Trinidad and Tobago senior men’s hockey player Teague Marcano netted a pair of goals as Holcombe held off Oxted 6-5 in the England Men’s Hockey League Premier Division at Holcombe on Saturday (October 31).
Timothy Guise-Brown put Oxted ahead after only six minutes but within four minutes Teague Marcano got Holcombe on level terms with his fifth goal of the season.
Marcano then fired Holcombe ahead in the 18th minute before teammate Rohan Bhuhi netted in the 21st for a 3-1 advantage.
Nine minutes later Guise-Brown scored to reduce the margin to 2-3, only for Bhuhi to score again in the 32nd for a 4-2 lead.
However, three minutes before the 35-minute half-time interval, Guise-Brown completed a first-half hat-trick for Oxted to trail 3-4 at the interval and set the stage for an interesting second half.
Within a minute of the resumption, Mubasher Ali netted a penalty-stroke for Holcombe to extend the lead to 5-3, but the rampant Guise-Brown continued to keep Oxted in the encounter with his and the team's fourth goal in the 46th minute to carry his season tally to six as well.
Guise-Brown's joy was short-lived, though, as Matthew Ramshaw restored Holcombe's two-goal cushion in the 48th minute for a 6-4 lead.
Holcombe then managed to keep Oxted at bay until two minutes from the final whistle when Charlie Axford scored to bring his team within one goal of the visitors again at 5-6.
But in the end, Holcombe, coached by former T&T international Kwandwane Browne, with compatriot Dillet Gilkes, another ex-T&T player, as his assistant, managed to hang on for the narrow win, their third in seven matches to move to nine points and seventh on the 11-club table, one point outside the 'Top Six' playoff spot, jointly held by Hampstead & Westminster and Reading, the latter of whom have a match in hand.
Surbiton sits top of the league table with a maximum of 21 points, three clear of Wimbledon, which has a match in hand, while defending champions Old Georgian is third with 16 points, followed by East Grindstead in the fourth spot with 13 points, with Hampstead & Westminster and Reading next.
The University of Exeter (seven), Beeston (six), Oxted (six) and Cardiff & Met (two) occupy the bottom-four spots. Next up for Holcombe is a home clash with Cardiff & Met Saturday (November 7).
