Chelmsford were left ruing their luck on Saturday, when a catalogue of unfortunate incidents contributed to a 3-2 defeat at Doncaster.

Already reeling from the shock news that player/coach Craig Fulton's knee injury would keep him out of the match, Chelmsford suffered another setback when captain Andrew Kennedy was temporarily out of the action when his stick snapped.

The ensuing chaos in the Chelmsford defence led to a Doncaster equaliser that cancelled out Will Rogers' second minute effort for Chelmsford.

Then, three minutes from time, just minutes after Chelmsford had levelled the scores at 2-2, a Neil Withington penalty corner strike hit Chad Miah's foot and looped agonisingly over Chelmsford goalkeeper David Carter and under the crossbar to snatch victory for the home side.

Chelmsford manager David Kitchiner was philosophical about the result when he said: "It was just one of those days when nothing went our way.

''I'd like to think that these incidents even themselves out over the course of a season, but we'll just have to wait and see.

''Obviously, our main concern now is to get Craig fit again."

Chelmsford, sponsored by Teakglobe Trading Limited, could not have wished for a better start when Fulton's replacement, Ian Belchamber, picked out Rogers behind the Doncaster defence in the second minute and the division's top scorer calmly spun away from the advancing Simon Axon and slotted the ball into an empty goal.

The Chelmsford lead was short-lived, though, as eight minutes later, Colin Edwards took advantage of the reshuffled Chelmsford defence to pick his spot in the corner of the Chelmsford goal.

At half-time the scoreline was a fair reflection of the play and both sides seemed to sense that they had a chance to win the game, which resulted in some more adventurous hockey in the second half.

Doncaster took the lead in the 48th minute when Edwards again found some space. This time, he arrived at the far post for a simple finish from a left-wing cross.

That goal signalled Chelmsford's best period of the game and they threw players forward in the search for the equalising goal.

When it came in the 63rd minute, from a Wayne Denne penalty corner, it appeared that it would be the final goal of the game.

However, with Abdul Khalik serving a temporary suspension, Chelmsford conceded the penalty corner that eventually proved decisive.

With Hampstead & Westminster winning at Beeston and Brooklands losing at home to Indian Gymkhana, Chelmsford remain in second place in the Division, but now the Hampstead lead has been extended to six points.

This Sunday (December 3), Chelmsford play their final game before the Christmas break when they entertain Barford Tigers.

A win for Chelmsford would consolidate second place and leave them in a position to launch a promotion campaign in the New Year. The match starts at 1pm at Chelmer Park.

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