Chelmsford Men lost the chance to control their Division One destiny by going down 3-0 at home to Barford Tigers.

Having dropped out of the top eight for the first time this year with one match remaining, Chelmsford know that even a win next week away at Loughborough Students might not be enough to clinch a place in next season's Division One.

Mathematically, at least, there are now five teams competing for the last four places in the top eight and Chelmsford must now be the outsiders.

They failed to control the pace of the game and allowed their opponents to dictate the course of the game which, at times was played at a pedestrian pace, allowing Tigers to play the ball around at will.

Although the visitors enjoyed the lion's share of possession, they failed to create any clear openings as Gary Boucher was in commanding form in the centre of Chelmsford's defence.

With so much at stake, it was likely that a set piece would be needed to break the deadlock and Barford forced three penalty corners in the first half an hour.

From the third of these, after 26 minutes, Dhaminder Singh's shot from the top of the D was well saved by Chelmsford goalkeeper Paddy Aldridge who could only watch helplessly as Amarjit Degun collected the loose ball at the near post and rolled it into an empty net.

Following this setback, Chelmsford did manage to raise their game for the last few minutes of the first half with Craig Fulton and Abdul Khalik running at the Barford defence. However, some strong tackling at the top of the D kept Chelmsford at bay.

After the break Chelmsford failed to maintain the momentum they had picked up towards the end of the first half.

Just eight minutes into the half, another penalty corner was awarded to Barford and, although the routine broke down, Manjeet Degun improvised well to get a shot in that beat Aldridge's outstretched stick to go in off the post.

Two goals down when at least a point was required from the game gave Chelmsford no option but to throw players forward.

Predictably, this left gaps at the back and the game was eventually sealed in the 57th minute when Dharminder Singh converted yet another penalty corner to put his side three goals ahead and completely in control.

On Sunday, Chelmsford travel to Loughborough to take on Loughborough Students. The game starts at 2pm at Loughborough University.

Action from Sunday's match at Chelmer Park as a Chelmsford player, left, contests the ball with a Barford Tigers player during the English League Division One match.

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