M1 Beat Old Georgians 3-2 In Elmbridge Derby
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Men stunned reigning Men's Hockey League Premier Division champions Old Georgians by beating their Elmbridge rivals for only the second time in the top-flight, 3-2 in an enthralling Elmbridge derby at St. George's College on Saturday night.
Old Georgians had gone unbeaten in the 2022-23 season, winning all but two games, a 2-2 regular season draw with Hampstead & Westminster and a 0-0 draw in the semi-finals of the League Finals tournament with Wimbledon, before coming out on top in a shootout at Sugden Road last April.
Wimbledon had also been the last team to beat Old Georgians in the league with a similar 3-2 score-line in April 2022.
In front of a large crowd, Surbiton took the game to Old Georgians tactically by initially trying to stay patient and deny the hosts possession. Surbiton took the lead in the ninth minute, Luke Taylor finding the backboard from the visitors' first penalty corner to give Old Georgians something to think about.
A minute later, Old Georgians successfully prevented Taylor from doubling Surbiton's lead from another penalty corner as Surbiton kept up the pressure, but the hosts still threatened with Surbiton grateful for a brilliant save by James Mazarelo early in the second quarter.
Gareth Furlong failed to score from Surbiton's third penalty corner, but made no mistake from the re-award in the 21st minute, the ball sweetly rebounding off the backboard for a second time.
Mazarelo came to Surbiton's rescue again in the 28th minute, saving Sam Ward's effort from Old Georgians' first penalty corner of the match after the home supporters enthusiastically cheered the ball touching a Surbiton foot.
James Albery played a dangerous ball across the circle as Old Georgians tried to get back into the match before half time, but Surbiton carried their two goal advantage into the second half.
If Surbiton's supporters were delighted to be leading 2-0 away from home, they were in almost in celebratory mood three minutes after the interval when Struan Walker added a third goal from open play which seemed to suggest that it was game over. The goal was only given after a brief consultation by the umpires, adding to the tension.
However, anybody who writes Old Georgians off, does so at their own peril with the hosts forcing penalty corners to try and break through the Surbiton defence.
The tactic finally worked in the 47th minute, Albery getting the final touch from Old Georgians' third penalty corner with their loyal supporters convinced they could battle back against their local rivals.
The goal undoubtedly gave the hosts a massive boost as they put Surbiton under enormous pressure until Nick Park was hit by the ball and Surbiton were able to slow the game down to their pace.
Old Georgians forced three more penalty corners as it seemed to be the more likely tactic for pulling a second goal back but Mazarelo and the Surbiton defenders managed to maintain their two goal advantage.
Nevertheless, there was always a nagging feeling that Old Georgians could still get something out of the game and the view was reinforced with just ten minutes remaining when James Cunningham scored Old Georgians' second goal with an angled shot from the left of the circle into the top right corner with a spectacular finish.
Old Georgians hopes were realistically dashed in the 66th minute when Sam Ward received a yellow card, leaving the hosts down to ten players for the rest of the match. Old Georgians still battled, but the writing seemed to be on the wall when Surbiton forced their fifth penalty corner in the final minute, only for the resulting goal to be disallowed following another umpire consultation.
Surbiton held on for the win, their first since they won 4-3 at the same venue in November 2019, when Taylor also scored. Alan Forsyth, now playing for Old Georgians, missed out on the achievement of becoming the first player to score for both clubs in the fixture, having scored twice in the thriller.
Before the first team match, Old Georgians and Surbiton's second teams met in the curtain raiser with Surbiton also coming out on top 3-2 in the hosts' first ever Men's Hockey League match. Andy Bull gave Old Georgians the lead from an 11th minute penalty corner, but two open play goals from Dave Bartram in the 23rd and 33rd minutes and a penalty corner conversion in the 37th minute by Willie Marshall put the visitors in a strong position. Louis Holmes halved the deficit with an open play goal in the 40th minute, but after a spell of three goals in seven minutes, there was no further scoring.
Surbiton are third of three teams with one hundred per cent records in the MHL Premier Division after two matches. Holcombe, 4-0 winners over Reading last weekend, won 5-2 at Southgate. Tom Russell, Phil Roper, Sam Taylor and a double from Nick Bandurak gave the Kent club their second dominant victory in as many weeks. Richmond Lum and Archie Foster were Southgate's scorers.
Wimbledon followed up their 5-2 home win over Beeston with a 4-0 victory at Oxted, Jonny Lankfer, Ed Horler, Ben Francis and Ian Sloan all scoring and have the same record as Holcombe.
Fourth placed Hampstead & Westminster beat the University of Nottingham 5-0 at home, Matt Guise-Brown scoring twice with Kei Kaeppeler notching a hat-trick.
Beeston beat East Grinstead 5-3 at Nottingham Hockey Centre, Henry Croft scoring twice with Brendan Andrews, Toby Stanley and Gareth Griffiths all in support. Simon Faulkner, Archie Philips and Sam Knight replied for East Grinstead.
Newly promoted Cardiff & Met gained their first top-flight victory with a 3-2 away win at Reading. Luke Hawker, Tom Wood and Nick Morgan scored for Cardiff with George Fletcher and Ben Hooper levelling twice for the Sonning Lane club.
There is a top of the table clash next Saturday at 6 pm as Surbiton host Holcombe at Sugden Road, but Holcombe will be at home to Old Georgians on Thursday at 8.30 pm to play the rearranged league fixture from 7 October when both clubs will be competing in the Euro Hockey League.