Dereham's woeful start to the East Men's Hockey League season continued on Saturday as they suffered a 5-0 mauling at home to St Albans.They shot themselves in the foot early on as a loose ball from Andy Lawrence allowed St Albans to take the lead within two minutes.

Dereham's woeful start to the East Men's Hockey League season continued on Saturday as they suffered a 5-0 mauling at home to St Albans.

They shot themselves in the foot early on as a loose ball from Andy Lawrence allowed St Albans to take the lead within two minutes. Captain Mark Timm was then shown a yellow card and St Albans doubled their advantage from a short corner.

Another St Albans short corner saw Dereham keeper Tom Vaughan save the initial shot, but he was then drawn away from the goal, allowing the visitors to score their third into an empty net.

In contrast to Vaughan's struggles, the St Albans keeper was in inspired form and shut out everything Dereham threw at him.

St Albans added a fourth shortly before half-time following another mistake from the Dereham keeper.

Dereham improved in the second period, but again found the St Albans keeper in unbeatable form. The visitors scored their fifth near the end from a penalty corner, as the ball deflected off three Dereham defenders on its way into the net.

Dereham stay bottom with seven defeats from their seven matches.

In the East Women's League Premier Division, Dereham stayed in the title hunt with a 5-0 success at home to Thurrock.

The prolific Evie van Poortvliet hit a hat-trick for Dereham, while Hannah Palmer was also on the scoresheet.

Donna Cawston completed the scoring with a stunning strike from a short corner supplied by Georgie Edwards.

Dereham crashed out of the National Knockout Cup on Sunday, beaten 5-2 at home by a strong Barnes Hounslow Ealing side.

The visitors were two goals up within 16 minutes, before Evie van Poortvliet pulled one back for Dereham. But Barnes soon made it 3-1 and added a fourth in the second half.

Georgie Edwards reduced the arrears, but Barnes immediately added a fifth to round off a straightforward win and book their place in the last eight.

In the Martin & Acock League, top of the table Dereham Colts eased to a 3-0 win at North Walsham.

After a goalless first half, Ellie Boyce swept Dereham into the lead and Polly Lockhart tapped home the second. Player of the match Charlotte Dann rounded off the scoring.