The England Hockey Men’s Premier Division made its welcome return this weekend with a true box office event to start with as top played second at St. George’s College to kick off Phase Two.

Holcombe made the perfect start against their nemesis Old Georgians as they searched for a first win against the Surrey side since 2020, with a field goal in the second minute coming from Alex Pendle.

In the second quarter, Old Georgians equalised with their own field goal in the 26th minute as Chris Proctor levelled things up. 

Former Great Britain and Scotland international Alan Forsyth gave the champions a half time lead a few minutes later with a powerful strike past Ollie Payne.

Despite the third quarter ebbing and flowing, the score remained the same heading into the last period.

In the final quarter, it was former Holc Sam Ward who secured the points for Old Georgians after Payne had been withdrawn with Kwan Browne’s side chasing an equaliser late on.

The final score of 3-1 saw Ashley Jackson’s men increase their lead at the top to seven points over Surbiton, who leapfrogged Holcombe with their 5-3 win over Oxted.

England international Jacob Payton gave the Sugden Road outfit the dream start as he scored in the first minute with Stu Rushmere increasing the advantage for Barry Middleton’s men at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Oxted reduced the deficit to one with a well taken penalty corner from Ollie Bennett in the around five minutes in to leave the two sides within one goal of each other at the halfway mark.

Surbiton again started brightly as Great Britain and Scotland international Struan Walker striking a field goal. 

Rushmere soon added a fourth for the hosts and his second from a penalty corner.

In  the first few minutes of the final quarter, Oxted pulled a goal back with a penalty corner from Charlie Axford but Surbiton restored their three-goal lead with two minutes remaining through Jacob Smith.

Oxted were to have the last hurrah with a goal in the final minute from Michael Royden-Turner.

In the final Top Six clash, Wimbledon edged out Hampstead & Westminster in a fiery 4-3 game.

Wimbledon took the lead in the first quarter with a field goal scored by Jonathan Lankfer, the only goal of the first half.

In quarter three, Hampstead &Westminster took a 2-1 lead courtesy of goals from Welshman Rupert Shipperley and former Holc Tim Guise-Brown.

This lead was increased at the beginning of quarter four with a field goal scored by Stephen Kelly. 

Fred Newbold pulled a goal back to reduce the arrears to 3-2.

Following a yellow card for Hampstead and Westminster’s Tim Cross, Wimbledon netted two quick goals to make the score 4-3.

The first came through a Euan Gilmour field goal with nine minutes to play and the second, on 63 minutes, was a penalty stroke converted by Ed Horler.

The win for hosts Wimbledon takes them seven points ahead of their London rivals and two points behind Holcombe.

In the bottom half of the table there were wins for two of the home teams.

Beeston made home advantage count with a 2-1 win over Richmond.

Great Britain and England international Henry Croft scored a brace either side of an Owen Barnes strike for strugglers Richmond.

Welsh team Cardiff & Met took the three points in an eight-goal thriller at the Welsh Institute of Sport against Bowdon.

In a day of early goals, both teams scored in the first quarter – Scott Rawlings giving Cardiff the lead before Simon Egerton levelled the scores for the Manchester-based side.

In the second quarter, Walid Abdo’s took a 3-1 lead as Rawlings scored again and Jack Pritchard converted four minutes later.

Their lead was further extended by a second Pritchard field goal.

To their credit, Bowdon did not give up and cut the deficit to two with a field goal through Maks Wyndham-Smith.

Cardiff secured their second consecutive win and made it six points from six in Phase Two with a fifth goal scored by Matthew Magann.

Bowdon ended the game with a goal from Carlos Dolado-Hollyman to make the final score 5-3.

In the final match, the points were shared in an exciting 3 -3 draw at the Southgate Hockey Centre between Southgate and East Grinstead.

Archie Foster gave the home team the lead on 11 minutes before the Sussex-based team equalised six minutes later with a field goal of their own scored by Thomas Tyers. 

A penalty stroke from Jack Middleton in quarter two restored the home team’s advantage but again East Grinstead equalised with a Stephen Perry field goal.

The scores remained like this until the final two minutes of the fourth quarter when both teams scored. East Grinstead’s Louis Tipper and Southgate’s Charles Hamilton credited with the goals to ensure the points were shared.

These results means that Cardiff & Met currently have a three-point lead over Nottingham-based Beeston who have a game in hand on their rivals. East Grinstead are a point further behind on twelve points. Southgate are a further three points behind and the bottom two remain one point apart in Richmond and Bowdon who meet in two weeks.

Image: Martin Waight