Matthew Crookshanks provides a seat for Luke Taylor. Photo c/o David Kissman
England Hockey Men’s Premier League
Beeston 2 – 5 Surbiton
25th March, Nottingham Hockey Centre – attendance 600+
Goalscorers: –
- Beeston – Elliot Hibell (PC30) (PC51)
- Surbiton – Zach Wallace (FG8), Arjan Drayton Chana (FG20) (FG67), Conor Williamson (FG43), Sam Spencer (FG59)
- Squad – Simon Hujwan 1, Gareth Andrew 3, Mark Wadsley 3, Kyle Marshall 5, Robbie Gleeson 6, Gareth Griffiths 7, Joe Sharp 8, Elliot Hibell 12, Stephen Lawrence 16, Richard Lawrence 17, Marius Gemmel 18, Lucas Ward 19, James Blackwell 20, Chris Proctor 21, Matthew Crookshanks 23, Vincente Martin 29
Article – England Hockey.
Wimbledon came from behind to beat Reading 2-1 and top the Men’s Hockey League Premier Division, a result which means their opponents will miss out on the play-offs.
Reading’s defeat left the door wide open for Hampstead & Westminster to take the final play-off place and they took their chance with Matt Guise Brown’s hat-trick helping them beat Canterbury 5-3.
Only a win would do for Reading and Ciaran O’Connell put them ahead after 35 minutes. However, Simon Mantell squared the scores for Wimbledon just before the hour and Jonny Codling scored the all-important winning goal from a penalty corner with four minutes remaining.
On the other hand, Canterbury needed a win to escape automatic relegation. Sam Barrett, Christian Schellinger and James Oates put them into a 3-1 lead at half time with Guise Brown scoring for Hampstead.
But Hampstead hit back with second half goals from Will Calnan, Sam French and two more from Guise Brown.
Elsewhere Surbiton beat hosts Beeston 5-2 to leapfrog their opponents and finish second, knocking the Bees from top spot. Arjan Drayton Chana scored twice for the visitors with Zach Wallace, Conor Williamson and Sam Spencer also on target. Elliot Hibell’s brace proved to be only a consolation for Beeston, who still qualify for the play-offs with third place.
Sevenoaks already knew their best-case scenario would be relegation play-offs and that proved to be the case after Ashley Jackson’s hat-trick saw them beaten 6-1 by East Grinstead. Tony Wilson scored a brace and Simon Faulkner notched Grinstead’s other with Brandon Gibbs on target for Sevenoaks.
They will now take on the winners of each Conference – the University of Exeter, the University of Nottingham and Oxted – in the League Play-Offs to determine whether they will stay in the top flight next year.
They will now take on the winners of each Conference – the University of Exeter, the University of Nottingham and Oxted – in the League Play-Offs to determine whether they will stay in the top flight next year.
Elsewhere Peter Flanagan scored a late leveller for Brooklands MU as they drew 2-2 with Holcombe. David Flanagan scored the other for Brooklands with Matthew Symonds and Glenn Eyers slotting home for Holcombe.
The Bees now prepare for the Championship finals which take place on the 28th & 29th April at the Lee Valley.
Tickets for the EnglandHockey play-offs can be found here – bit.ly/2EiKgks
