CLACTON put in a tenacious East Men's Hockey League division three SE performance with a bare 11 players to get a well-deserved 1-1 draw at Waltham Forest.

John Hambrook shook off last week's foot injury to hobble through the game, while Colin Hook cleaned up a split eye to return to the pitch.

The Seasiders started brightly, with Tom Blake stealing the ball from the start to set Sam Hodge away, earning an early short corner.

Skipper Carl Parkes fired a shot at goal and Jamie Roberts directed it into the open goal for a dream start.

James Mead put in a great performance and has laid claim to a regular slot in the side.

Alex Mortimer progressed down the right, taking the game to the opponents, but it was Clacton that had to do most of the defending.

When Hambrook opened up the defence with an overlap run, Parkes was able to fire a ball in to Hodge in space.

His deft touch towards goal saw the save of the season when the home keeper managed to somehow keep the ball out.

The home side then went down the other end and were awarded a soft penalty.

After last week's great save from a fabulous shot, Mike Key was bitterly disappointed to see this poor shot dribble past after being wrong-footed.

Clacton nearly took all the points when Roberts found himself perfectly placed for Parkes to slot a short corner to him, but his snapshot went the wrong side of the post.