Surbiton Men’s hockey skipper Ben Tibble praised the young guns who guided the side to its first ever EHB Cup win.

In the absence of Scottish internationals Fergus Dunn and Chris Grassick, as well as London 2012 Olympian Rob Moore, six schoolboys stepped up to the plate including Adam White, Jonny Ruiz, and James Hamlyn from Kingston Grammar School.

Hamlyn also got on the scoresheet firing home the second goal in the 3-1 final win over Hampstead & Westminster on Saturday.

James Royce and Rob Schilling grabbed the other goals to seal the victory, and bring the curtain down on a remarkable season at Sugden Road.

Tibble said: “It’s the first time we’ve won the cup, and we’ve also qualified for the European Hockey League in its new format for the first time. It has been a really great season.

“We entered the EHB cup competition to give fringe players a chance to play and the young guys stepped up to the mark excellently.”

He added: “The scoreline might suggest a one-sided game but we were not great, we just took our chances.

“Hampstead had a couple of chances at 2-1, but our keeper made some good saves. Our third goal then killed the game off.”

The season may be over for Surbiton, but Tibble is jetting off to Australia to play for Hale in the Perth Premier, as is team-mate Royce – who turns out for University of Western Australia.

But last year’s memorable MHL Premier Division season, where Surbiton finished second, will stay with Tibble for a long time to come.

He said: “If you look back, we were bottom of the table seven games into the season, so to finish second is excellent. And we’re only going to get better from here on in.

“We can attract more players because of being in Europe and that will obviously help our push for top spot next season.”