M1 Win 6-1 At East Grinstead
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Men continued their excellent recent form at East Grinstead and came away from West Sussex with all three points after a 6-1 victory on Saturday evening.
Surbiton have not lost to East Grinstead in the Men's Hockey League Premier Division at Saint Hill since 2014 and repeated the margin of victory from their last visit in February 2020 when Surbiton won 5-0.
Luke Taylor opened the scoring in the seventh minute, his drag-flick planted in the bottom right corner for his tenth goal of the season.
East Grinstead then paid the price for a Jamie Wallace green card, Surbiton scoring twice through David Goodfield. The first in the 23rd minute was a tap in, whilst the second saw Surbiton attack the right of the circle with Goodfield getting a touch as the ball made its way to goal a minute later. East Grinstead approached the umpires, but the goal was given after a brief discussion between the umpires.
On his return to the pitch, Wallace pulled a goal back in the 25th minute as he found enough space to score on the reverse.
Surbiton led 3-1 at half time, but the lead was extended to 5-1 with two quick goals in the 38th minute. Jamie Golden scored from close range in front of goal to put Surbiton 4-1 ahead and from the restart, East Grinstead turned the ball over with Ben Boon taking full advantage.
The final goal in the 52nd minute came as a result of a blitzkrieg attack from one end of the pitch to the other, a brilliant passing move finished off by Ben Park to complete a 6-1 win.
In Saturday's other game, Wimbledon won 2-1 at the University of Exeter but after Sunday's games are third, level on fifteen points with Surbiton and Old Georgians but having played a game more.
On Sunday, Old Georgians went back to the top of the Premier Division table thanks to their 6-0 home win over the University of Durham. Old Georgians now have a goal difference of plus 22 compared with Surbiton's plus 21. Wimbledon's goal difference is plus 16.
Hampstead & Westminster drew 2-2 at home to Holcombe having drawn 2-2 at Beeston last weekend.
Beeston moved up to sixth after their 3-1 home win over Oxted, who stay fifth.