Beeston missed out on an opportunity to close the gap on second and cement third place as they fell to a 6-4 defeat at Reading.
Chris Proctor fired Beeston into a 3-0 lead with a hat-trick in the first half before Stuart Loughrey responded with two goals for reading to leave it 3-2 at the break.
Elliot Hibell extended the away side’s lead with a goal from a penalty corner in the 41st minute before goals from Lee Morton and Peter Scott (2) gave Reading the lead.
Loughrey completed his hat-trick in the 65th minute and sealed the points for the home side.
Reigning champions Surbiton boosted their bid for another Men’s Hockey League Premier Division title with a 2-0 victory at second-placed side Hampstead & Westminster on Sunday.
Goalless at half time, the game sprung in to life mid-way through the second half as the division’s top scorer Alan Forsyth gave the away side the lead with a goal from open play in the 57th minute.
Zach Wallace sealed all three points for the league leaders with another goal from free play in the 63rd minute.
Elsewhere Wimbledon performed well at home, winning 1-0 against fourth place East Grinstead.
Jonny Codling scored the only goal of the game in the 46th minute from open play.
Brooklands MU came out on top after a thrilling 6-4 win at home against bottom of the table Sevenoaks.
Keenan Horne, Stefan Ray-Hills, Sam Perrin, Leo Watton and David Flanagan (2) were all on the scoresheet for the home side.
Tim Warrington (2), Duncan Parnis and Andrew Oxburgh were the goal scorers for Sevenoaks as they still look for their first win of the season.
The University of Exeter secured another point as they look to retain their place in the Premier Division for next season with a 2-2 draw at home against Holcombe.
Archie Winter and Sam Hooper were the goal scorers for the home side, Conor Caplan scored a brace for Holcombe as the sides had to settle for a point a piece.