Old Loughtonians Men’s Firsts are still searching for their first win of the new National League season after falling to a 4-1 defeat against West Herts on Saturday.

At the end of the first half, the score was goalless but West Herts started the better of the two teams after the break, opening the scoring in the opening five minutes of the second period.

Old Loughts then came back into the match when Conor Caplan managed to convert a penalty corner eight minutes after falling behind. However the good work was undone when two careless midfield turnovers gifted West Herts a 3-1 lead, with Old Loughts failing to recover and missing out on several good opportunities from penalty corners.

In the end West Herts proved too strong and in the dying seconds of the match were awarded a penalty to take the game 4-1.

Old Loughts Ladies 1s beat Wapping 2-0 in their first league match to get their campaign up-and-running in ideal fashion.

The visitors had clearly done their homework and made it difficult for Loughts right from the start. However, the home side rose to the challenge, starting brightly with some high intensity play.

Despite this, they struggled to break down Wapping’s strong defence until Helen Wakefield pounced on a mistake at the back, sending an excellent shot from the top of the ‘D’ into the corner of the net.

Wapping reacted well and immediately earned their first corner of the game but to no avail.

The away side failed to take their chances and subsequently a brilliant move down the right allowed captain Miranda Weeks to score with a well taken reverse stick shot just before half time.

After the break Wapping became more adventurous and threatened the goal but failed to capitalise on a couple of good opportunities. It was a good physical battle but Loughts came out on top, gaining an important three points.