Old Loughtonians men and women maintained their perfect starts to the season with five-star displays at the weekend.
The women enjoyed a comfortable 5-0 victory against Sudbury at Luxborough Lane in the East Premier Division, pressing from the start and seeing Emily Holmes fire home from a penalty corner on 16 minutes.
It was 2-0 on 26 minutes as Chloe Menear produced a carbon-copy of the first goal, with Zara White's raking pass expertly deflected home by a full stretch Chantelle Fernandez for a third before half-time.
A slick penalty corner routine saw India Blake claim her first goal for Loughts with a close-range finish 10 minutes into the second half from Tasha Patient’s pass.
And Loughts completed their nap hand late on when a flowing team move resulted in Blake combining with debutant Orla Cooke who found Em Davies at the far post to finish calmly ahead of a home date with newly promoted Havering on Saturday.
The men, after their opening National League One South win at Bath Buccaneers, struggled to find their rhythm and form against Old Cranleighans, who had lost to Sevenoaks a week earlier and looked full of enterprise and intent.
Loughts captain Conor Caplan had to stand down late in the day, which may have played its part in a slightly languid first half, although the hosts began well and scored from a short corner on three minutes when Will Godfrey fired against the backboard.
The hosts continued to make minor, unnecessary errors and it was no surprise when Cranleighans capitalised with a goal in the 24th minute.
The game remained in the balance at the break, with Loughts coach Lee Ible stressing the need to increase the tempo and quality on the ball.
Loughts took control in the third quarter, with Ed Fleet converting two penalty strokes after Cranleighan defenders illegally stopped flicks on the line which would otherwise have found the net.
Euan Gilmore, in particular, looked up for the challenge and showed great skill and endeavour, pressing and winning the ball high up in the pitch and launching counter attacks with great skill.
And Loughts finished in style with two goals from acting captain Tom Watson, who was on hand to finish off some of the best moves of the game ahead of a home date with Brighton.
The M2s won 10-1 against East Premier rivals City of Ptereborough 2s with goals from Archie Crowley (3), Martyn Lear (2), Toby Gayler, Ollie Davies, Guy Morley-Jacob, Luca Gormley and Sam Lowe.
And the M3s, after conceding to Potters Bar 1s and hitting the woodwork three times, ran out 5-1 winners with Ed Padfield leading the scoring.
The M4s romped to a 9-0 win at Braintree 2s, as the M5s beat Rochford 4-1 with goals from Andy Foinette, Rob Simmons, Phil Beauman and Simon Moffat.
But the M6s lost 1-0 to Old Southendians 4s, the M8s lost 7-2 at Saffron Walden 7s and the new-look supervets went down 6-2 at Hampstead & Westminster.
The L2s lost 4-0 at South One rivals Blueharts, but the L3s continued their good start with a 3-0 win over Havering 2s, with goals from Ellie Joyce (2) and Jen Hudson.
Rachel Hudson scored as the L4s lost 5-1 at Braintree 2s, while Keira Keogh netted twice as the L5s came back from 2-0 down to draw at Upminster 5s.
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