West Herts Hockey Club men had another poor performance at the weekend as they lost 4-2 to Richmond at home in the NHL East Conference.

The Stags slumped to a 3-1 deficit at half-time following goals from Simon Cox, Joshua Mardell and Rhys Linnell.

Dan Webster had reduced the arrears with a penalty corner after 22 minutes but in the second period they found themselves 4-1 down through Marcus Howard.

Mistakes had cost Stags dearly and a second goal for Webster in the final minute was a mere consolation.

The disappointment was shared by West Herts ladies firsts who lost 4-0 to St Albans in the Investec NHL East Conference.

The ladies were looking for a change or fortune in the league as they took on their fellow stragglers but the home side failed to convert any of their chances.

St Albans got a double breakthrough with Adele Sammons and Amie Hone scoring with seven minutes left in the first half.

But they were to suffer a further blow straight after the break as Herts’ tired defending led to a penalty stroke, which Hone converted.

St Albans added a fourth goal after 50 minutes and the lady Stags will be hoping for an improvement when they travel to Cambridge this weekend.

The poor run of results kept on coming as West Herts Seconds fell to a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Waltham Forest as they remained rooted to the bottom of East Premier B.

A brace from Dan Scott and a goal for Luke Samarasinghe were not enough for the home side.

The ladies’ seconds could not convert their possession into goalscoring opportunities and went down 2-1 to mid-table Harpenden.

The home side took the lead against the run of play and scored their second with 10 minutes to go.

West Herts worked hard to the end with Lucy Cohen finding the back of the net but the Harpenden defence held on.

It was a frustrating weekend for the thirds as they let slip a 2-0 lead and missed a welter of chances in a 2-2 draw with visitors Colchester.

The Stags opened well as Robin Willis gave his side the deserved lead going into the break.

Rob Gabriel doubled their advantage as he pounced on a rebound from a penalty corner.

Colchester got back on par before Herts thought they had scored a third to secure the win.

The ball had crossed the line but the umpire awarded a penalty stroke, which was saved by the visitors’ keeper.

West Herts mens sixth’s continued their good run with a 4-3 win over MDBA firsts at St Michael’s school.

Tse Fung Pang scored two and Suraj Kukaidia and Raphael Allen were also on the scoresheet.

And the Mens Sevens were also in good form as they defeated Stevenage fifths 2-1 at the New Field.

Stafs took the lead through skipper Shazsa Paterson-Jones who slotted home from close distance before the visitors equalised with a deflection from a penalty corner.

But in the second half the opposition tired with their keeper making excellent saves to keep them in the game.

The winning goal came from Mark Lythaby who slammed the ball home to gain the win.