Nagra brace is in vain as Stoddart’s penalty-corner treble lifts Wakefield

Hosts Wakefield opened the scoring in the 18th minute with Sam Shute forcing the ball home after a good save from keeper Elliot Rider.

Two minutes later, Khalsa were back on terms after an excellent reverse-stick strike from Dave Harris.

Brave defending on the line denied Khalsa the lead from a short corner and, in an end-to-end encounter, it was Wakefield who made their next penalty corner pay, fine improvisation at the top of the circle allowing Stoddart to open his account.

Wakefield opened up a two-goal cushion after the break, capitalising on a defensive error to win another short corner, again converted by Stoddart.

With their backs to the wall, the visitors started to use possession more effectively, with Gurminder Ghattaura and Jas Singh seeing more of the ball.

Dave Harris and Anit Chudasama were making a nuisance of themselves up front and Aaron Nagra took advantage to confidently dispatch a short corner and bring it back to 3-2.

Another Nagra short corner was well saved by the keeper before Khalsa got back on level terms.

Ghattaura’s cross found Nagra’s perfectly timed run and his sliding effort deflected the ball high into the net.

Khalsa sensed they could still claim the win and continued to press Wakefield high up the pitch.

However, a Wakefield counter created another short corner and Stoddart made no mistake to complete a 4-3 win.

In their final friendly before the start of the league season, Leamington’s men’s 2nds suffered a 2-1 defeat at higher-division opponents Coventry & North Warwickshire.

An own goal from debutant Mike Petrie put Leamington on the back foot early on, but they were level when Dan Jones found space on the edge of the area and produced a calm finish.

A loose pass in the centre of midfield led to Coventry and North Warwicks taking a slender 2-1 lead into the break and it needed heroics from goalie Jeff Love to keep Leamington in the contest after the interval.

Leamington Ladies 1sts went down to a 3-0 defeat at Wellingborough in their opening Midlands Division One fixture, while their 2nds were on the receiving end of a 7-2 thrashing by Stratford in Division Two.

Debutants Mariana Gallo and Michelle Andrews scored the Leamington goals.

A gutsy performance from their thirds could not prevent them going down to a 3-1 defeat against Stratford 2nds.

Leamington took advantage of a defensive mix-up to open the scoring midway through first half, Emily Steer feeding the ball across goal for Clare Hassall to finish.

Stratford made it it 1-1 at the interval and then dominated the final 15 minutes of the second half, adding two further goals, the second of which was a deft reverse flick.