SLOUGH Sirens coach Chris Martin admits his side were scared of Streatham Storm after a 5-1 defeat in Division One South on Sunday, writes Rob Stevens.

Streatham took a lead into the first buzzer at the Slough Ice Arena thanks to a goal from Rachel Morse.

The visitors further extended their advantage in the middle period when Jennifer Brawn, Annette Kerr and Morse all found the back of the net.

Slough pulled a goal back through Jodie Attrill in the final stanza, but Streatham had the final say as Sorana Churchill netted in the final three minutes.

Martin told the Observer: "Streatham are a very strong team and we knew we had to come out fast, but we were flat-footed. That's something to work on in training.

"Streatham have upgraded over the summer and have got some very good players, and we gave them too much respect essentially.

"We were scared of them and that was our biggest problem, although the scoreline makes it sound a lot more one-sided than it actually was.

"We didn't focus on our game and were instead more worried about their players.

"In the second and third periods we stepped up and gave them a game, but we needed to build up our confidence and get more of that into our play.

"The third period was the best one for us. We got the goal and started to make them panic a little bit.

"There are a lot of positives to take from the game but we've got to get our confidence going and that's something I've got to think about.

"I've got absolute faith in this team that they can compete against the top likes like Streatham, but we've got to work on getting our confidence going and knowing that our gameplan will work."

The defeat leaves Slough in third position in the league table ahead of a trip to second bottom and winless Peterborough Penguins this Sunday (6.25pm).

Martin said: "Peterborough have had a tough start to the season having played the top teams so it'll be interesting to see how we get on.

"We worked on a lot in training in midweek and it's a case of getting our confidence going ready for the next big game against Cardiff Comets (18th November)."