KHALSA Hockey Club were busy in action last weekend, with mixed results for five of their sides.
West Bridgford snatched a late point from Khalsa’s men’s first XI after a roller-coaster of a tie.
Khalsa’s Alex Idoine opened the scoring from a penalty corner after a rebound fell kindly to him, but were pegged back immediately after a penalty corner of their own.
The hosts West Bridgford were the more dominant side but could not find a way past a solid Khalsa rearguard.
Idoine forced a fine stop from a penalty corner as they began to grow into the game.
They regained their lead when Jack Wells was picked out to tap the ball in after initially losing the ball, Gurminder Ghattaura and Amritpal Atwal reacting superbly to steal back possession.
Idoine turned provider to set up Joe Colantonio for the simplest of finishes and give Khalsa a two-goal cushion, but a change of formation from the hosts changed their fortunes.
A deflection beat the Khalsa keeper to bring the deficit to one, before they snuck an equaliser in the dying minutes to steal a point against their rivals.
Khalsa face Bournville next week and hope to build on the positives from their trip to Nottinghamshire.
Khalsa’s second XI had more success in a 7-4 win over Rugby & East Warwick.
The hosts put Rugby under pressure from the start, Adrian Betts and Josh Pennington scoring a quickfire couple of goals to put them into a promising position.
They were unable to extend their advantage before the visitors drew level at the end of the first-half.
Khalsa did not let the set-back deter them, and continued to pressure Rugby.
That pressure was rewarded when Betts notched a second, whilst Matt Nobes dispatched a penalty stroke with ease.
Stuart Colgate then netted from a short-corner to put Khalsa 5-2 up, conceding at the end of the second period to still lead by two.
Colgate and Nav Hayer added further goals for Khalsa, taking a 7-4 win after conceding a late consolation.
Khalsa 3s hosted Leicester and endured a difficult start when conceding two goals early on.
The hosts regrouped and eventually found the net through Rob Love, but pushing for an equaliser would leave Khalsa exposed – a counter-attack putting them 3-1 behind.
Dhanraj Saund did score a consolation with the last play of the game, but it was too little, too late for Khalsa’s third string.
Elsewhere, Khalsa’s fourth XI had a successful trip to Old Silhilians, where they won 2-1 courtesy of Paramjit Hayer and Pritpal Singh strikes.
On Sunday as the final side to represent the club, Khalsa’s Mixed XI suffered a disappointing, but spirited 3-1 loss to Cannock in the third round of the England Hockey Mixed Cup.
The winners knew a tie against 2018 winners Repton awaited them, but it was not to be for Khalsa despite their best efforts.
Chances arose for both sides in an end-to-end start to the game, but Cannock struck first inside ten minutes from a short corner, adding a second in similar fashion.
Captain Scott Angliss delivered a rousing half-time team talk, which inspired Khalsa to dominate the second half proceedings, pulling a goal back through Cerys Miller, who steered the ball into the corner.
Further opportunities continued to fall their way, but they were unable to find their way past Cannock a second time.
A third was conceded with seconds remaining after Khalsa pushed forward for an equaliser – putting an end to their cup run for this term.
