MHL Premier Division Review – 10/11 October
Surbiton head into their bye week with a five-point lead over five teams in the Premier Division and only Hampstead & Westminster of those five teams have a game in hand.
It was business as usual for the defending champions on Saturday night as they beat East Grinstead 7-2 at Sugden Road. Tim Nurse gave Surbiton a seventh minute lead, but Simon Faulkner equalised nine minutes later from the penalty spot. East Grinstead then conceded three goals in seven minutes as Alan Forsyth broke his duck for the season in the 21st minute, Arjan Drayton Chana extended the lead a minute later and Ben Boon struck in the 28th minute. Luke Emmett made the half time score 4-2 with his 33rd minute effort, but Forsyth completed his hat-trick in the second half with goals in the 46th and 58th minutes, the hat-trick goal coming from a penalty stroke and Luke Taylor notched his ninth goal of the season with two minutes remaining.
In a hard fought London derby, Hampstead & Westminster came from behind to win 4-1 at Wimbledon. Ben Arnold put Wimbledon ahead in the seventh minute, only for Rupert Shipperley to level matters three minutes before the interval. Shipperley put Hampstead in front for the first time in the 55th minute with Matt Guise Brown and Marc Edwards adding insurance goals in the 59th and 69th minutes.
On Sunday, Old Georgians joined the group on seven points, repeating last season’s scoreline with a 5-1 win over the University of Exeter. Exeter fell behind in the 17th minute through James Tindall, Tom Carson doubling Old Georgians’ lead eight minutes later. Exeter had hope when Owen Evans-Evans scored for them two minutes before the break, but Old Georgians pulled away in the second half with two goals from Dan Shingles in the 40th and 62nd minutes and James Carson’s 53rd minute strike.
Beeston pulled themselves away from the bottom of the table with a 3-1 home win over the University of Durham. Beeston were quickly out of the traps, leading 2-0 after just eleven minutes, Adam Dixon scoring in the fourth minute and Ollie Willars scoring the second goal, with Henry Croft tacking on the third goal a minute before half time. To their credit, Durham kept a clean sheet in the second half and had Josh Powell’s 60th minute goal to show for their efforts.
Brooklands Manchester University and Holcombe were due to play on Saturday but the match was postponed due to COVID-19 issues at Holcombe, therefore the Kent club did not travel.
Oxted didn’t play as it was their bye week.
