Mark Pearn believes his East Grinstead side could not be better placed after closing the first half of the season on a high.

Two games into the season Grinstead were bottom of the table without a win to their name and pessimists were questioning whether their bubble had burst.

Since then player-coach Pearn has seen his side shoot up the table thanks to some sparkling hockey and a flurry of goals.

On Sunday they consolidated second place in the premier division thanks to a first ever win over Loughborough Students, a week after breaking their National Hockey League duck against another top three contender, Cannock.

With the outdoor season now entering its winter break, Grinstead are ideally placed to step up their challenge for a European spot in the second half of the campaign when the league resumes on February 10.

Pearn said: "Over the last two weekends we have beaten Cannock and Loughborough - the only two sides we hadn't beaten - so for the confidence of the team it is a massive step forward.

"We gave away a couple of cheap games at home against Surbiton and Beeston earlier in the season and put ourselves in a situation where we had to take six points from the last two games. In terms of challenging for Europe that was a must.

"I said to the guys after beating Cannock that if we didn't turn in a performance and beat Loughborough we would be sitting over Christmas looking at the table in third or fourth place and thinking, What if'. Now we can look forward to the restart after Christmas with a lot of hope of making that European place. Psychologically, it was a massive result for us."

Danny Hall's 12th league goal of the season gave East Grinstead a 3-2 win in a hugely entertaining encounter at Saint Hill.

The match was great for excitement but bad for nerves, particularly among the home supporters hoping to see their side finally overcome Loughborough.

The Students went ahead early on, were then run ragged by their rampant hosts but somehow went in at half-time holding on at 2-2. Grinstead went 3-2 up in the second half but then had to withstand heavy spells of pressure before sealing victory.

Grinstead's Achilles heel is that they concede too many goals and it was disappointing to see them fall behind in a the fourth minute to a goal from Dave Beckett that may have been avoided.

But they soon turned things round, producing their best hockey of the match in a sparkling spell when open play goals from Ben Payne and Scott Ashdown saw them establish a lead which Hall, among others, could have added to with a shot which crashed against the crossbar.

Former Grinstead keeper Richard Potton was keeping the visitors in the game at this stage but his side drew level on 27 minutes when Richard Smith scored from their first short corner.

Half-time was an opportunity to regroup but that applied to both sides and the Students' hockey after the break was played with a lot more vigour as they continually stretched Grinstead.

However, Grinstead scored eight minutes into the restart when Payne stole possession, Darren Cheesman burst into the circle and Hall finished smartly as the ball was recycled.

Pearn believes there were mitigating circumstances for the slow start to the season but feels his side have now got things right.

He said: "We are missing three of our midfield this season - Jack Marfleet, Ashley Jackson and Glenn Kirkham - for different reasons and we have had to readjust.

"We haven't just been able to build from last year, we have had to change the team around. The guys who came in had to learn new skills, new roles and it showed in the first couple of games. Now we are seeing the benefits of being together for the last two or three months."

Lewes finally got their season up and running with a 3-2 win away to Maidstone.

It was their first win of the campaign at the ninth time of asking but they had to do it the hard way by twice coming from behind.

Mike Newman scored twice, including the winner, while Alistair Boyse was also on target.

Lewes held on in the closing stages despite finishing with ten men as Boyse was sin-binned.

Chichester returned to winning ways with a 4-1 success at Ashford which consolidated second place in South League premier division.

Will Blockley scored twice with Richard Blakesley and Jack Lerwill getting the others while player-coach Ben Barnes missed a penalty in the closing stages.

Brighton and Hove went down 2-1 at home to Richmond despite a goal from Gareth Lendrum.

In the Kent/Sussex Regional League, second-placed Worthing lost ground on leaders Ashford after having to settle for a 4-4 draw away to lowly Herne Bay.

Horsham moved up to fourth place with their third successive win, beating Burnt Ash 3-1 with goals from Ian Brown, Mark Humphries and Mark Ansell.

Eastbourne's match at Folkestone was postponed.

In division one, Rob Hallett scored a hat-trick as Penguin continued their good run with a 6-0 drubbing of Newhaven. Dave Matthews scored twice and Stuart McConachie got the other.

South Saxons lost top spot after going 2-1 at home to title rivals Kings College London. Jeremy Bunday was on target for Saxons.

Southwick triumphed 4-3 at home to HSBC thanks to goals from Jamie Bird (two), Chris Harris and a James Kifford penalty.

Skipper Marc Livesley scored for an understrength Mid Sussex as they lost 3-1 at Gillingham Anchorians, while Crawley were beaten 4-0 at Old Williamsonians.

In the Women's National South Division, top scorer hit an equaliser as Horsham closed for the winter break with a 1-1 draw at home to Firebrands.