HOCKEY: CHESHIRE were clear-cut winners in the Preliminary Round of the Men's County Hockey Championship played at Oxton HC winning all four games and scoring 30 goals while conceding only four.

Cheshire and Cambridgeshire, the runners up, now qualify for the finals (B Division) at East Grinstead HC on Saturday May 28.

Lancashire playing in the A Division lost 2-1 to Staffordshire but having beaten Essex, Devon and Gloucestershire they finished runners up.

In the English Club Championship (Women) in Holland, Bowdon Hightown representing England were well-beaten by Hertogen-bosch, the Dutch Champions, but drew 3-3 with Bonagrass Grove (Scot-land) and beat Volga Tell-egram (Russia) 3-1 to finish in second.