Men’s 2s 4 – 1 Old Cranleighan 1s (A)

Half Time: 2-1

Goalscorers: Morgan Males (PC), Will Haspel (PC), Ben Hanson (F, PC)

POM - Ben Hanson

DOD - Will Haspel

On a chilly Friday night, the M2 took the long away trip across Elmbridge to Thames Ditton, to take on OCs in a long planned inter-club derby game under lights in East Conference (a birthday party for the Jones boys). Having been relegated from South Division 1 at the end of last season, OCs found themselves fighting for survival in the National League, but were no doubt buoyed by a crucial win at Wimbledon the previous Saturday. The M2, having despatched top of the table Spencer, were restored on top of the league with just a slender one point lead after results elsewhere went in their favour. Which meant that an already spicy local rivalry was notched up yet another level.

The lads arrived to find an U12 festival already underway with OC and Surbiton juniors prominent and Ben Hanson barking out orders to his young charges. The crowd for the main match was bolstered by the parents and boys of both clubs who stayed on, which gave the evening a great atmosphere under the lights.

After a cagey start, Surbiton began to create some chances and took the lead early in the second quarter with a trademark PC and celebration from Morgz. The joy was short lived as just a minute later hesitancy to engage in defence allowed David Mawhinney from OCs to nip in and equalise with a neat finish. From that point on, Surbiton took control and regained their lead in the 24th minute with a PC move straight out of Tuesday night practice, as Brady Jones delivered the ball on a plate for Will Haspel to finish in style.

Moving the ball around with ease and managing the occasional nervy moments as OCs tried to get back into the game, the M2 looked in control of their destiny. Faz provided a masterclass in organisation, composure and positional awareness that allowed the skill and pace of the youngsters to flourish. Notable mentions to Lars, Jack and Freddie but the final word on the night must go to Ben Hanson, who brought his own noisy, travelling supporters from St. Mary's and delivered an all-round performance that eclipsed his hat-trick of PCs earlier in the season at Spencer. A calmly taken finish when one on one with the GK made it 3-1, and the icing on the cake was a PC to take the boys out of sight.

Thanks to the club supporters who came down to cheer us on, as well as Baz and Lorenzo for joining us on the night.  The boys celebrated their win and Scott J stepped up on his 25th birthday to down his pint in under three seconds and leave Hanson with something to ponder in his training regime, and I agreed to write the match report rather than Haspel again (the least I could do on my birthday).

So, the challenge was set for the chasing pack when the Friday night result was logged in GMS and the EHL table updated. Surbiton for one night only sat on top of East Conference by four points from Wayfarers and five points ahead of Spencer, having played one more game than both their rivals. As we've become accustomed to in a regional league where every game still has something on it, both Spencer and Wayfarers could only manage to draw their games the following day.

As we enter the last two games of the season, the M2 have a championship and promotion to South Division 1 in their own hands. Not to underestimate that task - if successful they would become the first Men's Second XI to ever reach the dizzy heights of Division 1 National League hockey (i.e. the top 32 sides in the country)*

The challenge resumes next Saturday afternoon with a very tricky away game at BromBecks, who themselves have charged up the table and on current form, are arguably the best side in the league. Then a final day home game against old foe H&W2 on Sunday 30th March.

So our focus now needs to be fully on the last two games. I've no doubt that the group will embrace the challenge. It's an exciting time! After all, you don't train in the cold November rain, for boring easy games you'll almost certainly win…

* Shout out to University of Nottingham M2 who won Midlands Conference in 2023/24, but were denied promotion to Division 1 North as unfortunately their M1 side were relegated from the Men's Premier Division.  I think we're safe from that cruel twist of fate, so now it's up to us to make it happen.

Our U18 Boys had a busy week again, and unfortunately came up just short in their Tier 1 SF against Repton, eventually losing 3-2 to a very well organised side who's own M1s will surely win promotion from Midlands Conference to Div 1 North in the next couple of weeks - read the BU18 match report here