Slazenger EHLDivision OneChelmsford 2 Belper 3Chelmsford's poor start to the Slazenger England Hockey League continued as they lost to Belper.The Essex side had led 2-1 but failed to make the game safe when they missed three good chances at the start of the second half.

Slazenger EHL

Division One

Chelmsford 2 Belper 3

Chelmsford's poor start to the Slazenger England Hockey League continued as they lost to Belper.

The Essex side had led 2-1 but failed to make the game safe when they missed three good chances at the start of the second half.

Chelmsford had by far the greater share of possession during the opening gambits and were rewarded when Luke Mepham finished a one-on-one with an excellent overhead from Alex Collins in the 13th minute.

The hosts then appeared to completely switch off allowing Belper's Australian Sam McCambridge to come straight down the other end and convert a reverse stick shot just 40 seconds later.

Chelmsford reacted well though and were rewarded when a sharp turn and shot from last season's top scorer Olly Cooper found the corner of the goal for a half-time lead.

After the break Chelmsford missed several golden opportunities to take a formidable two goal lead, the most glaring being when Mepham could only put the ball into the open net from two yards with his foot rather than his stick.

Chelmsford were inevitably made to pay for these misses as by the 48th minute of the game the side from Derby had taken the lead with goals from Daniel Mills and McCambridge.

With plenty of time left on the clock, Chelmsford still had chances to come back into the game, but once again, couldn't quite put the finishing touches when they presented themselves.