Old Georgians and Wimbledon take one win apiece in EHL KO16

Old Georgians and Wimbledon flew the flag for the Men's Hockey League in the Euro Hockey League KO16 in Germany this past weekend. Despite taking a win apiece, unfortunately neither side progressed to the finals later in the season.

Wimbledon were first to play as they took on Hamburger Polo Club, but the German side took full advantage of playing on home soil; a goal in each quarter giving the hosts a 4-0 win. Victory sent Hamburg through to the final four; when they beat Lisnagarvey 7-1.

Wimbledon then played a ranking match against French champions Montrouge and earned an excellent 5-3 win. Taking an early lead through Noah Darlington; Wimbledon were 2-1 down by half time, but Ben Hooper got them back on terms soon after the interval. Montrouge went ahead again, only for Wimbledon to score three times in seven minutes thanks to field goals from Ben Francis, Ed Horler and David Condon. It rounded off an excellent win for Karl Stagno's side as they ended their competition in an upbeat fashion.

Old Georgians got their campaign underway on Saturday as they took on Austrian side Arminen. James Carson's sixth-minute field goal got them off to an excellent start, but Arminen posed a difficult challenge until Sam Ward made it 2-0 in the 37th minute. Chris Proctor soon added a third before Ward's second rounded off the scoring, this time from a corner.

Next up were Pinoke of Amsterdam, who came into the game after a 16-0 win over Slavia Prague. It remained goalless until Marlon Landburg's 26th minute field goal, and then Olympic gold medal winner Sebastian Dockier made it 2-0 with 37 gone. A third goal from Miles Bukkens on 56 put the game to bed, but Scotland's Lee Morton did get what proved to be a consolation in the 59th minute; the game ending 3-1 in Pinoke's favour.

With regards the women’s competition, Vitality Women’s Hockey League champions Surbiton will again play in the Finals weekend at Easter and the runners-up, Hampstead & Westminster make their first foray into Europe in the Trophy tournament.