Defending champions Beeston to face East Grinstead
5th April 2014East Grinstead and Beeston booked themselves a place in the NOW: Pensions Men’s Championship Final following respective victories over Surbiton and Reading. East Grinstead looked in scintillating form as they put six goals past Surbiton, while Beeston netted four as they swept Reading aside. Earlier in the day Southgate secured their place back in the Premier Division after only one season away following a convincing 3-0 victory over Sheffield Hallam in the Play-Off tournament.
Please see below for match reports and quotes from all of the games today.
NOW: Pensions Men’s Championship
East Grinstead 6 (2)
Niall Stott 6, 50 (FG, FG)
Mark Pearn 19 (FG)
Tony Wilson 44 (FG)
Mark Gleghorne 45 (PS)
David Condon 47 (FG)
Surbiton 2 (0)
Michael Watt 68 (FG)
Matt Daly 70 (PC)
The opening match of the NOW: Pensions Championship saw Surbiton take on East Grinstead. East Grinstead took an early lead when Ashley Jackson made a break for goal, allowing teammate Niall Stott to slot the ball home making it 1-0. Despite strong defending from Surbiton’s Johnny Gall, East Grinstead scored their second goal of the half, this time through Mark Pearn who brought the score to 2-0. Surbiton upped the pressure towards the latter half of the first half but they were not rewarded for their efforts and the score remained 2-0 coming in to the break.
The second half started with a flurry of goals from East Grinstead; field goals from Tony Wilson, David Condon and another for Niall Stott and a penalty stroke from Mark Gleghorne meant they took a 6-0 lead over Surbiton. Despite numerous penalty corners, Surbiton first got on the score card through a field goal from Michael Watt in the 68th minute bringing the score to 6-1. A penalty corner in the dying seconds of the game allowed Surbiton’s Matt Daly to score also, meaning the final score was 6-2.
Speaking after the game, East Grinstead's Ashley Jackson noted "A lot has changed for us since last season, Karl Stagno has come in as the head coach and he has been absolutely brilliant, bringing a fresh approach to everything that the first team does this season. He needs to take a lot of credit for everything that has helped us progress in the right direction."
Beeston 4 (3)
Sam Ward 20, 58 (PC, FG)
Adam Dixon 28, 33 (FG, PC)
Reading 2 (0)
Dan Shingles 68 (FG)
Jonty Clarke 70 (PS)
Beeston created the majority of the chances early on in the game and scored the first goal of the game through Sam Ward making the score 1-0. Captain Adam Dixon followed this up with a further two goals late in the half giving Beeston a comfortable 3-0 lead at half time.
Reading returned to the second half determined, creating some good chances early on in the second half. A fourth goal for Beeston through Ward again meant the game looked beyond the home team at 4-0. Two late goals from Reading's Dan Shingles and Jonty Clarke bought the score to 4-2 but proved to be too little too late.
The win gives Beeston a match against East Grinstead in Sunday's final, leaving Reading and Surbiton to battle it out for third and fourth place.
Reflecting on their victory, Beeston Captain Adam Dixon noted "It was definitely not an easy game but we had done a lot of homework for it. We'd already played Reading twice in the league so we knew we had to protect ourselves from their dangerous players and we did that pretty well. We always have good games against Reading but a good start was huge for us and fortunately we came out on top today."
NOW: Pensions Men’s Play-Offs
Southgate 3 (0)
Rick Gay 40, 47 (PC, PC)
Callum Burden 48 (FG)
Sheffield Hallam 0 (0)
An early penalty corner for Sheffield Hallam looked like they might take a lead but Southgate goalkeeper Chris Hibbert denied them of this opportunity. End to end play ensued and both teams were fighting for that opening goal but nothing was to come from it. Sheffield seemed to have the upper hand with fierce attempts at goal from Liam Ansell and Tom Sorby but Hibbert, in his tenth and final season with Southgate, was unfailing in goal. At the end of the first half the score remained 0-0.
Southgate started the second half with a point to prove. A flurry of penalty corners early on led to a penalty stroke and, despite Sheffield goalkeeper Jamie Cachia’s best efforts, Rick Gay gave Southgate the lead; 1-0. A second penalty flick in the 47thth minute allowed Rick Gay to get his name on the score board a second time, increasing the lead for Southgate to 2-0. Despite strong defending from Sheffield’s Christy Walklin and Brendan Creed, a field goal in the 48th minute from Captain Callum Burden meant the score finished 3-0 to Southgate.
Speaking after the game, goal scorer Rick Gay said, “It's been a good season for the [Southgate] boys, we've got the strongest squad we've had in years, with a good mix of talent coming through. It's always tough going in to a match against Sheffield, they're one of the strongest sides, but we were turning the ball over more in the second half and that really made a difference. It was a great match and we're really pleased with the end result."
Cardiff & Met 1 (1)
Luke Hawker 23 (FG)
Brooklands Manchester University 2 (1)
David Flanagan, 22 (FG)
Peter Flanagan, 62 (PC)
Goals from David and Peter Flanagan gave Brooklands a precious win against Cardiff, whose hopes of promotion have ended. Brooklands now go into Sundays match with a good chance of promotion.
The game started at an intense pace, with both teams creating early chances. Brooklands seemed to have the better of the play, and their forward line had The first goal came through David Flanagan who stole possession from the Cardiff defence inside their own quarter, finishing at the back post bringing the score to 1-0. However, the lead was short-lived, as Cardiff's Luke Hawker scored with a sensational individual effort, equalising, 1-1.
Cardiff arguably had the better of the second half, but were unable to craft any clear chances. The decisive moment came in the 62nd minute, when a Brooklands penalty corner was calmly slotted home by Peter Flanagan to make the final score 2-1.
Speaking after the game Brooklands captain, Pete Flanagan said, "It was a real determined effort from the start for us. It wasn't our most fluid performance admittedly but there was a lot at stake. At the end of the day we fought really hard and got the result we were after; 2-1."
Play-Off tournament standings
P W D L F A Pts
1 Southgate 2 2 0 0 4 0 6
2 Brooklands MU 2 1 1 0 5 4 4
3 Sheffield Hallam 2 0 1 0 3 6 1
4 Cardiff & Met 2 0 0 2 1 3 0
The schedule – Sunday 6 April
1000 - NOW: Pensions MHL Play-Offs Match 5
Southgate (East) v Brooklands MU (North)
1200 - NOW: Pensions MHL Play-Offs Match 6
Sheffield Hallam (Premier) v Cardiff & Met (West)
1415 - NOW: Pensions MHL Championship 3v4
Loser Semi 1 v Loser Semi 2
1645 - NOW: Pensions MHL Championship Final
Winner Semi 1 v Winner Semi 2