There was some minor shuffling of the pack at the top end of the division after this afternoon’s matches in the Slazenger EHL Premiership. Reading put their recent defeat behind them, partly thanks to a hat-trick by their Andy Watts, against visiting Surbiton. Goals from Warren D’Souza and Simon Pinks added to their tally against visiting Surbiton. Andrew Sheridan was the scorer of the visitor’s goal in Reading’s 5-1 win. At the other end of the table, Canterbury’s win last week may have put an optimistic note into the Kent side’s chances. An early goal by Jess Dowsing was almost immediately wiped out by Cannock’s Gareth Andrew. Canterbury went back into the lead after Christian Pryce scored from a penalty corner but Gareth Andrew added two more to his tally. A goal from Andrew Brogdon made Cannock’s total four. Final score 4-2. The two newly promoted clubs have had some mixed results this season. Havant entertained Hampstead and Westminster and gained a valuable three points with a 3-1 win. Bowdon took on visitors Beeston and managed to take the match into the second half one ahead thanks to an early goal from Ibrar Latif. Adam Dixon scored an equaliser just after the restart and the score remained at 1-1. The change at the top came about as a result of a 1-1 draw at Loughborough Students, where visitors East Grinstead opened the scoring nine minutes into the second half but conceded an equaliser in the last ten minutes. East Grinstead now move down to third and are replaced by Cannock. Reading still lead the division by a six point margin.
In Men’s Division One it was wins all round for the leading three. Rick Gay and Dan Shingles scored for Southgate against Belper. Final score 2-0. Southgate are one point ahead of Old Loughtonians who managed five against Sheffield Bankers, with Luke Gupta, Richard Evans, Liam Doidge, Oliver Didham and Tom Stumbke the scorers. Final score 5-2. Old Georgians are clearly not wanting to be left out of the race for promotion and their Gareth Carr scored a hat-trick of penalty corners when they visited Brooklands. Other OGs goals came from Sven Tegeler and Patrick Kelly. Andy Howse, the Brooklands captain, suffered a serious ankle injury early in the match and took no further part in their 5-1 defeat. The three top sides in the Division are separated by two points.
It should almost be a headline in its own right. Teddington won - and in style too. The scalp they took in their National South clash was no minor one either. When Indian Gymkhana, in fourth place, went to Teddington, they had every right to expect an easy victory. An early goal by Jagdeep Gill may have reinforced that belief but star of the show was Teddington’s Gareth McKeown who put five passed Gymkhana. Final score 8-6 to Gymkhana. Another unexpected result was Sevenoaks losing to lowly Robinsons, one place off the bottom. Exeter’s 3-2 win over Oxted means that the Devon side move back into the top position. The Scott Cordon factor was evident again when Leek met Sheffield Hallam. Cordon scored his side’s second goal in their 3-1 win and his side now move up into third, replacing Stourport who did not have a match today.
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