Dereham remain rooted to the bottom of the East Men's League as missed opportunities cost them dearly in a 3-0 defeat to Cambridge University.The students opened the scoring with a tap-in at the back post and although Mike Timm and Ben Warnes had chances as Dereham dominated proceedings, Cambridge held their lead at the half-time interval.

Dereham remain rooted to the bottom of the East Men's League as missed opportunities cost them dearly in a 3-0 defeat to Cambridge University.

The students opened the scoring with a tap-in at the back post and although Mike Timm and Ben Warnes had chances as Dereham dominated proceedings, Cambridge held their lead at the half-time interval.

Dereham continued to create opportunities in the second half and forced more short corners, but could not find a way back into the game. Cambridge added a second late on, capitalising on a mistake from centre-back Chris Edwards and dejected Dereham then conceded a third near the end.

Dereham Ladies 6, Bury St Edmunds 0

DEREHAM Ladies' form goes from strength to strength with a superb win to keep them second in the East Premier League.

Dereham had a goal from Georgie Edwards after 2½ minutes. After seven short corners Holly Allen scored to make it 2-0 after knocking in a rebound off the Bury's keeper's pads. Two minutes later Eve Van Poortvliet scored the first of her four goals from a well-worked short corner.

Bury made one of their rare ventures into the Dereham D and a certain goal was saved on the line and cleared. Van Poortvliet then picked up the ball and made one of her trademark charges through Bury's midfield and defence to make the half-time score 4-0.

In the second half Dereham pressed but could not break through the Bury defence until 24 minutes when Van Poortvliet scored her third goal. Dereham continued to run riot through the Bury defence and after two more short corners which were not converted, Van Poortvliet scored her fourth goal in open play.

Norwich Dragons II 1, Dereham Ladies II 6

Dereham stretched their unbeaten run to five games to keep the pressure on the top three teams in Division Two North East.

A break from Dereham finally saw quick forward Jess Shand power through the Dragons' defence to make it 1-0. Dragons fought back and equalised shortly after. A second Shand goal saw Dereham into half-time 2-1 up, but the Dragons were a continual threat.

The second half saw Dereham raise their game and some excellent play from Sarah Borrett and Suzie Johnson at the heart of the defence kept the Dragons at bay. Louise Bunning worked tirelessly in midfield to provide some pinpoint passes for the Dereham forwards.

A hat-trick for Shand settled nerves and saw Dereham play more simple, but effective hockey. After a goal from Charlotte Reeve to take the game beyond the Dragons' grasp, Jess Shand scored two more stunning goals to seal the victory and earn herself Falcon Capital player of the match.

Dereham II are fourth in the table and still have the four teams at the bottom to play, starting with Bury St Edmunds II.

Dereham Colts 0, Thetford Ladies 0

COLTS met a strong team new into their league following relegation last season.

With a goal disallowed in the first half and hitting the post in the second half, the Dereham defence did well to maintain another clean sheet, with Krissy Barnard at left-back playing particularly well.

Ben Burgess player of the match Ellie Boyce came close, as did Juliet Richardson, who had a strong game at left-mid. Super subs Hattie Bowden and Fran D'Sousa played well to relieve the midfielders.

The last 10 minutes saw Dereham really put the pressure on and if that effort had been applied the whole of the game, they may have sneaked a win. The league fixtures now take a break for half-term but the Colts will continue to train and practise hard, with two friendly games organised for their slip dates.

Dereham Colts: Krissy Barnard, Hattie Bowden, Ellie Boyce, Emily Crisp, Fran D'Sousa, Helen Kiddle-Morris, Rachel Lavers, Heather Morgan (captain), Juliet Richardson, Pixie Seaman, Alice Tarry, Hannah Tarry, Liz Tarry.

Dereham Colts II 3, Thetford II 0

Dereham stole most of the early possession with some skilful play from the midfield.

Inside 10 minutes the ball was played from defence up to Hannah Dewing who ran it into Thetford's D and scored from the edge. The restart saw Dereham push further upfield after some good decisions made by Teresa Stolworthy and Robyn Ollington. It led to Jackie Taylor making a fast cross to Zoe Leverett who scored Dereham's second goal.

Thetford runs down the centre put the Dereham defence under a lot of pressure but they were stopped by Emily Barnard and Fran Grapes. Near half-time Dereham's defence cleared a short corner up the pitch and set up Harriet Thorp to make it 3-0.

Thetford second half created a lot of work for the Dereham defence and midfield. A good shot was saved by Liz Tarry. Hannah Barnard's skilful dribbling up the wings gave Dereham more chances.

PoM: Harriet Thorp, Hannah Barnard.