Witham Hockey Club men’s first team face three weeks that could help define their season in division two south of the East League.

An encouraging start to life back at that level has placed Witham fifth in the table, but they now face a run where they will face three of the four sides currently above them, starting with a trip to second-placed West Herts seconds tomorrow.

They head into the game at West Herts on the back of a 4-3 win against Upminster last weekend and captain Richard Marshall said he has been pleased with the way his team have started the campaign after getting promoted from division three south east last year.

However, he admits the next run of fixtures will demonstrate whether they are in a position to go for another move up or not.

He said: “This is an important month where we’ll really find out where we are and how we will approach the second half of the season.

“We’ll be playing three of the top four in the next three weeks and it will put us in a good position if we can get through that in good shape.

“All games have been close so far, even games that we have lost and it has shown that anyone can beat anyone else in this league.

“It’s so tight and is much tougher than when we were up here two years ago.

“It is so much more competitive, which is great as it’s more enjoyable to be playing at that level, but the standard is good and you have to be on form.

“We’re in a much stronger position than when we were at this level two years ago and have real strength in depth now.

“We are happy with where we are, but the next three will show us whether we have the firepower to go for promotion this year or not."

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