Idoine’s brace lays the platform for Khalsa’s derby success

Idoine opened the scoring from a well-worked move and Khalsa had two short corners cleared off the line before Anit Chudasama made it 2-0 following a flowing move which started in the visitors’ own half.

Khalsa conceded a goal after a sin-binning but restored their two-goal cushion at the break courtesy of a Gurminder Singh Ghattaura strike.

The visitors reshuffled their structure at half-time, allowing Stuart Gooderham and Jack Wells a lot of freedom an the move paid off as Wells scored a fine goal.

A second yellow card for Khalsa yielded a second goal for the hosts.

However, restored to full strength, Khalsa reasserted their control and Idoine added a second to make it 5-2.

Hampton took advantage of an injury to Khalsa keeper Elliot Rider to add a third, but the visitors had the final say when Chris Darling netted to make it 6-3.

Khalsa 2nds went down 4-1 at home to high-flying Cannock 2nds in the Midlands Premier on Saturday before bouncing back the following day to win 3-1 at Leek 2nds.

Khalsa’s 3rds were made to pay for not taking their chances, suffering a 2-0 defeat at a far more clinical Bridgnorth in Midlands Division One.

The visitors started well but were unable to take a number of short-corner opportunities and Bridgnorth took advanatage to make it 1-0 at the interval.

Hampered by injuries after the break, Khalsa fell further behind and a late rally failed to save them.

It was a similar story for the 4ths, who conceded three sloppy goals to go down at home to Leicester in South East Division Two of the Central League.

With a full squad available to them, Khalsa produced some good attacking play which yielded close to ten penalty corners.

However, they were unable to make any of the m count and Leicester showed no such profligacy in front of goal to claim a 3-0 win.

Khalsa Over-60s held their nerve in a penalty shootout against Staffordshire to progress to the last four of the England Hockey Masters Cup.

Khalsa journeyed to Cannock for an early start and the first half was a subdued affair, with both keepers looking assured.

The tie remained cagey after the interval with Khalsa keeper Chris Taylor making a good save to deny the hosts from one of their rare clearcut chances and the visitors also wasting a gilt-edged opportunity in the closing stages.

Man-of-the-match Taylor then proved the hero in the penalty shootout, saving one, while his team-mates scored all five to win 5-3.

Khalsa face a trip to Worcestershire and Herefordshire in the semi-final.