elected to send a team to Italy and field a team at Oxted in the MHL Premier Division.
East Grinstead are at home to Beeston following their Women's match against Surbiton and Reading are at home to the University of Nottingham, having secured their two league victories this season at Nottingham Hockey Centre whilst awaiting their first home win of the season.