OXFORD City Stars suffered a crushing defeat in the captial, going down 8-1 against Streatham.

Netminder Ross Miller was forced into an early save for Stars, to deny forward Ben Paynter.

The hosts took the lead though when Stars failed to clear their defensive zone and Danny Ingoldsby took advantage to make it 1-0.

Paynter tapped in to make it 2-0, after the puck bounced loose following another save from Miller.

Josh Ealey-Newman got the first of his hat-trick as Stars ended the opening period 3-0 down.

Streatham made it 4-0 when Ben Ealey-Newman produced a drag and finish.

Stars’ Josh Abbott, a summer signing from Guildford Phoenix, created a one-on-one chance for himself, but missed the opportunity to get the visitors on the scoresheet.

Ryan Watt made it 5-0, before Josh Ealey-Newman got the final touch to give Streatham a 6-0 lead at the end of the second period.

Theo Bundock got Stars on the scoresheet to make it 6-1, however it was to no avail as Josh Ealey-Newman completed his hat-trick when Streatham attacked straight away at the other end.

Sam Waller’s wrist shot went through the traffic with just over five minutes to go, as Streatham went 8-1 up.

Brad Watchorn, Stars’ first signing this summer, saw a shot hit the bar at the end, to round off an evening to forget.

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Simon Anderson was appointed as Stars head coach for the fourth time in May.

He said: “It was a tough night in Streatham, the boys played hard, but ultimately were beaten by a better team on the night.

“I don’t think we played as well as we did the previous week, and it ultimately cost us.

“We know where we need to improve, but those conversations will stay within the room and if we can iron those out we will be a good team in this league.

“Player unavailability is hurting our depth right now and we may have to look to see what is out there to strengthen, but that is tough right now this early in the season.

“We will keep working, we just need to keep the morale high and with that hard work will come more positive results.”

Stars will look to bounce back when they welcome Streatham to Oxpens for a reverse fixture on Sunday.