The perfect start continued for Surrey Spartans Ladies 1st XI by beating Wanderers Ladies 5-1, while the Men’s 1st XI return to winning ways with a 3-1 result on the road at Epsom.
Spartan Ladies 5 – 1 Wanderers Ladies
The Surrey Spartans Ladies 1st XI’s took to the pitch at Surrey Sports Park looking to maintain an unbeaten record at home. The first challenge of the weekend was the torrential rain, which meant they started the match soaked through! Three debutants were in the team this week as coach Taj Dogra looked to give game time to the whole of the strong ladies squad. From the whistle they started strongly, pushing up the pitch in search of an early goal. Unfortunately, during a brief lack of concentration, the Spartans found themselves on the back foot and facing a Wanderers attack, which resulted in them conceding their first goal of the season. Taken slightly aback, the Spartans quickly regrouped and started to play their own game again, passing well and moving forward together as a unit.
The pressure and perseverance paid off with a swift equaliser after 15mins. The Spartans kept the pressure on and their continued dominance was rewarded with a further two goals before half time. Returning to the pitch after half time, the Spartans put on a great performance, moving the ball around well, advancing and supporting each other up the pitch. The team repeatedly worked the ball from left to right probing the Wanderers defence resulting in two more goals in quick succession. There could have been a few more goals to add to the tally if it wasn’t for the magnificent exploits of the Wanderers goalie. The final whistle drew the game to a close with a well-deserved 5-1 win to make it two wins in a row and the perfect start to the 2013/14 season for the Ladies 1st XI.
Epsom 1 – 3 Surrey Spartans Men’s 1st XI
Away from home the Surrey Spartans Men’s 1st XI were looking to get their season back on track by bouncing back from the previous week’s defeat on the road. With numerous new players joining the club over the past month the team is still finding its form. Multiple changes to the starting line-up meant that things didn’t quite click in the early stages of the match against Epsom with little reward coming from lots of endeavour. The sandy pitch hampered the fast style of play that Spartans liked to play but the Epsom defence was finally unpicked by a quick turn and strike from Left Back turned Centre Forward Aristidis Tsiamis. A well worked short corner narrowly missed out on doubling the lead on the stroke of half-time.
The Spartans were very slow out of the blocks at the start of the second half and had to resist wave after wave of Epsom attacks. Finally the Spartans snapped out of their lull and got back to playing the hockey they had in the first half. Two fast and sweeping attacking moves saw Will Hams and Andrew Jurd score in quick succession to settle the game. One moment of indiscipline in defence saw Epsom grab a late consolation goal with a couple minutes to go but the result had already been settled. The Spartans ended the victors with the score at 3-1 and can look forward to continuing to climb the table as they return to playing at home next week.
In other fixtures the Ladies 2nd XI narrowly lost 2-1 to Mitcham, the Mens 2nd XI lost 4-1 to Sunbury and Walton Hawks and the Mens 3rd XI lost 3-1 to Old Georgians.
Match Summary
Ladies 1s: Home vs Wanderers 6s – Win 5-1
Ladies 2s: Away vs Mitcham 2s – Lose 1-2
Mens 1s: Away vs Epsom 2s – Win 3-1
Mens 2s: Home vs Sunbury & Walton Hawks 2s – Lose 1-4
Mens 3s: Away vs Old Georgians 3s – Lose 1-3
Mens 4s: No Game
Next Week’s Fixtures
Ladies 1s: Away vs London Edwardians 3s
Ladies 2s: Home vs Barnes 6s
Mens 1s: Home vs EUHC Gamblers
Mens 2s: Away vs Kenley 1s
Mens 3s: Home vs Aldershot & Farnham Cannons
Mens 4s: Away vs Surbiton Sparticians
Lezanne Denton