DREAMS of automatic promotion for Salisbury Hockey Men’s firsts have vanished after losing 3-2 to Havant in Hampshire Division 1.
As the Lower Bemerton outfit are unable to catch champions-elect Gillingham, who they face on Saturday, the best they can hope for is second place to make the play-offs.
But for that to be achieved they will need to win their last two games.
Havant pressed highly and were quickly on the scoresheet, firing home a goalmouth scramble.
Salisbury levelled when Will Alvis won a penalty corner, which was dispatched by Rory MacTaggart.
Despite the leveller, Salisbury failed to find their rhythm and paid the price when the hosts converted a breakaway goal.
After the break, Salisbury lost centre back Will Lewin to the side-lines and the hosts benefited from the numerical advantage, extending their lead to 3-1.
The deficit was halved with two minutes to go as MacTaggart and Akram Ghauri combined down the left flank before firing across to Tom Morton who dispatched from close range.
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