Match results
12 | 5 Oct 17:30 | Surbiton HC SUR | 4 - 2 | Waterloo Ducks HC WAT | Recap | ||
16 | 6 Oct 17:00 | Surbiton HC SUR | 3 - 2 | Wimbledon HC WIM | Recap |
* Won by shoot-out
About Surbiton HC
KO16 hosts Surbiton will be looking to delight their home fans as they bring EHL hockey to England for the first time since 2012 when East Grinstead hosted ROUND1.
They do so as English runners-up after they finished second behind Old Georgians last season and they bring a strong panel into the new season. To get to the English final, they defeated Wimbledon 3-2 in a shoot-out after a 3-3 draw in normal time, Gareth Furlong scoring twice in the last four minutes.
This year’s panel features Paris Olympians Furlong, Conor Williamson, Tim Nurse, Nick Park, David Goodfield and goalkeeper James Mazarelo who was a reserve with the GB side.
They have also bolstered the panel with Nick Nurse set to join his brother Tim with his Exeter University team mate Jake Payton making the same move.
England Under-21 captain Max Anderson is another strong addition to the line-up, graduating from University of Nottingham. The experienced Arjan Drayton-Chana also returns to the panel from Richmond after a year away.
On the coaching front, England and GB legend Barry Middleton takes over the reins, moving from Holcombe whom he coached in the EHL KO16 in Barcelona a year ago.
Surbiton said goodbye to a couple of familiar faces with the headline being the departure of GB and England star Brendan Creed, who leaves after helping the M1 win multiple indoor and outdoor national titles since his arrival in 2016.
Striker Alex Williams takes on a new challenge at Belgium club Royal Orée after three excellent seasons at Sugden Road while Ben Stevenson is also stepping away after joining from the University of Nottingham in 2021.
Their last EHL adventure saw them win against Saint Germain (France), KHC Dragons (Belgium) and Club de Campo de Madrid (Spain) to win EHL bronze in Amsterdam in 2022.
This will be Surbiton’s sixth season in the EHL though they have qualified on seven occasions, stepping out of the 2016/17 edition due to a clash of player commitments around the Commonwealth Games.
EHL History
2013/14 – KO16
2018/19 – KO16 – won 9th place ranking match
2019/20 – KO8 winners (incomplete season)
2020/21 – RANKING CUP – 13th
2021/22 – BRONZE MEDAL