Promotion-chasing Chelmsford discovered what life could be like in the Premier Division next season when they went down 9-3 at home to Surbiton in the sixth round of the EHA Cup on Sunday.

Boasting no fewer than 15 internationals in their squad, Surbiton illustrated the gulf between the two top divisions when they opened the scoring in the second minute through their South African top goalscorer, Greg Nicol.

When this early strike was followed swiftly by a James Wallis volley and a further Nicol conversion from a penalty corner, the game was virtually over inside the first 20 minutes.

There was a little hope for Chelmsford when Adam Hunter scrambled home Chelmsford's first penalty corner to pull the score back to 3-1, but further goals from Stuart Head and Nicol, to complete his hat-trick, gave the visitors a 5-1 lead.

Surbiton wasted little time after the break in further extending their lead when Wallis and Head each netted a second goal, but there then followed a period when Chelmsford managed to compete.

Chelmsford goalkeeper David Carter was called upon to make two sharp saves but, for a 15 minute period, there was little goalmouth action.

With players getting tired, the game did come alive in the final 11 minutes when Rob Mackay swept home Chelmsford's second corner of the, but Surbiton were in no mood to be upstaged.

Soon afterwards Nicol netted his fourth and his side's eighth goal, before Abdul Khalik finished off an intricate penalty corner routine to pull another goal back for the home side with two minutes remaining.

There was still time for Ben Edwards to lash home a fine reverse-stick effort for Surbiton to put the seal on an emphatic 9-3 victory.

After the match Chelmsford player/coach Craig Fulton commented: "If we were to stand any chance in this match we knew we had to keep it tight early on.

''Unfortunately, we didn't manage that and the floodgates opened. I'm pleased we managed to score three of our four penalty corners because they haven't been going well recently. At least we know now what standards we must aspire to.''

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