Hampstead and Westminster’s men’s team dropped into the bottom two in the men’s Premier Division after a fourth successive defeat, losing 3-2 against relegation rivals Beeston.

Nick Giles opened the scoring and his Hampstead account on 22 minutes, diving in at the back post to tap home a good ball from Matt Botha.

However, Beeston struck twice in the ensuing seven minutes, levelling with a well-executed penalty corner routine and then taking the lead. Stuart Pilgrim charged down an aerial ball at full stretch above his head and the resulting rebound luckily landed at the feet of his strike partner, Chris Proctor, who duly finished.

Things got worse for Hampstead as they conceded again just before half-time, Beeston scrambling the ball into the net after another penalty corner.

And, although captain Toby Roche struck back after the break, the visitors were unable to find an equaliser and lost for the fourth game in a row, falling below Cannock into the bottom two places.

Hampstead’s women’s team also suffered a 3-2 defeat on the road in the Conference East, losing to Chelmsford and dropping two places to sixth.

The hosts took an early 3-0 lead and, although Cressida Grant and Joyce Esser hit back as Hampstead rallied after the interval, they too were unable to grab a leveller.

Both sides have home games at Paddington Recreation Ground on Saturday. The women host Slough and the men face East Grinstead before also entertaining Reading on Sunday.