Nap hand sends Dereham team down

Chelmsford 5, Dereham 0

HOCKEY: Dereham's relegation back to the East League set-up was finally confirmed on Sunday when they were beaten at high-flying Chelmsford.

Despite losing all but one of their matches in their first season in the Conference, Dereham went into their penultimate fixture knowing that a victory could keep alive their outside hopes of avoiding the drop.

But winning at Chelmsford was always going to be a long shot and so it proved, with a hat-trick from Kat Hales and further efforts from Jess Ecott and Sarah Bolton condemning the visitors to a heavy defeat.