M1 Win Both Opening Games On Return To Super 6s Prem
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Men made the ideal start on their return to the Open/ Men's Super 6s Premier Division, beating Hampstead & Westminster 6-3 and Southgate 6-1 to finish the opening day on top of the table on goal difference from Old Georgians and Wimbledon.
Results, scorers and team line-ups can be found on the England Hockey Altius website here
Surbiton's clash with Hampstead was the opening fixture at Whitgift School, Rob Farrington putting Surbiton 2-0 ahead with goals in the second and ninth minutes.
Owen Barnes extended Surbiton's lead to 3-0 in the eleventh minute but Karan Sofat responded immediately to restore Hampstead's deficit to a two goal margin.
Jonny Gall scored Surbiton's fourth goal in the 17th minute but Matt Richards kept Hampstead in the game on the stroke of half time, Gall and Richards' goals both coming from penalty corners to make the score 4-2 at the interval.
Surbiton pulled away in the third quarter with Tommy Austin and Ollie Shelton scoring in the 24th and 26th minutes but the fourth quarter saw Lucas Jaehnig complete the scoring for Hampstead in the 34th minute as Surbiton won 6-3.
Defences were on top in Surbiton's second match against Southgate as Austin's 15th minute open play goal was the only score in the first half. Austin doubled Surbiton's lead with a 21st minute penalty corner with Shelton adding Surbiton's third at the end of the third quarter.
Farrington caught out the Southgate defence within a minute of the fourth quarter restart, but Calum Douglas was denied a clean sheet when Joe Hillyer scored what proved to be a consolation goal in the 34th minute. Gall scored Surbiton's fifth goal with four minutes remaining, leaving time for Austin to complete his hat-trick in the final minute.
Mark Haycroft replaced Douglas in the Surbiton goal for the final three minutes of the game.
Surbiton have a later start on Sunday, meeting local rivals Old Georgians at 1300. Old Georgians beat East Grinstead 5-3 and Hampstead & Westminster 5-2 to begin their title defence. Having opened the weekend with a fixture against Hampstead, Surbiton will meet Sevenoaks in the final match of the second day at 1700. Sevenoaks lost 4-3 to Wimbledon and beat Southgate 8-3.
Austin joins Oxted's Charlie Axford as the Premier Division's joint top scorer on four goals after each team's first two matches.