Brighton & Hove pulled off an astonishing win in a thrilling nine-goal encounter at Teddington on Sunday and moved out of the relegation zone in the MHL Division One South.

With Joe Naughalty scoring four times, Brighton fought back from 3-1 down at half-time and 4-3 behind in the fourth quarter to snatch a vital victory two minutes from time against the team in second place in the league.

"We got what we deserved," said delighted Brighton team manager Jon Williams. "We looked like a well-established national league side,our workrate was tireless and we kept our belief. Going into Oxford Hawks this weekend we have really given ourselves an opportunity - it is in our own hands."

Naughalty showed his goalscorer's instinct, finishing open play moves from close range on all four occasions and taking his tally for the season into double figures.

Brighton's strong start to the match was undone when Teddington showed their sharpshooting skills to take the lead against the run of play but Naughalty had Brighton level within a minute.

Brighton survived a period temporarily reduced to 10 men when Steve Perry was harshly yellow-carded only for Teddington to strike twice in a minute from a short corner and then open play to take a half-time lead. Naughalty reduced the arrears and Jamie Francis then levelled but Teddington responded to go into the fourth quarter 4-3 up.

" It was an outstanding fourth quarter by us," said Williams as first Naughalty struck following a short corner and then converted a cross from Francis, who had done well to keep the ball in play, for the winner.

Southgate lost for the second time this season, 5-2 at home to Old Loughtonians, who move to within six points of the leaders. Brighton’s thrilling 5-4 win at Teddington moves them up to eighth behind Old Cranleighan, who beat University of Bristol 2-1. Bottom of the table Oxford Hawks, the visitors to Blatchington Mill on Sunday (1pm), held Bath Buccaneers 2-2 and Canterbury beat Sevenoaks 4-3.

Reigate Priory 1s 1
BHHC 2s 1

Andrew Bromley reports: "M2 made the short trip north to Reigate to face fellow mid-table-obscurity dwellers Reigate Priory. Priory's pitch is conveniently located between Junction 8 of the M25 and the Church of St Andrew in Gatton Park. As the school is off limits and therefore no changing facilities available, we opted to make do with a small closet attached to a toilet block (this despite requests from the squad to utilise the church pews for changing, team talk and general Benison).

After a review of the asbestos containing materials in the post-war Church, a brief warm-up ensued on the courtesy running track and we then set up with a slightly revised formation to try and change our fortunes. This worked a blessing, as within two minutes we were ahead. Chris Page latched on to a through ball and, with assistance from Will Buttress and Jago Hussain, helped the latter to score his fourth goal of the season. Sadly this lead didn't last long, as Reigate swiftly won a PC and fired a drag flick home. Upchurch, T bowled by Scott, D (middle stump). Very frustrating!

The match was an end-to-end affair, with Brighton generally managing to negate Reigate's high press. Outletting from Tim Upchurch, Ben Hoggan, Josh Lawrence and Paddy Smith was excellent and tied with some glue-like marking, put in an excellent defensive display. The same could almost be said for James Upchurch too but a minor lapse in concentration for just a moment allowed the Reigate forward to post up on the counter and then attempt to nutmeg him. I say attempt, as Jup closed his legs quicker than.... (I won't say) and managed to concede a corner and yellow square for his troubles! Thankfully the resulting corner was kept out and a steep learning curve was experienced by the young heart-throb of the England Colleges Hockey Squad.

As the match was coming to a close, Automatic-Alex Smith worked with the dynamic under-16 triumvirate of Hodgkinson R, Ford P and Patel A and started to boss the match. PCs were generated and much chaos ensued but unfortunately they couldn't quite manage to engineer the final piece of the jigsaw.

All in all an excellent team performance, with BHHC enjoying the lion's share of possession and PCAs. After a brief review of the league rules for providing teas, we enjoyed some excellent home cooked lasagne in the tartan clad Priory Pavilion."

BHHC 5s 3
Crawley 2s 2

Hidetomo Moro reports: "The 5s dictated play in the first half and made some good moves but wasted some chances from a few penalty corners. Crawley 2s had some counter attacks but the ball was intercepted or attacks held off, and so the scoreline remained even at half-time.

The 5s kept the passing up in the second half and scored two goals. Both were simple moves with Alex Sanchez and Jamie Morris getting near the posts to finish these off. Crawley then scored a penalty corner rebound. Discipline started to decline and a number of challenges occurred from both teams. Andrew Walsh-Lister then got the ball in the D, spun and placed the ball into the goal for a third. Crawley scored another goal and the last few minutes were seen out.

The 5s played well against a physical side and took three points with great pride.

MoM: Warren 'Bunny' Plaskett had a good game.DoD: Jamie Morris for goal poaching off Evan's shot."

St Francis 1s 2
BHHC 6s 5

Matt Richardson reports: "A game of three halves... The Rocks travelled to The Triangle this week for a meeting with St Francis M1s. With the pre-match warm up complete the lack of umpires became clear and the ‘first half’ was consumed with panic phone calls, scratching heads and discussions of how this game might be officiated - the umpires had apparently travelled to Blatch thinking it was an away tie.

Cue the substitutes - St Francis used their 12th man and Lee Cooper, there as a spectator, was suddenly given a whistle to accompany his Costa Maxi-Grande-double-shot-latte-Expressocino and at last the game got underway.

So, to the first half proper: with the umpiring fiasco behind us and last season's champions v runners-up raring to go , this had all the ingredients of a hockey classic. However, as a spectacle this started with about as much vim as a wet sock. A middle-of-the-pitch dirge, it was little more than passing practice for the Rocks, St Francis with a non-existent press and seemingly not that interested in challenging for the ball.

Watching paint dry (actually, listening to paint dry), was about as exciting as this got for a first quarter where Brighton’s keeper Anthony Child did no more than wait... and wait ... and wait, eventually getting his kicker behind a ball for one exciting moment.

Then, with 16 minutes on the clock, a Curtly Ambrose style pavilion-end-bouncer found its way into the hosts D and was skilfully diverted into the goal by Jens Peters, 1-0 Rocks. Two minutes later, Brighton’s lead was doubled with Louis Patel spinning in the D and letting one fly. This should have been the start of a rout but a minute later Brighton’s lack of marking was punished and the hosts scored, 2-1.

The game was stuttering to catch light and when Carlo’s superbly struck shot hit the net on 20 minutes Brighton's two goal advantage was restored 3-1. However, sloppy in the final pass, each Brighton move broke down with the hosts occasionally forging forward but with little intent despite some focussed, encouraging words and robust challenges from their very own Mr Angry (he was very angry).

Two halves down, many on the sideline were more interested in how many Brighton were putting past West Ham at the Amex and how Bournemouth were spoiling Arsenal’s party with, at that point, a 2-1 lead.

With the travelling umpire back home and Lee’s coffee now drained, the third (second) half started. Brighton looked more assertive and started to earn a few short corners. 10 minutes in Miles Richardson’s blockbuster almost broke the stanchion, and whilst overall the team started to pass and close down more effectively, Toby Leonard was today the standout performer.

Decisive in the tackle and assured in his vision and decision making, he bossed the middle of the park and got his reward on 13 minutes with a superb solo effort dribbling into the D and dispatching past the GK – 4-1 Rocks. St Francis looked to make a game of it by stealing one back on 20 minutes, 4-2 and on 22 minutes only a superb diving save from Anthony C kept another out.

Brighton stepped up again with James Wood’s excellent mazy run and pass to Louis P, who again spun and let another fly for his brace and Brighton’s fifth. 5-2 at the final whistle and whilst this game is unlikely to get any re-runs on Dave, the Rocks continue in their ascendancy depositing another three points in their growing account."

Horsham 4s 3
BHHC 7s 1

Tom Wolfenden reports: “In a week that Venus and Jupiter were shining brightly in the evening skies, club stars Vice Chair Atul Patel and the twinkle-toed Dylan Bonds lined up with the M7 star men for this encounter with a Horsham collective, who were, rather unreasonably, on time, warmed up and ready for blast off.

For a second week our oppo took their chances while we failed to convert our pressure and possession into goals. The one highlight: an improvised short corner routine saw Will Brickell find James Schmidt who converted to equalise before half-time. Also happy to report that Roo Page’s season-long quest to pass successfully between his own legs is finally over, when he connected to Liam Coleman.

Horsham scored two unanswered goals in the second half and took the game’s points up A23/A272/A24. Our horoscopes look better for next week when we travel west to Worthing and so it’s the laughter, we’ll choose to remember, when we remember the way we played.“

East Grinstead 5s 1
BHHC 9s 1

Alistair Thomson reports: “Déjà vu. After the disappointing capitulation at Saxons, the 9s regrouped for a tricky away game at the 'premier' hockey club in Sussex. After much chaotic lift organisation courtesy of Nash and Thompo, the team set off promptly for a 4.30 push back. So promptly, in fact, that the team arrived an hour before push back!

Unfortunately, even though they might be the ‘premier’ club in Sussex, communication skills are not their forte! Not only were they unable to communicate the fact that the game at 12 noon had run way over time, for the second season running they managed to struggle to find umpires in time for the start of the game. Even more weird as the game started 40 minutes late at 5.10pm, so surely the umpires should have been in place at 4.30?

Unlike at Worthing, Kobe decided not to consult his rule book of regulations. In order to soak up an hour of spare time, the team decamped to the bar to have a round of Horlicks, hot chocolate and Americanos. Kobe provided some Tactic Waffles as an accompaniment.

Dreaders spent most of pre-match trying to find a safe place for teapot storage whilst it was still in his possession, having initially misunderstood teapot etiquette. The team also expressed concern whether the team’s premier axeman (in the absence of Reedy) would last the whole game following his magnesium spray incident, ‘NashRashGate’, the previous weekend. The team need not have worried as the industrial dosage of MgCl2 did wonders for his axing.

As expected, EG appeared with a strong line up with plenty of familiar faces, lots of ex-first teamers including Giles Dakin in goal. The first half was an enthralling mixture of quality hockey coupled with plenty of robust challenges and chatting. The team got stuck in well compared with the previous week and it was a shame this was missing the previous week.

Half time arrived with the game nicely poised at 0-0. Kobe rallied the troops with positive chat for a change and a little cameo from the whiteboard. Personally, I found the use of the whiteboard fascinating; it’s always good to use diagrams to embellish the narrative.
However, based on the howls of derision, I was in the minority. Buoyed up by hairdryer-free half-time, the team readied themselves for what was bound to be a feisty second half.
The second half provided a number of chances at both ends with probably more falling to Brighton but with an oppo keeper of such stature it remained 0-0 well into the half.

Matt and Nash both did a sterling job matching the physicality of their opponents with some robust tackling which was rightly deemed to be fair by the official umpires.

Nash, in full flight, even managed to demonstrate another innovation from the 9s, the ‘Anti Skill Tackle Dribble’ or ASTD for short! Following some intense pressure from the oppo, they finally put away a well worked chance, although they did benefit from some loose marking.

Against such quality oppo, it would have been easy for the team to let their heads drop but collectively the youngsters took hold of the game to pile the pressure back on. Callum had a splendid game with Hugo, Stan and Calvin all playing high quality supporting roles.
In addition, this was the game where Jacob found his feet and should be proud of his constant harrying against a physical opposition who knew all the tricks of the trade.

Eventually with time ticking away, the pressure from Brighton finally counted. A lovely well worked move from one side of the ‘D’ to the other, left Hugo the opportunity to finish coolly past a top-class keeper, who was their man of the match. Talking of keepers, Moby gave a top performance even being alert enough to play the ball with his stick when outside the D when a goal looked inevitable.

Brighton pressed on for a winner in the closing moments and in a mad last-minute scramble Doc had his chance to enter folklore by putting one past Giles Dakin. Alas an air shot, rather than the visualised top corner rocket, and the game ended 1-1. In the melee, Doc’s space age watch dialled the emergency services probably on account of the flurry of opposition stick tackles.

Just as well Nash didn’t play with one of these watches, with the amount he was on the ground the watch would have put SECAmb into meltdown! Having mentioned the umpire organisational debacle earlier, thanks must go out to the three umpires that stepped in, especially ‘Man with Brogues’ who having asked for allowances, did an excellent job.

Due to the late finish, a number of the team needed to rush back for family time with ‘Ant and Dec’ so there was no time for an in-depth nomination process for the teapot. One of the juniors got a nomination for forgetting his shirt, but as we weren’t quorate the process was postponed until the following week. The remainder of the team enjoyed the legendary hospitality which is always on tap at the ‘premier’ Sussex club.

Due to this the teapot remains with Dreaders … probably deserved after his dreadful miss at the back post and also his attempts to undermine the strict Teapot awards process.
As previously mentioned, if you're looking for a fun hockey team to watch and socialise with, look no further than the BHHC mens 9s, aka The Glorious Vengeance!"

Other results

BHHC 3s 6 Eastbourne 2s 0
South Saxons 2s 3 BHHC 4s 2
BHHC 8s 2 South Saxons 4s 1