Surbiton 4 – 1 Three Rock Rovers
(EHL Ranking Match)
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Men shrugged off their KO16 defeat against Waterloo Ducks to beat Irish club, Three Rock Rovers 4-1 in their ranking match in Eindhoven on Friday.
Three Rock Rovers, 4-2 losers to KHC Dragons at the KO16 stage, continued to show spirit, taking the lead against Surbiton in the sixth minute, captain Jodie Hosking crossing from the left for Mitch Darling to score from open play.
However, Surbiton led 2-1 at the interval, Luke Taylor working his penalty corner magic in the 26th and 30th minutes with almost identical drag-flicks to turn the match around.
Five minutes into the second half, Taylor was denied a hat-trick, Three Rock Rovers goalkeeper Jamie Carr making a fine save but from the restart from the 23 metre line, Surbiton attacked, David Goodfield extending their lead to 3-1 from open play.
Surbiton’s fourth goal came with six minutes to play, Brendan Creed’s long pass collected by Alan Forsyth wide of the left post, Forsyth working his way towards goal before slipping the ball past Carr to complete the victory.
Taylor Seager-Green came on for the last five minutes in his last match for Surbiton before moving to university.