SLOUGH Sirens coach Chris Martin believes his side produced their best effort this season in a 9-5 win at Oxford Midnight Stars on Sunday, writes Rob Stevens.

The Sirens stormed into a clear lead inside the first 10 minutes thanks to goals from Lauren Pilbeam, Jodie Attrill and Emma Toose.

Oxford pulled a goal back through Katerina Lossnitzer, but the visitors had the final say in the first period when Attrill grabbed her second of the match.

Slough were first to find the target in the middle period as Aniko Gaal scored, but the home side responded within seconds via Lossnitzer and Lucy Dorrington.

The Sirens extended their advantage further as Gaal scored twice to complete her hat-trick, plus further strikes from Lauren Bradburn and Attrill, to complete her treble.

The only goals in the third period went to the hosts as Lossnitzer completed her hat-trick and Dorrington got a late consolation effort.

Martin told the Observer: "It was a great game. We knew we had to come out fast and we did. We set the tone for the rest of the game.

"Oxford have a much stronger squad this season, they're near the top of the table and have been banging in goals for fun.

"The effort put in by the girls to come away with the win has been the best so far this season.

"We've got a bit of momentum going with the string of games over the last three weeks. It has worked in our favour and means things are starting to click."

The win means Slough have moved up one place to third position in the league table ahead of a visit to the Slough Ice Rink from Streatham Storm on Sunday (6pm).

Martin said: "It's the second leg after we played them two weeks ago (5-3 defeat). That was a hard game so we know this is going to be a tough one.

"The girls and I are looking forward to it. It will be a close and exciting game. We will aim to start fast and then close out the match.

"If we play like we did last weekend then we can walk away with the two points."