SALISBURY Hockey narrowly missed out on producing a shock result on Saturday, falling just short of booking a place in the Hampshire Cup quarter final.

Against tough opposition, the Lower Bemerton outfit won the opening two games of the group stage including an impressive victory against Hamble, who play two leagues higher than Salisbury.

Yet, on a warm late-summer’s day, fatigue started to set in with defeats to Southampton and Southern Premier outfit Trojans consigning Salisbury to a place in the Hampshire Trophy. It has been a summer of upheaval for the first team with the three top scorers from last year’s squad, which came agonisingly close to promotion, departing.

Max Grossmith and Alfie Jones have both moved away while Rory MacTaggart has joined City of Bath.

New skipper Andy Renshaw will hope some emerging young talent will take up the slack in the scoring department but his defence has been boosted with the return of Tom Twentyman.

He can reflect on a positive preseason which included a second place finish in the Wiltshire Cup.

“I thought, as a team that has changed dramatically from last season, we showed we can compete with any team in our league especially after beating Hamble in the first game,” he said. “We also have some key players to come back into the side before the start of the season, but overall it was a positive day.”

The Hampshire league campaign begins on October 3 on the road at Trojans IIs.

The ladies 1s begin their season on Saturday at home to Cheltenham IIs as they look to bounce back following relegation last year