COUNTY hockey suffered a double blow on the national stage as both Stourport and Worcester had teams relegated with a game remaining.

Stourport Men's First XI will finish fourth bottom in English League Premier Two, providing they take a point from already-promoted Bath on Sunday and third-bottom Doncaster fail to win by at least six goals.

The town lost 3-2 at home to Belper in their penultimate match, despite goals from Imran Yousaf and David Tuckett-Good.

Their destination is not entirely certain as, similar to the last time they were relegated, the leagues are being restructured into more regional divisions.

Stourport face the prospect of being placed in either the north or south section of a national league.

That aside, captain Phil Lashford believes his side can have few complaints about their fate.

He said: "The bottom line is the league table doesn't lie.

"We started off the season with seven players making their national league debuts so my expectations weren't particularly high at the start.

"But after Christmas we had a couple of new players arrive. I would say we are disappointed.

"If you look at the number of games we lost 3-2 or by a couple of goals, we have not had the experience to close games out."

Worcester Ladies Firsts, meanwhile, are guaranteed to end the season bottom but one in Women's Premier Two, whatever the outcome from Sunday's home match with University of Birmingham (12 noon).

Elaine Shepperd's team were thrashed 6-1 at Exmouth in their penultimate league fixture.

A bad start saw Worcester 2-0 down within a matter of minutes before grabbing a goal back following a good short-corner routine which Jo Walker struck sweetly onto the backboard.

Worcester, though, were unable to find another goal and a poor second-half performance contributed further to their defeat.

Meanwhile, Stourport Ladies Firsts go in search of promotion to the Midland Conference on Saturday.

Victory for the unbeaten Worcestershire Division One side in a play-off against Old Sils at University College Worcester (11.30am) will see that aim achieved. Meanwhile, goals from Louise Bagnall, Kim O'Conner and Emma Hurst earned the Seconds a 3-3 draw at Cresconians in their final Worcestershire Division Two match.

Despite beginning with only 10 players and going down to nine at one stage, the team held on for a point.

The hosts took the lead inside the first five minutes via a break that sliced through the visitors' defence.

Cresconians' lead did not last, however, as a twice-taken penalty-flick was despatched by Stourport skipper Bagnall.

The visitors then went ahead through an O'Conner strike, giving them the advantage at half-time.

Hurst's shot from a short corner made it 3-1 but the hosts piled on the pressure and drew level, despite a series of goal-line clearances.