West Herts’ Firsts brought their losing run in the Ladies National Hockey League (NHL) East Conference to an end on Saturday as they held Southgate to a 1-1 draw.

They had to battle hard for a point, and could have even come away with a win after an impressive second half showing.

A bright start from Southgate saw them take the lead after just 11 minutes as Caitlin Wales netted for the visitors.

Southgate’s poor form in front of goal this season meant Herts always had a chance of getting back into the game and they drew level through Becky Perry’s penalty just after the restart.

From there the hosts dominated and were unfortunate not to seal a win in the dying minutes when a second penalty stroke was tipped round the post.

The point takes them off the foot of the table ahead of a meeting with Hampstead & Westminster in their next match.

The Men’s Firsts were in excellent form as they cruised to a 4-1 away win against Brighton & Hove in the NHL East Conference.

Dan Webster continued his red hot goalscoring form as he notched a hat-trick to take his tally to eight goals in seven matches this season.

An end-to-end encounter remained goalless for 25 minutes before Shea O’Sullivan gave Herts the advantage and Brighton equalised six minutes later.

Parity at half-time soon turned to one way pressure after the break, with Webster taking command of matters to fire home three unanswered goals and secure the points for Herts.

With bottom of the table Indian Gymkhana up next, Herts will be confident of improving on their sixth place league position in their next match.

In the East Premier B, the Men’s Seconds shared six goals with Havering to play out a 3-3 draw thanks to goals from Tom Gwynne-Evans and an Ed Beak brace.

The Thirds made light work of Waltham Forest to record a comprehensive 3-1 victory in the East Division Two South.

After Luke Frey had given Herts a 1-0 advantage at the interval, they pushed on in the second period and a further strike from Frey added to Rob Gabriel’s effort to put the game beyond doubt.

They looked to have scored a fourth, but the goal was correctly ruled out after deflecting in off Robbie Waddup’s head.

Waltham had time to hit back, but their solitary strike proved to be a mere consolation.

It was a less productive weekend for the Women’s Seconds as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Brentwood Firsts in the East Division Two South West.

The result leaves them without a win in eight games and they will hope for a better outcome against bottom side Hertford on Saturday.

There were no such worries for the Women’s Thirds who eased to a 4-1 win over Saffron Walden at St Michael’s School.

A solid team performance was marked by goals from Lucy Cohen, Sam Gedge, Hayley McNeill and captain Lucy Matley.

Not to be outdone by their club-mates the Fourths produced the performance of the weekend as they thumped Letchworth Fourths 13-0.

Sam Rothwell was the most prolific of Herts’ players with four goals and there were hat-tricks for Sheena Hambleton and Rachel Aldridge.

A brace from Gabriella Holland and a solitary goal from Jemima Dawkins completed the rout.