BROOKLANDS MU Hockey Club's men's team made the long journey to London for the third time in four weeks and lost 2-1 to table toppers Hampstead and Westminster.

Starting strongly the visitors took the game to Hampstead and had an early penalty corner expertly saved by Wales international David Kettle in the opposition goal.

A tactical battle began with both teams looking to avoid giving away early goals and being able to manage the counter attack and defence became a high priority.

The ball moved at a staggering pace from end to end as both teams searched for the opening goal.

This came by way of a penalty corner for Hampstead and Westminster.

After the initial corner had been charged down by Stefan Ray-Hills, the rebound was calmly slotted into Chris Scott’s goal by Mathew Guise-Brown.

After the break, Brooklands began to get a foothold in the game and after Hampstead were reduced to 10, they capitalised with a goal off the training ground from midfield general Stefan Ray-Hills.

An exciting 10 minutes remained where Brooklands searched for the win.

As Aidan Khares cut through Hampstead and Westminster he believed he had been fouled but the umpires waived play on and goalscorer Guise-Brown threw a long overhead to open up the Brooklands defence.

A penalty corner was awarded and following a good save from Scott, Rupert Shipperley converted leaving Brooklands with no time to respond.