Canterbury’s Michael Farrer claims the city club are well set to make another assault on the national indoor title next season after disappointment in this year’s Wembley finale.

Canterbury reached the final of the Maxinutrition Hockey 5s at Wembley Arena with a dramatic semi-final win over Reading, only to go down 8-4 to East Grinstead, who secured their sixth consecutive indoor title.

The city club peppered the goal of EGs keeper Filip Neusser, who was named man-of-the-match, for long periods but were unable to overcome their ruthless opponents in a game televised live on Sky TV.

Twelve months after a semi-final defeat to EGs, Farrer said: “We were maybe overawed by the experience last year, so it was good to come back strongly and have another crack at it.

“We performed well in the semi-final (a 9-8 win over Reading). Maybe we could have done more in the final but their goalkeeper really was the difference, particularly early on when he made some outstanding saves.

“We could have been two or three up and then it might have been a different game. They are a vastly experienced side. They are hard to beat but hopefully the experiences of the last two years can help us get back to this stage next year and go one better.”

Canterbury resume their outdoor Premier Division campaign at second-bottom Loughborough Students on Sunday afternoon.

Canadian keeper Antoni Kindler has been sidelined by a back injury and is set to be replaced as No.1 by Diccon Stubbings, with Spanish under-21 midfielder Xavi Tost added as an overseas player until the end of the season.

The city club are sixth, just two places but nine points adrift of the final play-off place and Farrer said: “We want to win some games. We are not looking at merely survival, we are more focused on putting pressure on the top-four.”