Welwyn Garden City saw their hopes of a comeback run out of time against Luton Town - but it wasn't for the lack of trying.

They had trailed 2-0 shortly after half-time but pulled one back and threatened to score more, before the final whistle sounded on a 2-1 loss in East Hockey League Division Two South West.

Welwyn started quickly at their Hertfordshire Sports Village home.

Nate Last won a couple of early short corners and Bryn Evans tested the goalkeeper with WGC unlucky not to take an early lead their dominance deserved.

It was therefore a kick in the teeth that Luton took the lead on their first attack on 15 minutes and with a strange goal.

A deflected pass allowed them to break into the D only to find Welwyn keeper Dan Klinger coming out to meet the forward.

The shot was saved but the act of shooting sent the Luton man to the floor and as he fell, his trailing stick inadvertently deflected the ball in mid-air, sending it over Klinger and into the net.

Luton's game plan was then to sit back and kill the threat of the home side and it worked for the remainder of the half, Welwyn unable to break through the blanket defence.

The second half began in a similar vein but this time an early break allowed Luton to double their advantage.

But Welwyn were undeterred and continued to take the game to the visitors but were again thwarted at every turn.

Dave Allmand-Smith, Dan Hatt and Last were all up front as the clock ticked into the final 15 minutes.

And they finally got the breakthrough they had been pushing for.

Some great midfield play from Nick Reilly, Mark Skilbeck and James Fowler forced a short corner which Evans put away.

Another short corner a couple of minutes later looked to have brought the equaliser, that was until a defender was able to get his stick on the goal-bound shot.

Evans then had a chance in open play to level it but couldn't convert and another chance followed as a scramble in the D saw the ball bounce up.

That was somehow cleared for a corner and a great shot from Hatt forced a good save out of the keeper.

The final attempt fell to Allmand-Smith as he nicked the ball away from the keeper but between him and Pete Mullens, they couldn't force it home.

The ladies meanwhile suffered a 3-1 loss at home to Blueharts.