Canterbury Hockey Club skipper Michael Farrer hopes their 9-1 home defeat to East Grinstead will prove to be a turning point in their season and spark an unbeaten run.

The city club were 5-0 down before half-time against the perennial National Premier Division big-guns East Grinstead on Sunday and suffered a second straight defeat to begin the campaign, having lost 3-1 at champions Reading on the opening day.

Farrer said: “It’s disappointing to lose and particularly by such a big score. It’s never nice to be thumped but they are a quality team with lots of former and current internationals. They played well and finished superbly. We didn’t play well and that made it look even more convincing.”

Farrer says the side should cast their minds back 12 months and summon the spirit which saw them recover from a thumping defeat in their second game following promotion to the top-flight to reach the play-offs.

He said: “It’s still early days. Last year we lost our second game 7-1 at Beeston but responded by beating Loughborough 6-0 the next week and going on a long unbeaten run.

“Any side just wants to get the first win, the first three points on the table, it helps you to relax a bit and focus on playing your game.

“You don’t want to get into a situation where you’re looking for your first win and you start to target certain games.”

Coincidentally, Loughborough are again the city club’s opponents at Polo Farm on Saturday (1pm) and Farrer added: “We’d love another 6-0 but we’d take any win.”

Liam Foster and overseas player, Trinidadian Mikell Pierre, should make their first appearances of the season and Farrer said: “It should give us more threat going forward.”

Farrer added: “It’s going to be an interesting league this year. I don’t think anyone will know how they’re shaping-up until Christmas at the earliest.”