EHL Hockey League Week 11 2022 Matchday Preview

With everything still to play for in the hunt for a top 6 finish in Men's Hockey League, a three-way battle will ensue come 14:00 on Sunday.

Lying in 8th place, Oxted, on paper, have the easier task ahead of them as they welcome East Grinstead to Caterham School. Needing nothing but a win, Oxted will finish 6th if both Beeston and Reading fail to win.

Beeston line up against Surbiton for the 33rd time, with the fixture starting in the 1999-2000 season; the series only really got going in 2006-07 when Beeston joined Surbiton as long-term members of the top flight. In spite of their league success, Beeston have only won once away to Surbiton in 2007-08 and on 24 November 2018, when Beeston Women also won 2-1 at Surbiton, with Eloise Stenner and Nick Park, who both scored for Beeston that day, now with Surbiton. There have been a couple of 5-4 home victories, and in 2009-10 and 2010-11, the scorelines were more indicative of tennis than hockey, with Surbiton going two sets up, 6-4, 6-4. Beeston will need to break back at Sugden Road to have a chance of a top 6th finish if Reading fails to win at Hampstead.

In one of the longest-running fixtures of the Premier Division era, dating back to 2001, when Jonty Clark and Jon Wyatt were on the scoresheet and Simon Mason was in the Reading goal, Hampstead & Westminster and Reading will meet for the 39th time. With Reading mathematically needing a win, in front of a home crowd at Sonning Lane, to take the all-important 6th spot, an 11-goal superior goal difference over 7th placed Beeston would also mean a draw will be enough to see the Berkshire side finish 6th, providing records are not broken at Sugden Road.

Brooklands Manchester University make only their second Premier Division visit to Old Georgians, having lost 3-1 in November 2019, Old Georgians having also won 3-1 a month earlier in the North West. As the Premier Divisions bottom club prepares to take on the league leaders, memories of the last meeting will be hard to block out when Old Georgians hit double figures with four players scoring braces.

As the University of Exeter make their third visit to Kent for a Premier Division meeting with Holcombe, the two sides only met on one occasion in 2021-22, with Holcombe dominant in Devon with a convincing 7-2 victory. Nick Bandurak scored twice, also scoring both goals in Holcombe's 2-0 victory in September 2019. Exeter drew 1-1 on their first visit in March 2019.

The University of Nottingham, playing way above expectations in the league this season, awaits the arrival of Wimbledon to the Nottingham Hockey Centre. Both sides are embroiled in a league battle, with those closest to them, separated by a single point, they will be eager to secure a win that will maintain the pressure on the sides above them.

Seventh-placed Loughborough Students has an outside chance of making the top six at Clifton Robinson's expense. Travelling away to Sonning Lane, Loughborough will meet Reading for the first time since February 2008 (when Surbiton's Leah Wilkinson was on the scoresheet for the Students), needing a win and hoping that Clifton Robinson's, with just one win in eighteen against Surbiton, slip up against league leaders. However, a win for Clifton will see them finish 6th and in the top tier for Phase 2, and a draw will see the Students needing to win by nine goals against Reading. In contrast, a loss for Clifton and a win for Loughborough will see the two sides swap places, and Loughborough will advance to Phase two in the top 6.

Beeston, who secured their place in the top six last time out with a last-minute winner against Loughborough, welcome Hampstead & Westminster to the Nottingham Hockey Centre. Securing their first-ever Premier Division win against Hampstead when the two sides last met in April, Beeston will be looking for consecutive victories, having lost their previous five encounters.

Also confirming Top six action for Phase 2, thanks to Beeston's win last week, despite a 1-0 loss at Wimbledon, East Grinstead welcome Buckingham to Saint Hill. With just two wins in their previous ten meetings Buckingham, who sit at the foot of the table, will have their work cut out to take any points back to Stowe School as they look to hunt down Holcombe in the table.

Travelling to the University of Birmingham, Holcombe, who are unbeaten in the second city, will be looking to take advantage of their host's poor run of form as they look to turn their season around. With a near-full overhaul of the squad at the start of the season, Holcombe are looking ahead to the winter break to regroup and steady themselves ready for Phase two and a push for the final playoff places.

The University of Nottingham head to South West London for the first time, knowing that any loss against hosts Wimbledon will see them fall down the table.