Last Saturday saw Solent Men's National League volleyball team up against local rivals Guildford in the Prosport Knockout Cup.

Saturday's match saw Solent come back from 2-0 down in an entertaining contest only to fall just short, losing 3-2. Solent are tied for second place in National League Division 2 with Guildford at the top so Saturday's cup match had the makings of a tough game.

The first set was neck-and-neck all the way through. Guildford defended a slender lead, and Solent could not quite muster the play to close it. The set went right down to the wire and, despite Solent's manful battling, Guildford sneaked it 30-28.

In the second set Solent could still not impose themselves on the game. Their poor passing meant that setter Neal Pattenden was having a hard day at the office and Solent's attack could not fire on all cylinders. Guildford managed to ease away and take the set 25-20 for a two-nil lead.

In the third set Solent coach Matt Cordrey-Gale changed his line-up, bringing himself on to set and using hitter Dave Carr. Solent also upped the tempo of the game, which caused Guildford problems. With Solent middle man Tim Nash out with a broken ankle, Solent's youngest squad member, Adam Philips, made the most of his chance with some great blocking and, led by Simon Golding's hustling, Solent cruised through 25-15.

Into the fourth set and Solent still had work to do. Guildford came fighting back and, with some dubious serving tactics, took a 20-16 lead.

Undaunted, and with Philips serving, Solent hustled for all they were worth and put on seven straight points to go 23-20 ahead. From there they were not to be denied and took the set 25-21 to level the match.

In the fifth and final set hitter Nik Hardy came back on for Solent. The play was close, but Guildford were in the ascendancy. They led 8-4 at the change-of-ends and errors were creeping back into Solent's defence.

Solent closed the gap to just 13-11 but two more errors gave the set to Guildford 15-11 and the match 3-2