KINGSWINFORD hockey players feared the worst when they resumed their West Midlands League Division One campaign with a trip to table toppers Bromsgrove.

Forced to field a much weakened side, Kingswinford lost out 4-0 with goals from Mark Burchett, Tom Jennings, Matt Russell and Karl Troth causing the damage.

But Kingswinford came out of the game full of credit and went close in the first half with skipper Surjit Takhar firing inches wide while Billy Jawanda couldn’t convert from a series of short corners.

Both Colin Morris and Indy Baddhan went close for Kingswinford in the second half, while at the opposite end, Sharm Dhaliwal and Raghvir Singh pulled off goal-line clearences to keep Bromsgrove at bay.

Skipper Takhar added: “Due to a number of people pulling out, I had a bare 12 players and had to play people out of position”.