M1 Qualify For Finals Day With Two Games To Spare
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Men qualified for Finals Day at Derby Arena on 1 February with two games to spare after beating Oxted 5-3 and Holcombe 6-2 on the penultimate day of the Open/ Men's Premier Division qualifiers at Whitgift School.
Surbiton end day three in third place on 15 points behind Wimbledon on goal difference and as East Grinstead are in fifth place on six points, they cannot overtake Surbiton and if Oxted beat Southgate at 1100 on Sunday, Oxted will become the fourth and final team to qualify.
Old Georgians are on 18 points after beating Wimbledon 4-2 and with Oxted due to play Old Georgians in the final match of the qualifiers, it is likely that regardless of the Surbiton v Wimbledon result at 12 noon, the teams will meet again in the semi-finals and Oxted will take on Old Georgians.
Results, scorers and line-ups, plus other tournament stats can be found at the England Hockey Altius website here
Surbiton and Oxted were both promoted from Division One last season, when Surbiton won 6-5, and initially the 2026 meeting was equally competitive as Jonny Gall gave Surbiton a third minute lead and Jack Jamieson levelled for Oxted two minutes later.
Surbiton led 3-1 at half time as Nick Nurse restored their lead in the 19th minute and Tommy Austin scored a minute later. Austin struck again in the 23rd minute to leave Oxted facing a 4-1 deficit, but Oxted fought back with Chris Porter scoring in the 24th minute and Thomas Finnegan netting in the 32nd minute. Nurse sealed the win for Surbiton with just two minutes left on the clock.
Gall was even quicker off the block against Holcombe, scoring in the first minute, but Surbiton couldn't build on the early breakthrough, Alastair Douglas equalising for Holcombe three minutes before half time. Ollie Shelton gave Surbiton a 2-1 half time advantage with a late second quarter goal and Holcombe were caught out early in the third quarter as Nurse scored Surbiton's third goal. Austin scored from the penalty spot at the end of the third quarter and his strike from a penalty corner followed by a second Nurse goal gave Surbiton a 6-1 lead with two minutes remaining, but Tom Russell immediately responded to ensure Holcombe scored a second consolation goal.
Surbiton's last match on Sunday is against East Grinstead, who went into the second weekend without a point, but beat Southgate 9-6 and Sevenoaks 3-0 to ease their relegation fears.
The bottom team, Southgate face a difficult task to avoid relegation as they meet Oxted and Old Georgians on Sunday and Hampstead take on Sevenoaks in what could prove to be a relegation decider.
Ashmoor and Repton made the early running in Division One, but as last weekend's fixtures were postponed, which teams will be promoted to the Premier Division won't be known until next week.