DESPITE a stirring second-half fight back in the final, Old Loughtonians were unable to retain their English Hockey League National Indoor title on Friday night.

A huge crowd packed the Crystal Palace Sports Centre for finals night, the first sell-out for ten years, but it was a bitter occasion for the Chigwell side as they lost 7-6 to Guildford having fallen 6-1 behind.

Earlier in the evening, Loughts overcame local rivals Southgate 2-0 in the semi-finals with goals from player-coach Nick Thompson and Paul Dover.

Guildford were 3-0 up by half time in the final as the Essex men struggled to find their usual fluency. They pulled one back but the Surrey side surged into a seemingly unassailable 6-1 lead.

Suddenly Loughts clicked and stormed back to 7-6, but Guildford held on to take the national crown and qualify for next year's European Indoor League.

Thompson scored four goals (Ravi Verdi got the other two) in a superb individual performance but was disappointed to finish on the losing side.

He said: "We had too many individuals who didn't play well. Perhaps it was complacency as we did expect to win.

"When you are coaching the team and playing at the same time, it's difficult to see where things are going wrong and which players should be substituted.

"I was pleased with how I played but the team didn't start to tick until we were 6-1 down."

Loughts were in premier division action in the outdoor league at Luxborough Lane on Sunday but suffered further disappointment with a 4-2 defeat against Surbiton.

Spanish star Juan Escarre made his long-awaited debut as the home side made an excellent start.

A healthy crowd had turned up to see Escarre in action and he soon put Loughts 1-0 up. In the second period he continued to cause Surbiton problems on the left flank, and when his run and flip past the goalkeeper was tapped in by Canadian Scott Simpson, a home victory appeared all but secured.

However, Surbiton refused to buckle and after Cliefe and Wallis had changed the whole complexion of the game with two quick strikes the visitors grasped the initiative.

South African Greg Nicol collected a pass and sent a fierce drive past Robin Feasey. As Loughts became increasingly frustrated, Surbiton began to force more mistakes from the home side, and Nicol converted a penalty ten minutes from time to make the final score 4-2.

Loughts visit Teddington in the league on Saturday then host Guildford in the fifth round of the outdoor cup on Sunday.