M1 Win At Reading To Qualify For League Finals Semi-Finals
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Men won 1-0 at Reading on Saturday evening to join Holcombe, Old Georgians and Wimbledon in the semi-finals of the Men's Hockey League League Finals.
Rob Farrington's 50th minute open play goal was enough to earn Surbiton their place in the final four.
Wimbledon joined them in Pool B with a convincing 6-2 home win over Oxted. Ed Horler scored twice with Rhys Bradshaw, Sam Hooper, Jack Waller and Rory Patterson also netting for the hosts; Matthew Barnett and Lucas Ward replying for Oxted.
Surbiton will play Wimbledon at 2 pm next Saturday at Sugden Road in their final game in Pool B.
In Pool A, Tom Carson, Sam Ward, Chris Proctor and Lee Morton helped Old Georgians to a 4-0 win at Hampstead & Westminster.
And Holcombe beat Beeston 6-1 with Nick Bandurak scoring four goals supported by Jake Owen and Thomas Russell. Henry Croft scored in the third quarter for Beeston.
In the relegation playoffs, the University of Nottingham boosted their hopes of survival with a 4-2 home win over East Grinstead. Louis Tipper scored twice with Charlie Axford and Peter Caughey also on target for Nottingham, Charlie Taylor scored both East Grinstead goals.
The University of Exeter go to East Grinstead next week, two points behind Nottingham after Lewis Wilcher's last minute goal gave the Devon students a 6-5 victory over already relegated, Brooklands Manchester University. Wilcher scored twice with Freddy Esplen, Sam Armitage, Jacob Payton and Seb Ansley also scoring for Exeter. Peter Flanagan's hat-trick and Ben Wallace's brace were in vain as Brooklands tried to get their first victory of the season.