Hockey Ely City 1 Harpenden 6

Ely Standard: Ely Mens 1st Hockey V HarpendenEly Mens 1st Hockey V Harpenden (Image: Archant)

Pointless Ely City were consigned to their 10th consecutive defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Harpenden on Saturday.

Ely have struggling to field the same starting line up on more than one occasion this season – their first in Division 1 since promotion last year - and this week was no exception.

With no points on the board this season and the half-way mark fast approaching, the home side were welcoming Harpenden in a match that had been earmarked as a must win for Ely.

The visitors were quick off the mark and the Ely defence struggled to cope with the movement of the Harpenden forwards.

Caught on their heels, Ely quickly found themselves 2-0 down with just 10 minutes on the clock when an early deflection was followed up with a short corner that was deflected high into the Ely net.

A third goal was added by the visitors when a reverse-stick effort from an unmarked midfielder was lifted above the advancing Ely keeper.

With a sizeable gap between the two sides, Ely started to control play for large periods but the visitors added a fourth from another short corner before half-time to knock the wind out of Ely’s sails.

With a reshuffle and change of plan at the break, Ely started the second half brightly, again controlling the game and creating some good chances. They were rewarded when Chris Purllant pulled one back after a couple of attempts.

This was, however, the end of Ely’s scoring for the day and the visitors hit the mark on two more occasions before the final whistle ended the misery.

Ely are set to take on top of the league Saffron Walden this Saturday as they go in search of their first point of a difficult season.