Holcombe men took four points from their double-header weekend as Kwan Browne’s side continued their impressive start.

Only a late, late equaliser from Surbiton saved them from a second defeat of the season at Holcombe Park on Saturday evening as a final-whistle penalty corner saw the visitors level the scores at 4-4.

It was back to winning ways on Sunday, though, as Holcs won 4-2 at East Grinstead to make it thirteen points from six games having played all of last season’s top four in their opening five.

Teague Marcano scored the first goal of the game against Surbiton after just six minutes from Holcombe’s first penalty corner, with the game already beginning to ebb and flow.

Struan Walker hit wide following a succession of Surbiton corners at the other end in the first quarter before Tom Russell fired over having brilliantly controlled an aerial ball into the circle.

Surbiton equalised within three minutes of the second period as Walker drag-flicked past Ollie Payne before James Mazarelo did well to deny Marcano a second at the other end.

Holcs were not to be kept at bay for long, however, as Matt Ramshaw restored the advantage with a bwonderful strike and the lead would have been extended shortly after were it not for Mazarelo as he made a superb save from the returning Alex Pendle.

The intensity kept coming in another great match and before half-time, Surbiton captain Tim Nurse finished off a great team move to make it 2-2 at the interval.

Barry Middleton’s side came out firing in the early stages of the third quarter as Samkelo Mvimbi blocked a Luke Taylor drag-flick on the line before Payne also saved from the penalty corner specialist soon after.

Payne was again at his best to deny Walker from another set piece before, at the other end, there was no such respite for the visitors as Rob Field’s flick beat Mazarelo to restore the hosts’ advantage.

Pendle was again denied a goal on his first Premier Division appearance of the season by Mazarelo before, early in the fourth quarter, Ramshaw deflected narrowly wide from a touch chance.

Those two combined for Holcombe’s fourth, with Pendle driving down the right with a quick free hit, allowing him to play the ball across for Ramshaw who finished tidily from close range for his fourth goal of the season.

Surbiton threw more men forward in response and halved the deficit with just over 10 minutes to go through Ben Park before Payne again denied Taylor.

A diving stop from Payne kept the lead intact late on but a slingshot ball into the circle from Taylor deflected up dangerously and earned the visitors a late corner, which was flicked in by Taylor.

Holcs made another fast start on Sunday afternoon with Marcano scoring inside three minutes as he prodded Field’s pass home after good work from the captain.

East Grinstead responded well, though, forcing Payne into some good saves throughout the rest of the quarter before Marcano made it a brace at a penalty corner inside the last two minutes of Q1.

Midway through the second period, the hosts pulled one back with Trevor Junior de Lora deflecting in from a penalty corner but Holcombe soon re-established their two-goal lead through Russell, who slid in to slap into the roof of the net after a brilliant counter attack involving Mvimbi and Ramshaw.

A more low-key third quarter followed with Payne again called into action on a number of occasions, before the hosts set things up nicely for the final period with Louis Tipper deflecting in at another corner to make it 3-2.

Browne’s side had Great Britain’s Payne to thank again throughout the opening exchanges of the final quarter as he kept their now-narrow lead intact before Marcano added another from a corner of their own to complete his hat-trick and make it a four-goal weekend for himself.

The Saint Hill side tried to push forward to earn another goal late on but struggled to create too many chances as they suffered their fourth defeat of the season.

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Old Georgians scored 12 in their two victories against Beeston (3-2) and Oxted (9-2) to keep up their 100% record while second-placed Surbiton returned to winning ways on Sunday, winning 5-2 against Beeston.

Wimbledon, now fourth, beat both East Grinstead and Hampstead & Westminster, with Hampstead having beat Southgate 5-2 on Saturday.

Cardiff & Met are up to sixth following a double-win weekend, with 3-2 and 7-0 victories against Oxted and Richmond respectively propelling them up the table.

Meanwhile, Southgate and Richmond both earned their first wins of the season over the double-header against fellow strugglers Bowdon.

Image courtesy of Eva Gilbert