Men's Championship 1 pacesetters Sutton & Cheam head for Bolton and a tough double Scottish challenge against Portobello and Caledonia when the competition resumes on 15/16 February.

The southern half of the programme takes place at Eton College and features second-placed Sedgefield against Invicta and Worthing. 
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Hucknall were the only team to complete three wins in men's Championship 2 at the weekend, rounding off with a 12-9 success against Lancaster. There was a modest return compared with recent performances for Bristol's Nathan Brown. He scored three against Exeter, raising his impressive tally in three games to 17, but the Devon side triumphed 15-11.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Nathan Brown chalks up another goal at Habs.

Watford recovered from 8-4 down to beat Invicta 13-11 in men's Championship 1 at Haberdashers today.

Powerful shooting by Dusan Crompton and Josh Barrett, who both scored twice, brought Watford up to 10-10 by the end of the third period. Paul Cheetham netted early in the last for Invicta. But goals by Josh Pender, Barrett and Sam Carling took Watford to victory.

Worthing took the step-up to Championship 1 in confident style but couldn't avoid a 7-6 defeat at the hands of Sutton & Cheam. Worthing had led 6-4 in the third period and should have been better placed, having crashed two penalty shots against the Sutton goal frame earlier on.

Goals by Jackson Mullins and Stephen Bayles brought Sutton up to 6-6 at the end of the third quarter. And that was it until 1.10 from the end when Sutton claimed a spectacular winner - Ashley Castle was awarded a free throw well outside the six-metre line and blasted it past the excellent Worthing goalie Marc Guimera - with a back-hander! Later, Mullins scored four as Sutton won for a second time - 18-13 against Watford.
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At East Manchester, Caledonia beat Sedgefield 11-10, Jason Dickson firing the winner from a man-up chance 1.44 from the final whistle. Sheffield scored twice near the end through Chris Armstrong and Corran Bradley to secure a 12-10 win over Portobello.

In Championship 2, Nathan Brown netted six for City of Bristol but opponents Cheltenham Spartans scored three times in the last period without reply through Rob Parker (2) and Tom Dally to win 12-9. Brown scored another eight times later on as Bristol beat Southampton 17-9.
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It was a mixed day for Manchester Hawks in Championship 2 at East Manchester. They lost 20-11 to Hucknall, for whom Jonny Rimlinger scored six and then needed a penalty shoot-out to edge past Lancaster 12-11 (9-9).

The men's Super 5s produced yet another thriller as Penguin beat City of Manchester 9-7 at Aldershot today - the champions' first defeat of the season.

An all-action contest featured brilliant goals, outstanding goalkeeping by Manchester's Dylan Green (Photo: Trevor Hyde) - who saved two penalties - and Elliot McHugh, of Penguin, as well as three red cards.

Manchester were well placed after two periods. They led 6-4 and had seen Penguin lose one of their main goal threats, Tilemachos Pissas, one of those who saw red. But the loss of Pissas seemed to spur Penguin, who were back to 6-6 in the third with goals by Albie Duffy and Andre Savic, and then took the lead when Charles Kingsmill's angled shot proved too strong for Green.

Green immediately conceded a penalty - which he saved. But he was powerless to prevent Nic Jordan scoring early in the last as Penguin improved their lead to 8-6. Manchester pressed, but were unable to reply until Dan Paddon's man-up strike just over two minutes from the end. Sam Cocokios then made it safe for Penguin with another man-up goal. 

The final match in a weekend of non-stop drama produced the third penalty shootout of the men's competition after Cheltenham and Welsh Wanderers levelled at 12-12 in normal time. With young goalkeeper Zach Downer making a crucial save from Welsh skipper Dan Laxton's opening penalty, Cheltenham seized a vital shoot-out advantage - and went on to complete a 16-14 victory.

This was quite an achievement because Wanderers had led 10-6 midway through the third period before Cheltenham moved into top gear and equalised at 10-10. Wanderers were 12-11 up when Lewis Gilmour scored from a man-up 2.37 from the end. The final equaliser came from Goerge Davies, who hit a post with a penalty shot but was quick enough to net from the rebound. 

In the women's Super 5s, captain Katie Brown scored five as Liverpool Lizards defeated Sheffield Sharks 16-8 and City of Manchester beat Hucknall 12-3.​

​One penalty-shoot out in a day is enough to test the nerves of any team. But how do you cope with TWO? That was the question for Polytechnic after a couple of magnificent, high-octane men's Super 5s matches at Aldershot today.

Poly had opened up at the start of play by drawing 10-10 with London rivals Penguin. Their penalty-taking was almost perfect - they won the shoot-out 4-2 and so pocketed two points from a 14-12 win. 

Their second challenge of the day was against Welsh Wanderers, always a tough nut to crack these days. Poly were 8-5 up at one point but in the end were held at 14-14, failing to shoot in the final seconds when a winning goal might have resulted.

And so we moved to a repeat penalty shoot-out show. And this time it was Poly who felt the pressure. Wanderers, boosted by one terrific save by goalie Tim Marshall, won easily, 4-1 - giving a match score of 18-15.

A penalty shoot-out looked a possibility as Cheltenham recovered from 10-8 down after three periods against City of Manchester to level at 11-11. They then missed a penalty  - giving Manchester the opportunity to hit back with goals by Ben Grech (2) and Dan Paddon for a 14-12 win. 

With games like this coming thick and fast, a wonderful men's Super 5s campaign is in store. 
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Photo (Trevor Hyde): Penguin under heavy pressure against Poly at Aldershot today.