KHALSA moved up to second in the Midland League Premier Division thanks to a comfortable 4-1 win at mid-table side Harborne.
After dominating possession and starting the brighter of the two sides, Khalsa managed to create an early chance with a short corner but Aaron Nagra was unable to convert.
Harborne made them pay when against the run of play the hosts found themselves in Khalsa’s circle and a cross took a lucky deflection to steer the ball past Elliot Rider.
Khalsa responded in a calm manner with Darling making amends for the unfortunate mistake earlier. His superb reverse stick cross found Jo Colantonio who was able to steer the ball into the net.
Stuart Gooderham was the key player in Khalsa’s second goal, riding several challenges and drawing the keeper off his line for a perfectly weighted pass to Sav Lall who slotted the ball home for 2-1 at half-time.
After the break Khalsa took a different shape with Sean Robinson, Ben Scott and Ben Stephenson dictating play from the back whilst Jack Wells and Gurminder Ghattaura were the play makers in midfield.
With only a one-goal cushion, Harborne became more attacking chasing an equalising goal.
But after soaking up the pressure the visitors were able to score a third.
Darling was again involved with a pin point aerial ball to find Jas Singh in space who linked well with Mandeep Sandhar for a one-two pass round the keeper and he easily powered the ball home.
A fourth and final goal came when Ghattaura saw his shot deflected to David Harris who was left with a simple tap in to seal all three points.
Khalsa have a double header this weekend when they play Bournville at home on Saturday before travelling to Nottingham University on Sunday.
The second team lost out in a thrilling 4-3 defeat at home to the University of Birmingham.
Darshane Theara bagged a braceand Jay Nagra scored another and despite having chance to win Khalsa were made to pay for not converting their short corner chances in the final minutes of the match.
The third team also tasted defeat after losing 1-0 to Derby with just ten players, while the Masters Over 60s side lost 2-1 to LX Hockey Club in a friendly match.
