Men's 1s 7 - 3 Oxted (A)
By Surbiton HC
Surbiton Men’s 1s opened their 2025/26 season with a 7-3 win away at Oxted on Saturday afternoon.
The defending champions didn’t take long to get up and running in a late afternoon pushback at Caterham School, with Will Calnan marking his return to the club with an immediate impact: a tidy flicked finish from an acute angle in the first minute of the game.
The home side immediately returned fire through Lucas Ward, but Tim Nurse delivered two superb balls into the circle to allow Stu Rushmere to make it 2-1 with a first time finish in the fourth minute and Barry Middleton to consolidate the lead with a neat deflection shortly afterwards.
Both sides settled into the game following the early flurry of goals, with Oxted pressing hard and Surbiton looking to exploit space in possession. Nick Park took Surbiton’s lead to 4-1 in the 23rd minute and young star Will Haspel added to the tally ahead of half time with a close range finish.
Oxted briefly threatened a comeback in the final 20 minutes of the game with strikes from Charlie Axford and Chris Porter, but Jake Payton’s backhand finish and a trademark Nick Bandurak rocket on his league debut for Surbiton made sure of the points.
Player-Coach Barry Middleton was pleased with the opening day win: “It was great to see seven different goalscorers making their mark on the game and I particularly hope the guys on debut enjoyed their first win. It’s good to start with three points and we’ll look to carry this momentum into a big game at home against Hampstead next Saturday.”
Will Calnan was named Player of the Match. The Men's 1s are in action at Sugden Road next Saturday at 18:00, with free entry to all.