ST Albans Hockey Club suffered relegation from the Premier League Indoors after they lost their final four matches. The Saints knew going into the second weekend at Birmingham that they had to achieve wins to ensure their survival after taking only one p

ST Albans Hockey Club suffered relegation from the Premier League Indoors after they lost their final four matches. The Saints knew going into the second weekend at Birmingham that they had to achieve wins to ensure their survival after taking only one point from the four matches from the previous week. They opened up against Beeston and talented star Glenn Webster got Saints off to a flying start with a goal in the first minute. Saints then went 3-1 down but Webster struck back with his second before half time. Beeston opened up the second half with three goals in three minutes before Nick Seagrave scored for St Albans and then David Cooper added a late consolation after Saints had conceded again to make the final score 7-4. The second match of the weekend for Saints saw them battle with Kingston-Upon-Hull in what was a crunch clash. David Cooper opened the scoring for Saints but they were 4-2 down at the break with talented youngster Andy Dixon netting their second before half time. In the second period Dixon doubled his tally and he was worthy of praise along with fellow newcomer David Nicklin, as the pair impressed on their debuts at the highest level. Matty Cocks was also on target for St Albans but the final score was 9-4 to Kingston. Saints suffered a further blow when Nick Seagrave picked up an injury and was ruled out for the rest of the tournament, leaving them a man down. On Sunday, St Albans met Bournville and captain Joe Cowan struck in the first half but Bournville hit back to net four times. Saints responded well in the second period with Paul Cooper and Matty Cocks scoring and the half ended 2-2 but the final score was 6-3 to Bournville. Saints were left playing for pride in their final match against finalists Canterbury and coach Stephane Port saw his team go down to an 8-3 defeat. David Cooper put the Saints ahead and, although Canterbury took a 3-1 lead, captain Cowan scored before half time to make it 3-2. Cooper added his second after the break but Canterbury were too strong and recorded a convincing win. Following relegation Saints will now be looking to rebuild with young players coming in at an earlier age to ensure they are ready to compete in the seasons to come.