Men’s Hockey League Preview – 6/7 November
Old Georgians will also be hoping to bounce back from their first defeat of the season, the 2-0 loss at Wimbledon last Saturday, the first occasion that Old Georgians had failed to score in a Premier Division match. They head to Hampstead & Westminster, who after winning their first three matches, have stuttered in the last two with 2-2 draws at Beeston and at home to Holcombe.
Wimbledon can go back to the top of the Men’s Hockey League Premier Division on Saturday night, when they visit East Grinstead. Wimbledon have won their last six games, whilst East Grinstead are still winless. Wimbledon have won on four of the last six trips to West Sussex and will be favourites to return with another three points. East Grinstead’s sole point of the season came after they lost a 3-0 lead over Brooklands Manchester University and had to settle for a 3-3 draw.
Surbiton, who carry a ten better goal difference over Wimbledon in addition to a game in hand, travel to Beeston on Sunday in a fixture which saw Beeston win eight games in a row at Nottingham Hockey Centre from 2006-07 to 2013-14, and Surbiton win the next six. Beeston will also be aiming to bounce back from a disappointing 3-2 loss at the University of Durham and working out how to stop the Surbiton goal machine which has scored seven against the University of Exeter, six at East Grinstead an nine at home to Brooklands Manchester University.
Hampstead’s match last week at Brooklands was postponed due to travel issues and Brooklands’ last match was their 9-1 loss at Surbiton due to a bye week immediately after the heavy defeat. Brooklands to Oxted, a team they have met once in the national league, a 5-2 win helping Brooklands’ promotion to the Premier Division. Oxted had a bye week last week after losing 3-1 at Beeston, but should be confident having won 2-1 at East Grinstead; 3-2 at the University of Durham and 2-1 at home to the University of Exeter.
Exeter suffered their fourteenth successive Premier Division defeat at Surbiton and will be hoping to end the run when they host Holcombe on Saturday night. Holcombe go into the match defending sixth place and their target will be to cement their hopes of finishing in the top six with their first win on the road this season. Both their previous wins came at Holcombe Park, against East Grinstead last week and the University of Durham.
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