Hampstead hit the cup trail

Hampstead & Westminster booked their place in the semi-finals of the EHL Cup with a convincing victory over Old Loughtonians on Sunday. Facing a team from the division below them, H&W had it all to lose but put in a solid all-round performance to take the

Hampstead & Westminster booked their place in the semi-finals of the EHL Cup with a convincing victory over Old Loughtonians on Sunday.

Facing a team from the division below them, H&W had it all to lose but put in a solid all-round performance to take the game away from their opponents from the outset.

"It had cup banana skin written all over it but we played well and were very comfortable," said Hampstead coach Todd Williams.

"We should have scored more goals and I know the guys were a bit disappointed that we didn't but from a coach's point of view I was very happy because we didn't give them a sniff."

Williams' side took the lead courtesy of Jordache Rawson who drove home a penalty corner after 14 minutes.

Ian Roberts then doubled the lead with a variation move from a penalty corner from the left to make it 2-0 at half-time.

The visitors struck to reduce the deficit just after the break but Will Naylor instantly responded with H&W's third successful penalty corner before David Eakins made sure of victory with a penalty stroke on the hour.

H&W now host Sevenoaks, who also play in the division below them, in the semi-finals on March 21.

"For many years the gods haven't looked favourably on Hampstead & Westminster but this year we've been very lucky with our cup draw," said Williams.

"They will be very competitive and they have nothing to lose but we just have to manage it the same way as we did against Loughtonians. We would expect to win but there's still a job to be done."

Victory for H&W came on the back of a 2-0 loss to Loughborough in the league on Saturday.

Williams' side conceded early in the game before missing a vital chance to level the score from a penalty corner late in the second half and leaking a second minutes later.

"It just wasn't a good day at the office. On another day who knows what would have happened," said Williams.

"We played ok but it just didn't go our way. We didn't deserve to win it but snatching a draw would have been good. It was quite a useful fixture though and we've learnt a lot from it."

H&W face a busy fixture schedule in the coming weeks starting with league fixtures away to East Grinstead and home to Cannock this weekend.

H&W (v Old Loughtonians): Bevan, Roche, Collins, Cornick, Gonzalez-Laguillo, Walsh, Roberts, Cooper, Pruden, Rawson, Smith, Naylor, Swainson, Scanlon, Eakins, Williamson.

H&W (v Loughborough): Bevan, Roche, Collins, Phillips, Gonzalez-Laguillo, Walsh, Roberts, Pruden, Rawson, Smith, Naylor, Swainson, Scanlon, Eakins, Williamson.