Southgate Men and Women were in action over the weekend in the England Hockey annual Super 6’s competition both looking to emulate the success of recent years
For our Women they took the journey south to Polo Farm in Canterbury for the Divison 2 South qualifiers. Saturday saw them edge out Firebrands in a thrilling 4-3 win following it up with a more straightforward 6-4 win over Marlow. On Sunday the team this year coached by former M1 player Rob Schilling ended up the wrong side of a 5-2 scoreline to a strong Hampstead & Westminster side. Yet all memories of that defeat were knocked out of the park with a huge 17-1 win against Maidstone which set them up nicely for a crunch deciding game against rivals Old Georgians. The team showed huge grit and determination to come away with 3 points in a 6-2 win to qualify for the finals on the 25th and 26th January.
Jess Denniff came away as the joint top goal scorer across the weekend with 11 goals with Freya Matthews and Becca Malyon also scoring 6 and 5 respectively. A top weekends work and the team now look to push on with their trip to Wolverhampton later in the month.
Meanwhile the men looking to repeat the success of last years top 4 spot at the famous Super 6s finals at Derby Arena got off to a tough start with defeats to Surbiton, Sevenoaks and last years runners up Wimbledon before turning on the heat in a tense, crunch game against Hampstead & Westminster. Playing against former player Karan Sofat and former Southgate member Lucas Jaehnig not to mention their assistant coach Joergen Jaehnig it was a spicy affair. Southgate got off to a strong start with two goals coming in the second quarter from Richard Swan before Dan West scored from a PC. Josh Kelly kept Hampstead in it with the goal from open play in the 18th minute meaning a 2-1 scoreline at the half time whistle.
Surbiton V Southgate – Men’s Super6s Premier Division at Whitgift School, Croydon, Surrey, UK on 10 January 2026.
Photo by Simon Parker/SP Action Images
Southgate came out firing in the 3rd quarter and Dan West scored the goal of the game with a superb top corner drag flick to give the goal cushion which was extended just two minutes later by a great team goal finished off by M4 former forward and now M1 outdoor half back Robbie Gill who celebrated with real passion in front of a busy Whitgoft Indoor Hall. Yet experience on the Hampstead bench came to the fore with Sam French back from his travels and scoring a finely finished corner routine to leave the scored poised at 4-2 ahead of the final quarter.
It was a tense ride but Erdal Demir held fast in goal and Aiden Tun a new signing for the second half of the season put in a great performance keeping the Hampstead attacking threat at bay. Southgate fans drew a sigh of relief when Captain John Sterlini scored a expertly taken flick in the 37th minute meaning surely Gate were home and dry with a 3 goals buffer with only 3 minutes to play…Yet Hampstead came out the traps firing and Nick Steffans and Matt Richards scored two goals in the 38th minute closing the gap to just 1 goal which resulted in a fiercely contested final 90 seconds. Southgate held on to tumultuous applause. Their first 3 points of the tournament and a big 3 points. Big congratulations to James Willoughby and Scott Ellis who also made their 1st team debuts.
That result mean Southgate sit with 3 other teams with 3 points all battling hard for a top 4 berth. East Grinstead came away with a surprising nil points from the former champions and have a lot of work to do next weekend. EG vs Southgate will be first up on the cards next Saturday 17th Jan in a huge fixture for the two clubs.
For now John Sterlini sits as 4th top goal scorer with 6 goals already in the bag and next weekend the team will welcome back US indoor international (and W1 indoor coach) Rob Schilling fresh from his success in Canterbury as well as Simon Walker returning from injury. The stage is set for a thrilling climax to the qualifiers in Croydon.
Sevenoaks v Southgate – Men’s Super6s Premier Division at Whitgift School, Croydon, Surrey, UK on 10 January 2026.
Photo by Simon Parker/SP Action Images
