A MAD five minutes saw Worcester's men let slip a half-time lead in Saturday's 4-2 home defeat to Stratford.

Jack Townsend opened the scoring with a good move down the right but the visitors equalised shortly after.

Captain Chris Watling then put away a well worked penalty corner to take Worcester into half time with a lead only for three quick-fire goals to turn the tide.

Keeper Tom Dalton made a great save from a penalty flick and Worcester was unable to force another goal to tee up a grandstand finish.

The women fared far better with a 7-1 demolition of Stratford at Nunnery Wood.

Worcester opened the scoring from a great ball by Lyndsey Beynon on the left that went through a crowd of players for Lucy Merrett to fire in.

The hosts applied plenty of pressure for the rest of the half with no joy but got a flurry of goals after the interval.

A rebound from a penalty corner was finished off by Merrett before Saska Ingham scored the third goal with Merrett then taking her haul to four. Emma Gardner and Julie Harwood rounded off the scoring.

The men's seconds had a difficult time with a 7-0 defeat at Sutton Coldfield losing 7-0 but the thirds picked up their first point from a scrappy 2-2 draw with Old Silhillians courtesy of goals from Jack Barnes and Tom Lewis.

The men's fourths dropped their first points of the season with a 3-3 draw away to Stratford, Arthur Quinn opening the scoring followed by skipper Nat Garfield. The final equaliser came via Jake Glass.

The women’s seconds secured a 3-0 win against Bromsgrove with goals from Clare Hayes, Rachel Humphries and Jo Baggs.

In the junior section the Potters lost 3-0 to a strong Bromsgrove side, the Pippins beat Evesham & Badsey 9-2 and the under-14 girls drew a friendly with Stourport 2-2.

The men's over-50s progressed to the next round of the England Hockey tier-two cup with a hard fought 2-1 win over Shrewsbury. Andrew Waters and Mark Carey's penalty corner decided matters.