East Grinstead are planning more Saturday night showdowns after beating Hampstead and Westminster to move out of the bottom two in the National premier division.

Player-coach Mark Pearn grabbed a brace as Grinstead twice came from behind to secure only their second win since promotion at the end of last season.

But it was not just the result that delighted manager Matt Jones.

The match started at 6.30pm on Saturday evening, followed by a fireworks display at Saint Hill, and Jones believes the switch was a great move.

He said: "I think Saturday evening games like that could be the way forward.

It gives many more people the opportunity to see top-flight hockey at a more accessible time.

"I can definitely see us doing it again.

A few other clubs in the premier division have tried it and the feedback is good. One team got a crowd of 900 which is fantastic. We got more than we would normally do on Saturday and that was on bonfire night when a lot of people are already doing other things."

While the trial was a success, so too was the hockey. Grinstead won much more comfortably than the 3-2 scoreline suggests to cap an excellent weekend for the club.

All seven of the club's men's sides were triumphant on Saturday while the women's teams were also unbeaten.

Jones was not so happy to see the first team fall behind to Hampstead and Westminster after just nine minutes as three defenders missed an aerial ball and Dave Eakins was left unmarked to put the visitors ahead.

But Grinstead dominated the rest of the half and fully deserved their equaliser six minutes before the break when Ashley Jackson scored with a drag flick into the roof of the net from their first short corner.

Eakins restored the visitors' lead early in the second half but Grinstead fought back again and two goals from Pearn inside four minutes in the final quarter earned them three deserved points. The player-coach latched on to a pass through the centre to smash home the equaliser and then finished off a move involving Mark Justice and Ben Payne with a cheeky lob from the lefthand base line which was helped into the net by a defender who flattened the goal in the process.

Jones said: "We were without Kwan Browne who flew back to Florida to play in an international against Barbados but the guys responded very well without him. If we had had Kwan, it would have been a stroll in the park.

"This hasn't given us any breathing space but it is another step in the right direction.

"If we can get a win at (bottom club) Chelmsford this Sunday we would have ten points at the halfway point which would put us on target for this stage of the season."

Lewes climbed back up to third in South Premier division one after a 3-3 draw away to Oxford University.

Despite missing three key forwards, Lewes salvaged a point thanks to a late equaliser from Adrian Bettesworth.

Will Champness and Danny Poulsen were their other scorers.

Player-coach Luke Hurle said: "It was certainly two points dropped rather than a point gained."

Brighton's improvement continued with a 2-0 win at home to City of Portsmouth which moved them into mid-table.

John Fitzpatrick finished off a good move involving Stewart Dunbar, Charl van der Merwe and Craig Carolan to open the scoring on 15 minutes.

Brighton dominated for long periods but were grateful to a fantastic save by Chris Choyce from a short corner three minutes from time.

Victory was sealed almost immediately as Brighton broke down the other end and Sam Rose scored with a first time deflection from Kevin Browne's cross. Player-coach Carolan said: "Earlier in the season we were leaking goals too easily, We have worked hard on our defence and that is now two clean sheets in a row which is very pleasing."

Chichester went top of division two after winning 5-1 away to Gore Court thanks to goals from Sam Beere (two), Ben Barnes (two) and Jack Lerwill.