Mid Sussex suffered a weekend of double disappointment with a 4-0 home defeat by Maidstone and the retirement of influential midfielder Duncan Wood-Allum due to a recurring foot injury.

Skipper Andy Green said: "It was a disappointing result for us and Duncan's news is a huge blow.He has been an influential feature for a long time.

"However, we can take positives from our performance. The chances we created and the fact that we battled to the final whistle were pleasing aspects."

Some good news for Mids is the return of Luke Hurle, who recently announced he was stopping playing National League hockey for Lewes.

Hurle coaches Mids and he was in the side for Saturday's setback. Jon Toomer was also back in the line-up but neither player could prevent a well-organised Maidstone side from scoring twice before half-time.

The second half saw Mids rally and a 12-minute spell immediately after the interval saw the visiting keeper save point-blank from the luckless Steve Booth and Simon Hobden after excellent work by Hurle.

Mark Humphries was also denied a golden opportunity when his shot struck a team-mate on the line.

However, Maidstone scored a breakaway third and added a fourth soon afterwards.