Clacton captain Nigel Brown is aiming for the perfect finsh to his 25-year hockey career.

On Saturday the Seasiders complete their Premier Holidays East League programme at home to Colchester with Brown playing his last game for the first team.

And the 39-year-old wants Clacton to gain a first-ever league win over their local rivals to bow out in ideal fashion.

Brown said: "It would be the perfect way for me to finish. We've never beaten them in the league, although we did once in a cup match.

"It's going to be nice to play Colchester in the last game any way."

Brown first played for the club at 15 and has skippered the side continuously for the last 15 years - missing just one game in the process.

Now time has come to move aside.

He added: "I'm definitely not going to play for the first team. I'm eligible for the vets so I'll probably play a few games for them and just enjoy it. I don't want to ring around and do all the work, have all the grief - that's the main thing with the captaincy.

"Now's the right time to get out. It's hard to play at that level. I've played with a great bunch of people and lately some with National League experience like Div Harvie."

Team-mate Iain Gall said: "He's done a fantastic job. He's still consistently getting in the first team He's taken the club from the lower leagues to one off the National League which is a tremendous effort."

Clacton will finish eighth in the Premier A Division table if they win, while Colchester are destined for sixth spot whatever the result.

With the league season virtually at an end, the restructuring of both the region's men's and ladies' leagues will take place next month after the end-of-season play-offs.

All promotion and relegation issues will then be decided.

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