Premier Division
Reigning champions, Surbiton will face East Grinstead and Hampstead & Westminster will take on Wimbledon in the semi-finals of the Super Sixes at the Copper Box on 30 January.
The Premier Division moved from Repton to Whitgift School for the second weekend with Surbiton winning all four games to qualify for the semi-finals in first place, although they had to battle with Hampstead & Westminster in the last game of the weekend before coming out on top with a 7-6 win.
A more defensive battle with Repton resulting in a 3-2 win was followed by Surbiton reverting back to devastating form with a 14-4 demolition of Brooklands Manchester University. The games on Sunday were much closer with Sevenoaks pipped 4-3 before in the division finale, Surbiton led 3-0, only for Hampstead to storm into a 5-3 lead. With four minutes to play, the teams were locked at 6-6 before Surbiton found the deciding goal a minute later.
Any result but a Hampstead win would have seen Surbiton finish first, but Hampstead, the early pace-setters had to settle for second place after losing both to Surbiton and Holcombe (4-3). A 7-2 win over East Grinstead and a narrow 2-1 win over Sevenoaks clinched Hampstead’s place whilst the defeat ended Sevenoaks’ hopes of a Finals day appearance.
Wimbledon, the only team to beat Surbiton in the qualifiers, finished a point behind Hampstead, mainly due to drawing twice over the second weekend: 4-4 with Sevenoaks and 3-3 with Holcombe. They were also run close by East Grinstead (7-6) and Repton (2-1).
East Grinstead beat Reading 7-3 and Brooklands 11-5 to pip Sevenoaks to fourth place. Holcombe, beaten finalists in 2020, could only finish sixth, a point ahead of Repton who maintained top flight status after being promoted in 2020.
Brooklands Manchester University and Reading were both relegated after failing to compete. Brooklands’ 8-5 victory over Reading was the only win either team achieved over the two weekends.
On Monday morning, Surbiton discovered that the EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy in Almere, Netherlands, which they were due to compete in from 11-13 February 2022, had been cancelled due to a directive from the Dutch health authorities.
Division One
Old Georgians and the University of Exeter will replace Reading and Brooklands in the Premier Division next season after finishing first and second respectively in a depleted Division One. With only seven teams competing, Old Georgians won all six games in convincing fashion, even though they had Covid-19 issues for the their last two games at Telford, coaxing their Director of Hockey, Mike Hughes out of retirement to score in their 14-4 win over Ashmoor. Old Georgians had won all four games on their home court in Addlestone in week one.
Old Georgians won Division Two South and Division Two National in 2020 and after a season’s break due to Covid-19, made it a hat trick of titles with Division One 2022 success.
The competition concluded on the Saturday due to the reduced number of games. The University of Exeter finished second after two dominant wins on the final day: 10-1 over Doncaster and 9-3 over Team Bath Buccaneers. Canterbury and Team Bath Buccaneers both finished two points behind Exeter. Both teams’ promotion hopes were dented with a 4-4 draw in their penultimate match, with Canterbury’s 5-4 over Ashmoor not enough and Exeter extinguishing Team Bath’s hopes with their convincing victory.
Loughborough Students finished fifth, Doncaster sixth with Ashmoor finishing pointless in seventh place.