M1 Drop To Third After Holcombe Defeat
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Men lost ground on the top two places in the Men's Hockey League Premier Division Top Six after losing 3-0 at Holcombe on Sunday afternoon.
Surbiton dropped to third after Wimbledon won 4-1 at Hampstead & Westminster to move three points clear of Surbiton in second place. Old Georgians' dominance continued with a 3-0 home win over East Grinstead. Old Georgians are eight points ahead of Wimbledon.
All three Holcombe goals came from open play with Jake Raben opening the scoring in the 14th minute to leave Surbiton trailing at the end of the first quarter, with Jake Owen doubling the hosts lead on the half hour.
Nick Bandurak's 13th goal of the season in the 43rd minute proved unlucky for Surbiton as Holcombe beat Surbiton for the first time at Holcombe Park since Oct 2017 and claimed their biggest home margin of victory since the teams first met at top flight level in 2015-16.
In the Bottom 5, the University of Exeter stunned University of Durham 9-0 in the North East to win their first match of the season and close to within three points of their hosts with a game in hand. The victory, combined with Oxted's 6-2 win at Brooklands Manchester University leaves Exeter only six points from safety, with Brooklands just above the relegation places.