Hockey: Old Loughtonians hail hat-trick hero Mark Loughrey

Loughts went ahead after five minutes with a well-worked penalty corner routine put away by James Thomas against his old club.

But Sevenoaks were awarded a penalty corner after Ed Fleet could not quite reach a difficult aerial ball and then did not give his opponent the required five metres.

A shot from the corner was stopped by a Loughts foot on the line, with Jack Tranter just failing to keep out the resulting penalty stroke.

Loughts took control in the third quarter, with Sevenoaks seemnig content to put everyone behind the ball, close down space and attack on the break.

After a series of short corners Loughts eventually scored their second goal as Loughrey deceived the sprawling keeper and neatly placed the ball into the other corner.

Loughts were awarded a penalty stroke on 67 minutes, which Loughrey converted to give them a much-needed two-goal cushion.

And they saved their best until last as, with a minute to go, Tom Watson dribbled with pace and power into the D and slid a reverse pass with precision to Loughrey who was not going to miss and claimed his hat-trick.

Loughts face a long trip to play University of Exeter this weekend.

The M2s were two down after 25 minutes at Cambridge City 2s but Gabriel Inch moved to help shore up the back line and Loughts hit back just before half-time as a strong run into the D from Matt Lewis enabled Olly Davis to squeeze the ball home.

A series of unforced errors in the second half allowed Cambridge to score again, but Loughts continued to press and were rewarded with a goal from Sam Bond to make it 3-2 with five minutes left.

Despite continuing to press and a number of short corner opportunities, they were unable to draw level.

The M3s lost 5-0 at St Alban’s 2s, while the M4s faced table-topping Brentwood 2s and lost 4-0.

The M5s Willows lost 3-2 at Upminster 4s and the M6s Willows Woodsmen lost 2-0 at Braintree 3s, but the M7s Willows Rangers beat Southend 5-3 at home.

*Old Loughts women were second best to newly promoted side Old Georgians in their Vitality Women’s Conference East clash at Luxborough Lane.

Loughts conceded on six minutes after a number of penalty corner awards to Georgians, with the third attempt finding the far corner.

Player of match Hannah Bloy and midfielder India Blake were at the heart of all good things for Loughts but a goal continued to allude them.

Then, in the final minute of the third quarter as Loughts were starting to dominate proceedings, an almost identical penalty corner gave Georgians a two-goal cushion.

Captain Tash Patient galvanised the troops and a wonderful reverse strike from Maddy Newlyn after a solo run gave Loughts hope of a late comeback with 13 minutes left.

But Georgians sealed the points five minutes later with a third on the counter.

Loughts will go in search of their first win of the campaign with a late pushback against East London at Lee Valley on Saturday.

The W2s struggled at St Alban’s 2s and lost 4-1, with Faye Holmes their goalscorer.

The W3s had an excellent 4-1 win against neighbours Crostyx 2s with two goals from Anna Dingle and one each from Cerys Edwards and Kayuki Sen.  

And the W4s had a 2-1 win over Havering 2s, with Keira Keogh netting the first after 20 minutes and Rachel Campbell adding the second with five minutes to play.

The previously unbeaten W5s visited Upminster 5s, who retained their 100 per cent start with a hard-fought 3-1 win, as Amelie Mackenzie scored for Loughts.