Wisbech Town lost 6-0 to high-flying St Albans on Saturday in their first game back from the winter break.

The hosts kept St Albans goalless for most of the first half but, after the break, the visitors were able to take advantage of their larger squad and plundered five goals.

Wisbech remain bottom of Premier A, without a point this season.

Wisbech captain Charlie Baxter said: “We really showed promising signs on Saturday. I know we lost 6-0 but these guys are second in the league and have the England manager as their coach.

“We held them for 30 minutes with a gritty, disciplined performance and created chances ourselves and if we hadn’t made a sloppy error to give the ball away with five minutes left in the half it would have been 0-0 and things may have been different.

“In the second half we still continued to play at a high intensity and with excellent organisation.

“But when you’ve got one sub and they’ve got five then it’s going to make a difference as the game went on.

“Many people at the club spoke to me after the game and said that was the best hockey we’ve played all season which was positive going into this Saturday.”

Baxter says he’s “confident” Wisbech can get a result in their relegation scrap at Blueharts, who are four points ahead of his side, on Saturday.

He said: “If we put in a performance like that against Blueharts then I think we can get the result.

“We are a few short at the moment with injuries and suspensions, but I’m confident with the squad I take that we can get a result out there.”

In East Women’s Division 1N, Wisbech ladies could only pick up a 1-1 draw at basement side North Norfolk.

Five minutes from time, Wisbech went ahead through Claire Apted from a short corner rebound. But, with two minutes to go, North Norfolk levelled from a penalty flick.

Captain Leanne Williamson said: “Obviously we were very disappointed with the result. We should have taken three points from the game but North Norfolk made things very difficult for us and our first half performance let us down.”

Goals from Tim Atkins (2), Richard Claxton, Lee Peck, Lee Punter and Chris Stanhope saw Wisbech II win 6-0 at Ely City II.