Canterbury's men suffered relegation from the National Premier Division after disappointment in the end-of-season play-offs.

The city club had kept their hopes of top-flight survival alive on the final day of the regular season, avoiding the automatic relegation place and securing a spot in the four-team promotion tournament with the winners of three feeder leagues.

However a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the University of Exeter in the opening game at Cannock on Saturday was followed by an epic 5-4 defeat at the hands of Southgate the following day to end their chances of staying in the top division.

Mickel Pierre opened the scoring from a penalty corner in the second game but Gate raced into a 3-1 lead before Michael Farrer (pictured) followed his consolation goal from the previous day with another strike to make it 3-2.

A penalty corner strike made it 4-2 to Southgate at the break but Farrer scored twice in three minutes to complete a hat-trick of penalty corners and make it 4-4 before Gate snatched a winner two minutes from time.

Early goals from Lian Foster and Tom Butt had Canterbury infront in the final game against University of Durham but the students turned the game on its head in the second half to record a 5-2 win, with Farrer sent-off for a second yellow in the final minute.

University of Exeter and Southgate finished first and second to secure places in the top flight while Canterbury will play Division 1 hockey next season.