England: Old Georgians Make History With First Championship Crown

Men’s Hockey League Premier Division Review – 2/3 April 2022

Old Georgians clinched their first-ever Men’s Hockey League Premier Division title with a 5-0 win at East Grinstead on Saturday night. Old Georgians led 4-0 at half time, Tom Carson opening the scoring in the 15^th minute from a penalty corner, Edward Carson doubled the visitors’ lead from open play a minute later and James Tindall and James Carson also converting penalty corners in the 22^nd and 32^nd minutes. Tindall added his second goal from open play with five minutes to play.

Surbiton and Wimbledon are battling for the second European qualification place, with Wimbledon in pole position with a five point advantage over Surbiton with two games to play. Surbiton host Wimbledon next Saturday night and both teams will go into the match in excellent form. Wimbledon beat Hampstead & Westminster 5-1, Sam Hooper giving Wimbledon a fourth minute lead from a penalty corner, before Matt Guise-Brown equalised, also from a penalty corner five minutes later. Ed Horler restored Wimbledon’s lead from the penalty spot in the 18^th minute, before Hooper scored his second goal of the match two minutes before half time, again from a penalty corner.

Horler added to Wimbledon’s 3-1 half time lead with a 44^th minute penalty corner conversion and a 65^th minute open play goal to put the pressure on Surbiton in the race for Europe.

Surbiton responded with an even larger margin of victory, putting Holcombe to the sword with a 7-1 home win, with Luke Taylor and Gareth Furlong converting penalty corners in the second and fifth minutes as Holcombe were caught cold early.

Tim Guise-Brown pulled a goal back from a penalty corner in the 13^th minute, but after that it was all Surbiton with Jamie Golden scoring Surbiton’s third goal from open play in the 22^nd minute and Taylor scoring his 20^th goal of the campaign with another penalty corner conversion in the 29^th minute.

Holcombe trailed 6-1 at the end of the third quarter, Rob Farrington scoring in the 42^nd minute and Ben Park netting in the 50^th minute, both goals coming from open play before Alex Williams completed the rout with another open play goal in the penultimate minute.

In the Bottom 5, Durham University wasted a chance to pull away from the University of Exeter at the bottom of the table, after they went down 2-1 at Brooklands Manchester University. Luis Cuttle put Brooklands ahead from a 16^th minute penalty corner, but although Christian DeAngelis levelled in the 26^th minute, again from a penalty corner, David Flanagan scored Brooklands’ winner from open play on the half hour mark.

The victory moved Brooklands above Beeston into eighth after Oxted cemented their seventh place with a convincing 4-0 win in Nottingham. Jamie Batten’s 21^st and Lewis Fraser’s 27^th minute penalty corner conversions gave Oxted a 2-0 half time lead. In the second half, Jordan Turnbull and Rafa Calderon both scored from open play in the 40^th and 62^nd minutes to complete a miserable day for Beeston, who failed to score for the second successive match.

These matches were the first Men’s Hockey League Premier Division games played in the month of April since Southgate lost 6-0 at home to East Grinstead on 4 April 2013.