South England – with four Surbiton players in their squad – won their final three GB SuperLeague fixtures last week to clinch the annual end-of-season Home Countries’ championship.

Playing under the name of Wessex Leopards they first overwhelmed the Welsh Celtic Panthers (with team mate forward Andy Cornick in their squad) by 7-0, from three goals up at the interval, at the National Sporting Centre in Bisham Abbey on Wednesday evening.

Two of the Surbiton players scored three of the goals: GB Olympic forward James Tindall the second from open play in the 16th minute and then a penalty corner in the final 70th minute of the game; while former England U21 midfielder Tim Pinnock, selected back into full international consideration, also scored a penalty corner five minutes before half time.

On the same evening England North (Pennine Pumas) beat England U21 (Saxon Tigers, with Surbiton midfielder Ben Tibble in their squad) 4-2 at Cannock Hockey Club, while Scotland South (Caledonian Cougars) edged out Scotland North (Highland Jaguars, with Surbiton goalkeeper Allan Dick in their squad) by 3-2 in Edinburgh.

Next a Surbiton trio notched all eight goals as the Leopards outscored the Tigers 8-4, from 4-2 up at the interval, on Saturday afternoon at Cannock Hockey Club.

Another Surbiton GB Olympic forward, Matt Daly, led the way with four (in the 16th, 38th, 41st and 59th minutes, the second and third of them from penalty corners); Tindall scored a hat trick (in the 20th, 23rd and 45th minutes, the second from a penalty corner); after Pinnock had set the ball rolling with a 9th-minute penalty corner.

Earlier that day Panthers had beaten Cougars 2-1 and Pumas overcame Jaguars 3-2.

Together with their fourth player, GB Olympic midfielder Rob Moore, the Surbiton quartet all played their part, though none scored, in the narrow 2-1victory, from 1-1 at the interval, over then also hundred per cent Pumas to clinch the title in the final fixture on Sunday afternoon. In all three Surbiton players – Daly 7, Tindall 7, Pinnock 2 – scored 16 of Pumas 25 goal in 5 games, with Moore outstanding in midfield ahead of a defence that conceded only six goals.

In the first fixture of the day Panthers drew 3-3 with Jaguars to finish fourth and fifth respectively; before Cougars beat Tigers 5-2 to finish third and sixth respectively.

Great Britain’s constituents – England, Scotland and Wales – have now separated out after Beijing into their individual national sides for the first year of the post-Olympic cycle ahead of the London 2012 Games to prepare for this autumn’s European championships.

As well as their four South England players, two of Surbiton’s six current Olympians - the third, Ben Marsden, has retired from international hockey and joined Wimbledon HC - midfielders Richard Alexander and Ben Hawes, not selected for the GB SuperLeague because of injury, will both hope to be soon fit enough to be considered for the England squad.

England (ranked 6th in the world and 4th in Europe) will compete in the EuroHockey Nations Championship in Amsterdam from 22 to 30 August, with a summer of international fixtures (many of them at home) beginning with two friendlies away to Germany in Nuremburg over the weekend of 9/10 May.

Both Dick for Scotland (23rd in the world and 10th in Europe) and Cornick for Wales (30th in the world and 15th in Europe) will hope to be selected for the second-tier EuroHockey Nations Trophy, to be hosted by Wales in Wrexham from 1 to 8 August.

Before that Tibble will be aiming for selection in the England U21 squad for the Junior World Cup being held in Malaysia/Singapore from 7-21 June.