They are the world's oldest hockey club and former league champions, but if anyone was expecting the welcome mat to be put out for Teddington after an absence from the England Hockey League of three years, they were mistaken. Their opponents at their Broom Road ground on the opening day of the men's league were Indian Gymkhana, tricky opponents at the best of times as this afternoon's encounter proved.
End to end stuff in the first half saw very few scoring chances, but Gymkhana seized theirs when Tejinder Hanspal netted with less than two minutes on the clock. It was not until eight minutes into the second half that Teddington seized their chance to equalise. For a side that is coached by a penalty corner specialist like Callum Giles, it was intriguing to see Teddington adopt a passing routine that bore fruit and put the score at 1-1. However, as the second half progressed there was a noticeable shift in ascendency as Amrit Singh beat the home side at their own game with a well struck corner. James Maxwell scored for Teddington with ten minutes left on the clock, but Harjit Singh scored the winner a minute later, and from that point Teddington seemed to lose heart and the match ended at 3-2 to the visitors.
Although eight cards were shown during the match, three to Teddington and five to Indian Gymkhana, it was a game that simmered but never boiled over. In that respect umpires Rob Argent and Martin Twist must take much of the credit for keeping a firm but not officious grip on the match. With an experienced coach and some good signings – Warren D'Souza from Reading being one – Teddington will prove tough opposition for any opposition despite this disappointing start.
IMAGES FROM THIS MATCH WILL APPEAR ON OUR PICTURES SITE AT www.HockeyImages.co.uk sometime tomorrow (Monday).
There was a major upset in the Premier Division when newly promoted University of Exeter beat Reading 3-2. The other debutantes, Southgate, suffered a 3-0 defeat at home at the hands of East Grinstead, whilst the Champions, Beeston, inflicted a 4-1 defeat on Surbiton.
There were two high scoring games in the North Conference. It must have seemed like Ali Ghazanfar against the world, as the former Pakistan international scored four times from penalty corners, only to see his side go down 7-4 to Sheffield Hallam. It would have been eight at Doncaster, but Joe Morrison missed a penalty stroke in their 7-2 win over Belper.
In the West, neighbours Havant and Fareham won their matches 5-0 against Cheltenham and Bournville respectively. New boys Lichfield got off to a good start with a 3-1 win over University of Birmingham. In the East Conference, a recently reinforced Canterbury made an early bid to return to the Premier Division with a 6-2 win over City of Peterborough.
Results and tables for Sunday 18 September 2011:
Men's Premier Division |
Bowdon |
| (1) |
| 2 | - | 3 |
| (1) |
| Loughborough Students |
Mark Daniel 33 - F |
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| George Torry 21 - F | |
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University of Exeter |
| (2) |
| 3 | - | 2 |
| (1) |
| Reading |
John Sterlini 25 50 - F F |
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| Richard Mantell 15 68 - PC PC | |
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Hampstead and Westminster |
| (0) |
| 0 | - | 2 |
| (0) |
| Cannock |
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| David Harris 36 - F | ||
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Beeston |
| (1) |
| 4 | - | 1 |
| (0) |
| Surbiton |
Adam Dixon 2 - PC |
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| James Tindall 61 - F | |
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Southgate |
| (0) |
| 0 | - | 3 |
| (1) |
| East Grinstead |
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| Danny Hall 33 - F | ||
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| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
1 | Beeston | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
2 | East Grinstead | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
3 | Cannock | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
4 | Loughborough Students | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
5 | University of Exeter | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
6 | Bowdon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
7 | Reading | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
8 | Hampstead and Westminster | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
9 | Surbiton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 0 |
10 | Southgate | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
Men's Conference North |
Brooklands MU |
| (2) |
| 3 | - | 0 |
| (0) |
| Preston |
John Bell 26 - F |
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Deeside Ramblers |
| (1) |
| 4 | - | 7 |
| (4) |
| Sheffield Hallam Civica |
Ali Ghazanfar 30 39 47 50 - PC PC PC PC |
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| David Smith 4 - PC | |
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Doncaster |
| (4) |
| 7 | - | 2 |
| (1) |
| Belper |
Joe Morrison 4 - F |
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| Richard Kitchen 33 - PC | |
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Leek |
| (2) |
| 5 | - | 3 |
| (2) |
| Barford Tigers |
Ben White 11 41 57 - PC F PC |
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| Imran Yousaf 7 - PC | |
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Olton & West Warwicks |
| (0) |
| 2 | - | 2 |
| (1) |
| University of Durham |
Tom Pickersgill 51 - PS |
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| Matthew Hodgson 33 - F | |
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| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
1 | Doncaster | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
2 | Sheffield Hallam Civica | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
3 | Brooklands MU | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
4 | Leek | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
5 | Olton & West Warwicks | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
6 | University of Durham | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
7 | Barford Tigers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 0 |
8 | Deeside Ramblers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 0 |
9 | Preston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
10 | Belper | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 0 |
Men's Conference West |
Bournville |
| (0) |
| 0 | - | 5 |
| (0) |
| Fareham |
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| James Seagar 5 9 - PC PC | ||
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Cardiff & UWIC |
| (1) |
| 2 | - | 0 |
| (0) |
| Guildford |
Robin Lovegrove 3 - F |
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Havant |
| (2) |
| 5 | - | 0 |
| (0) |
| Cheltenham |
Sumeet Singh 27 30 - F PC |
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Lichfield |
| (3) |
| 3 | - | 1 |
| (1) |
| University of Birmingham |
Martin Webb 3 19 - PC PC |
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| Sam Hiscock 26 - F | |
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Team Bath Buccaneers |
| (1) |
| 1 | - | 2 |
| (1) |
| Whitchurch |
Tim Davenport 6 - PC |
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| Joe Naughalty 21 - PS | |
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| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
1 | Fareham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
2 | Havant | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
3 | Lichfield | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
4 | Cardiff & UWIC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
5 | Whitchurch | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
6 | Team Bath Buccaneers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
7 | University of Birmingham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
8 | Guildford | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
9 | Bournville | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 0 |
10 | Cheltenham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 0 |
Men's Conference East |
City of Peterborough |
| (1) |
| 2 | - | 6 |
| (4) |
| Canterbury |
Chris Porter 26 - F |
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| Michael Farrer 9 34 42 - PC PC PC | |
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Teddington |
| (0) |
| 2 | - | 3 |
| (1) |
| Indian Gymkhana |
Lodewijk Beerman 43 - PC |
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| Tejinder Hanspal 2 - F | |
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Harleston Magpies |
| (1) |
| 3 | - | 2 |
| (1) |
| Holcombe |
Ben Wright 33 41 42 - PC F F |
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| Stephane Vehrle-Smith 18 - PC | |
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Wimbledon |
| (1) |
| 2 | - | 2 |
| (1) |
| Bromley and Beckenham |
James Osborn 3 - F |
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| Simon Evans 4 - F | |
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| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
1 | Canterbury | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
2 | Old Loughtonians | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
3 | Harleston Magpies | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
4 | Indian Gymkhana | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
5 | Bromley and Beckenham | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
6 | Wimbledon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
7 | Holcombe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
8 | Teddington | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
9 | Oxted | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 0 |
10 | City of Peterborough | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 0 |
