Sheffield Hallam had a tough start to their promotion tournament campaign as they drew 3-3 with NOW: Pensions conference north champions Brooklands Manchester University on Sunday.
The Yorkshire side managed to survive automatic relegation from the premier division on the final day of the season but now face the three conference champions to keep their place.
It was Sheffield Hallam who got off to a flying start, going 3-0 up through goals from Will Hearne, Liam Ansell and Mike Shaw.
But two goals in two minutes from Brooklands’ Dave Flanagan and Aiden Khares turned the game around and Peter Cornell’s goal a minute into the second half drew the scores level.
In the other game, conference east champions Southgate took a narrow 1-0 win over west table-toppers, Cardiff and Met. Simeon Bird scored the only goal of the game and it puts them top of the table.
And in the relegation play-offs Brighton and Hove beat Isca 4-1 with goals from Sam Rose, Sam Chilvers, Mike Burney and Luc Hinton.
NOW: Pensions Men’s Hockey League (Saturday, March 29 2014): NOW: Pensions Relegation Play-offs: Brighton and Hove 4, Isca 1. NOW: Pensions Men’s Hockey League (Sunday, March 30 2014): NOW: Pensions Promotion Tournament: Brooklands Manchester University 3, Sheffield Hallam 3; Southgate 1, Cardiff and Met 0.
