East Grinstead look like they will be playing European hockey next season.

Dave De Prez scored twice as Grinstead beat Cannock 3-0 at Saint Hill to leapfrog their visitors into second place in the National premier division.

They are now guaranteed a top three finish which should be enough to secure a place in the EuroHockey League for next year.

Places are awarded on points accrued by each nation and there is a mathematical chance that England will only be given two places rather than three.

The other obstacle would be if Loughborough Students, who will not now finish in the top three, win this year's EuroHockey League and claim one of the places as holders.

However, the odds are against both those scenarios which means Grinstead can start planning for Europe.

Manager Matt Jones is delighted with Grinstead's success so far but has urged his players to take maximum points from their remaining three games to guarantee second place.

Jones said: "I am absolutely delighted to secure a top-three finish because it signals another notch in our progression of where we want to take the club.

"To do the double over Cannock and prove we are as good at home as we are away was also tremendous.

"We cannot put the bunting and streamers out yet but it is looking more and more likely we will be playing in Europe.

"We will not be satisfied with third place. We will go to leaders Reading on Sunday looking to make amends for their victory at Saint Hill at the beginning of the season when we played poorly. We know we are in a rich vein of form and we are determined to show that on Sunday."

James Southgate failed to recover from an injured shoulder but captain Richard Payne made his first appearance since Christmas following a foot injury.

De Prez broke the deadlock on 23 minutes and Danny Hall added a second two minutes into the second half to virtually kill off the game. De Prez's second on 51 minutes was the pick of the three, Aaron Goninon started a flowing move from his own circle and four other were players involved before Grinstead's top scorer finished with aplomb.

Although it was a great team effort, the star of the show was Grinstead goalkeeper George Harris. Jones added: "I would go so far as to say he was world class."

Brighton and Hove look like avoiding relegation from South Premier division one after an excellent 2-1 away to fellow strugglers Richmond.

Brothers Andrew and Simon Acott got the goals as Brighton secured a third successive win. With two games remaining they are six points clear of the bottom two who definitely go down and four points clear of the next two who could also be relegated.

Captain Luke Williams said: "The confidence is growing with each game and I believe one point from our last two games will be enough."

Ben Barnes put second-placed Chichester ahead at home to Ashford but they ended up going down 2-1 in controversial circumstances.

Relegated Lewes lost 7-2 at home to Maidstone.

In the Kent/Sussex Regional League, Worthing - who have already secured a play-off place - tried out some younger players as they drew 2-2 with Herne Bay. Chris Lowin and Callum Fairclough got the goals.

Eastbourne enjoyed an excellent 6-1 win at home to third-placed Folkestone thanks to goals from Dan Williams (three), Rob Cornell (two) and Matt Veitch.

Darren James, Ian Brown, John Burroughs, Matt Proval and Philip Roper got the goals as Horsham won 5-1 at Burnt Ash.

In division one, Penguin beat Newhaven 7-0 with Rob Hallett (three), Tim Warren (two), Stuart McConachie and Dave Matthews on target.

Lyle James scored a hat-trick, Marc Livesley hit two and Tom Wylie got the other as Mid Sussex defeated Gillingham Anchorians 6-3 but Crawley's promotion hopes suffered as they lost 4-1 at home to Old Williamsonians.

l Horsham Ladies boosted their survival hopes in Women's National South division by taking four points from a double-header weekend.

Fran Crossley scored as they drew 1-1 at St Albans on Saturday, then Crossley, Siobhan Aherne and Andrea Scott got the goals as they beat relegated Woking 3-0 on Sunday to move up to fourth from bottom.

The bottom two go down and the team finishing third-bottom have to face a relegation play-off.