THREE wins out of four saw Old Loughtonians make a strong start in defence of their Indoor English Hockey League title.
The matches were held at the Glades in Kidderminster where the Chigwell side were looking to give themselves a good chance of booking a place in the finals weekend at the end of the month.
After the previous week's win in the DTZ tournament, Loughts were full of confidence as they went into their first match against local rivals Southgate.
The Essex outfit played well only in patches, but produced enough flashes of brilliance to outshine their Middlesex opponents and came away with a 4-3 win.
The second game was an exciting encounter with Beeston which Loughts won 11-7. Paul Dover had a fine game in the middle of the pitch, repeatedly making life difficult for the Beeston defenders.
Loughts had come with a full squad of players which allowed them to bring on fresh legs in the late stages of games as the opposition tired.
Sunday's first match saw the Luxborough Lane side lose their first match of the outdoor season, beaten 5-3 by St Albans. They created plenty of chances but lacked a finishing touch in front of goal.
But the weekend ended on a high note with a 5-4 win over Loughborough Students, who put up a good fight but were denied by a last-minute winner from Loughts skipper Nick Thompson.
Loughts will be back in Kidderminster this weekend to play the remainder of their league matches against East Grinstead, Yeovil, Ford Dunton and Guildford.
In the ladies tournament, Loughts were threatened by relegation after a poor start to the tournament the previous weekend.
They moved away from the bottom of the table by beating Bracknell 6-0 and Leicester 6-2. On Sunday they lost to Canterbury 2-1 and Ipswich 4-3 but they survived the drop.
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