TOP OF THE TABLE CLASH NOT ALL THAT IT SEEMS

by Seán Cotter 20 November 2009

This Saturday (21 November, 4pm) first-placed Surbiton meet second-placed Reading at Sugden Road, but this is not quite the EHL National Premier Division showdown that it might appear on paper.

Imagine what Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger would have to say if they faced such a fixture with four players from one side (in this case Reading) and three from the other (Surbiton) missing on international duty (having already departed on Wednesday with eleven players from other clubs – nine of them English premier, two Dutch - for the Champions Trophy in Melbourne which takes place from Saturday week 28 November to Sunday 6 December).

But wait. Nothing in English hockey is ever that simple. For the team with the most points at the end of the 18 league fixtures will not be its winners. Instead there will be a Rugby League-style series of play-off games to decide the league championship and the other two EuroLeague qualifiers.

So a team could finish fifth on points and still end up English champions and playing in Europe.

This, it must be pointed out, is at the behest of the Premier Division clubs themselves, in order to willingly contribute their contracted players to the cause of London 2012 – where a great performance will benefit British hockey in general – but at the same time to protect their individual interests from the demands of international selection by England, Scotland and Wales initially and then Team GB.

So, despite Surbiton last weekend finding themselves “properly top” for the first time since 3 October (i.e. not because of a game in hand over Reading due to the latter’s EuroLeague commitments as in the 10 to 24 October tables), Saturday’s game will not be by any means a championship decider, but it will give a good idea of the relative strength in depth of the two contenders – especially significant with England players likely to be missing up to and including the World Cup for the first six of the eight league weekends after Christmas.

Surbiton had gained top spot last Sunday (15 November) through a combination of Reading drawing 2-2 at Bowdon and themselves beating Brooklands Manchester University 4-0 just six miles away and an hour and 45 minutes later to put two points’ daylight between them.

Third-placed East Grinstead conceded a last-minute penalty stroke to draw 4-4 at Beeston and so slip to seven points in arrears of Surbiton, with fourth-placed Beeston now eight behind.

Not that Surbiton looked certain to win all three points when goalless at the interval. But once they came to terms with the unfamiliar sand-based surface – every other club in the league, including Surbiton, having waterbased – there was only one team in it.

Co-captain Tim Pinnock continued his rich vein of scoring form to add another three (one a penalty corner) to his tally to top the league scoring chart on 14 goals. Matt Daly, who scored his first from open play of the season, is now joint third on 10.

Preview and report from www.surbitonhc.com club website for 16 and 20 November 2009 respectively