Payne sends East Grinstead second in seven-goal thriller

 

BEN Payne settled a seven-goal thriller with just four minutes remaining to send East Grinstead into second in the England Hockey League men's premier division with victory over Loughborough Students.

STAR MAN: Ben Payne netted late on to send East Grinstead second in the men's England Hockey League premier division (Ady Kerry)

Simon Faulkner had given Loughborough Students the lead in Leicestershire, only for Mark Pearn and Rick Gay to hand the Sussex outfit the impetus.

Dave Beckett levelled up for the Students just a minute before half-time but only 60 seconds after the break Danny Hall restored East Grinstead's lead.

Faulkner, son of England and Great Britain performance director David Faulkner, appeared to have salvaged a point for Loughborough with just five minutes to go but Payne scored just a minute later to send East Grinstead second.

Previously Surbiton had been second but they were not in action and therefore slip to third, three points ahead of Beeston who claimed a 3-1 win over Bowdon.

Chris Borrett had given Bowdon the lead in Nottingham but Beeston replied courtesy of goals from Jamie Parker, Stephen Lawrence and Martin Jones to seal victory.

Elsewhere, strikes from James Royce and Alex Jakeman were enough to hand the University of Exeter an impressive 2-0 victory over Cannock while David Eakins' goal, two minutes from time, gave Hampstead & Westminster a narrow 1-0 win over Brooklands MU.