Today’s the men’s semi-finals took place to determine who’d play off for the title and who’d be battling for bronze in the England Hockey League Men’s Premier Division.

Old Georgians, aiming for their fourth title in a row, took on Oxted – appearing at their first ever finals day. In the second semi-final, Surbiton battled it out with Wimbledon.

Here’s what happened.

Semi Final 1: Old Georgians 4-0 Oxted.

Old Georgians remained on course for their fourth title in a row with a commanding 4-0 win over Oxted in the first of the men’s semi-finals.

Georgians came into the match without 38-goal top scorer Sam Ward through injury but goals from Phil Roper, Alan Forsyth, Kyle Marshall and Chris Proctor ensured comfortable progress to tomorrow’s final.

Oxted set up to frustrate their much-fancied opponents but on seven minutes a tidy finish from Phil Roper broke the deadlock.

Max Christopher in the Oxted goal excelled himself with a couple of fine saves but in the second quarter Old Georgians upped the tempo and doubled their lead from the penalty spot courtesy of Forsyth.

With just 12 seconds left in the half, Georgians took all the sting out of a possible comeback. Marshall was left all alone at the top of the D to fire home their third. 

With the game all but won the intensity dropped in the second half but there was still time for a lovely run from Roper to set up Proctor to spin and slot home a fourth to put the gloss on the scoreline.

After the match, I spoke to goalscorer Phil Roper:
“There’s always a bit of pressure on us, you know, reigning champions, generally had a good season so we had to get the job done but it’s another thing to do it and do it comfortably. I think that’s what we did today and it felt pretty good.”

Semi-Final 2: Surbiton 6-2 Wimbledon,

Surbiton powered past Wimbledon to set up a final clash with Old Georgians after a 6-2 win in an eventful semi-final.

A hat-trick from Struan Walker, two from Gareth Furlong and a James Gall strike set up a repeat of last year’s final and left Wimbledon battling for the bronze medal, just as they did last season.

Wimbledon actually led after Ben Fox forced in a penalty corner rebound in the first quarter, but the scores were soon level thanks to a rocket of a penalty corner from Furlong.

James Mazarelo in the Surbiton goal produced a smart block to deny Ed Horler as Karl Stagno’s side pushed to go back in front. However it was Surbiton who took the lead. Walker found the bottom corner with a drag flick to make it 2-1. Nine minutes later Walker had another, supplying a smart finish to a lovely move down the Surbiton right. A minute later Furlong made it 4-1 from another penalty corner as Wimbledon began to capitulate.

Euan Gilmour pulled one back for the Dons but any thoughts of a comeback were extinguished a minute later as Walker completed his hat-trick with a bullet strike into the bottom corner. A mix up in the Wimbledon defence allowed Gall to knock in a sixth and Surbiton marched on to tomorrow’s final with Old Georgians.

I spoke to hat-trick hero Struan Walker after the match:

“To put six past anyone is pretty good but especially on this weekend, it’s pretty cool. I don’t think we expected that many, but we were definitely confident on the win so we’re pretty buzzing about that. I’m really excited. I mean, a lot of it is down to my teammates and them giving me the ball but it definitely was nice to score a hat-trick. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”