Richmond kicked off their Men's Hockey League Conference East campaign in emphatic fashion on Saturday night.

The Grove Park-based club thrashed neighbours Teddington 6-1 to build on their fine pre-season form.

Richmond, under first team coach Gareth Carr, signed the experienced Great Britain and England international Mark Pearn as assistant player coach.

And the former East Grinstead man made an immediate impact on his competitive debut as he found his way on to the scoresheet in a comfortable win for the hosts.

Pearn, who opened the scoring after five minutes bagged a brace to go with a double from Charlie Ellison and further strikes from Nick Molcsan and Jesse Gatt.

Richmond went into the game having claimed the notable friendly scalps of Reading [2-0] and Guildford [3-0].