CITY OF PORTSMOUTH'S EHA National League hopes took a five-goal knock at Ipswich.

They were beaten 5-3 by the East Anglian side and now face a do-or-die visit to the Milton Keynes hockey centre over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend.

The Ipswich defeat was a severe setback for Portsmouth, whose promotion prospects had begun so brightly with a 4-2 win over Bath Buccaneers in their opening play-off match.

"We were a goal down in 30 seconds and three behind before we knew where we were," confessed City player-coach, Pete Hayward.

Ivan Boswell (2) and Gary Bull cut the Ipswich lead before the end - but City, who topped the South Premier League this season, have a lot to do at Milton Keynes.

"The handy thing is that all six teams in the round-robin group have lost, so there's still everything to play for," he added.

Portsmouth's next match against Bowden on May 4 will be absolutely crucial.

"They currently top the group with six points, so it is our key game.

"If we can beat them, the door will be ajar, but we will have to play much better than we did against Ipswich."

The youngsters of Winchester Hockey club finished their season with an excellent turn-out of young players at the Geoff Adcock memorial tournament at Andover.

The young minis of under-8 and under-10 players achieved a mixed set of results, with the under-10s losing against the strong Southampton side, but taking their chances and winning against Salisbury and Andover.

Playing 24, 15-minute matches across the age groups, coaches Fran Gay, Richard Gaunt, Simon Hazlitt and Andy Craig were kept busy umpiring and coaching these future senior players.