Captain Matt Harper says Canterbury Hockey Club’s first defeat of the season in Conference East on Sunday should be a timely reminder to them for the rest of the season.

They hope to celebrate President’s Day at Polo Farm on Sunday by getting back to winning ways against Ipswich (1pm) following the 3-2 defeat at Sevenoaks when Harper admits nothing went right.

He said: “It wasn’t good and a really bad performance. Things didn’t go well and we just didn’t click. There was no reason for it – we just had a collective off-day.

“Everything was fine for the first 20 minutes, we had plenty of opportunities to score and it was a really open game.

“Sevenoaks were really up for it on the day. They worked extremely hard, giving us no time on the ball.

“Our passing was sloppy and all the good things that we have done this season just didn’t happen.

“The game turned into a scrap, and they came out on top. We have to learn from it and make sure we concentrate on every game we play.”

The win means Canterbury’s lead at the top over their west Kent rivals has been cut to only two points but they will start favourites against second-bottom Ipswich, who have lost four of their six games so far this season.

Harper reports no fresh injury worries but Richard Keir has been included in the 16-strong squad as a reward for good displays in the seconds

He said: “It’s a big day in the club year. There will be a lot of people there, so we will be looking for a good performance and result after such a poor one last week.”

Meanwhile, Canterbury Ladies consolidated their fourth place following the 7-0 thrashing of Chelmsford last week. They are away to second bottom Ipswich on Saturday (start 11.45am).