Beeston head the Premiership

BEESTON  7-1  CANTERBURY

Beeston included Great Britain internationals, George Pinner and Adam Dixon, in the squad for the first time this season and the side powered on at the top of the MHL Premiership, as they swept Canterbury aside in their opening home fixture.

The Bees took an early lead as David Ames met a Tim Whiteman cross, on the top of the circle and drove the ball home.  Canterbury equalised in the 10th minute from a penalty corner defended by four men as Ben Arnold was dispatched to the half way line for breaking early, and Michael Farrer, took advantage of the situation scoring from 5 yards.

Beeston recovered and Simon Egerton dispatched Beeston’s first penalty corner in the 16th minute to give them the lead. Egerton repeated the trick from the next penalty corner, firing home an unstoppable flick in the 34th minute.  Beeston ended the half 3-1 ahead.

The opening five minutes of the second half saw Beeston at their brilliant best. A move which started in the Beeston circle with Tim Whiteman, swept up the pitch, with Egerton and Adam Dixon combining, before Egerton crashed home his hat-trick.  Two minutes later a clever pass from Craig Boyne, found Martin Jones at the top of the Canterbury circle, and the former Great Britain forward thundered the ball home. This was game, set and match.

Beeston continued to entertain the crowd. The Premiership leading scorer, Simon Egerton, flicked home a 50th minute penalty corner, to take his tally to four and Craig Boyne wrapped up a successful day when he dispatched a clever pass from Dixon.

Beeston captain, Adam Dixon, who started the day coaching the Beeston Colts early in the morning, summed up a huge win which sees the Bees in top spot in the Premiership. “It was good to be back at the ranch today. We have a strong squad to select from and we will need the experience of this group to see us through a season of National and European hockey. The team will alter as international commitments loom in the coming months and hopefully the players understand why the squad has been enlarged for this season’s varied campaigns. We have a fantastic group of players who are training really well. We should be able to rest players for short periods as the season progresses and this should keep the squad fresh and hungry. I am delighted to be back in Nottingham and expect the lads to challenge strongly for all the domestic trophies this season.”