Report: Colin Pike
20 October 2019
Men’s Hockey League Premier Division
Surbiton 4 East Grinstead 1
Surbiton returned to the top of the Men’s Hockey League Premier Division after beating East Grinstead 4-1 at Sugden Road on Saturday night and Old Georgians could only draw 3-3 at home to Holcombe on Sunday afternoon.
Old Georgians came close to suffering their first league defeat of the season, having to come back from 3-0 down at half time to salvage a much needed point which leaves them a point behind Surbiton having played a game more.
Surbiton’s youth policy gave debuts to a further two players as Finn Cooper and Ollie Shelton joined the long list of Colts players given the opportunity to play at first team level. Surbiton took the lead through a spectacular finish in the ninth minute from Arjan Drayton-Chana.
It was then Luke Taylor’s turn to give a penalty corner drag-flick masterclass with goals in the 16th and 30th minutes from Surbiton’s first two penalty corners of the match to earn a 3-0 half time lead.
Surbiton continued to dominate possession with Taylor completing his hat-trick in the 51st minute to put the match beyond East Grinstead as they trailed 4-0. Simon Faulkner scored a consolation goal for East Grinstead with seven minutes to play as Surbiton maintained their one hundred per cent record.
Wimbledon are third after their 2-0 home win over Beeston and Hampstead & Westminster are fourth after a 4-3 win at Reading. Brooklands Manchester University moved away from the bottom of the table after their 3-2 win at the University of Exeter.
Surbiton:
Scorers: Arjan Drayton Chana 9-F, Luke Taylor 16-PC, 30-PC, 51-PC
Squad: Luke Taylor, Rob Farrington, Ben Boon, Jonny Gall (Capt.), Arjan Drayton Chana, Jonty Griffiths, James Royce, David Goodfield, Sam Spencer, Ore Ogunlana (GK), Josh Redstone.
Subs: Ollie Shelton (5 mins), Theun De Leeuw (5), Scott Evans (5), Finn Cooper (32).
Cards: None
East Grinstead:
Scorers: Simon Faulkner 63-PC
Squad: Patrick Smith (GK); Luke Emmett, Daniel Faulkner, Andrew Piper, Sam Hatherley, Simon Faulkner (Capt.), Ben Mackey, Alistair Clift, Matthew Blood, Ross Stott, Andrew Yiu.
Subs: Wesley Jackson (6 mins), Tijn van Groesen (6), Dylan Holland (6), Richard Lane (7), Andy Blood (8).
Card: Green: Alistair Clift (34 mins).
Match Official: James Boylan
Umpires: Lee Barron and Nick Padget
(252 words)
