Lewes put four past Eastbourne to end season's first half on a high

Lewes 1st XI 4 Eastbourne 1st XI 2

South premier D2 east

Many sports have suffered this winter with the effects of Covid-19 and hockey is one of them – and after the recent lockdown this was the first fixture for both sides in seven weeks.

A derby on the new pitch at the Southdown club in front of a good crowd wasjust what both sides wanted going into the Christmas break.

Lewes were missing both central defenders and perhaps feared the worst but a change in formation, playing only three at the back, helped minimise the disruption.

Both sides looked rusty in the early stages and Lewes failed to capitalise on good opportunities with Matt Hickman and Andrew Baggs thwarted by the brave Eastbourne keeper.

Lewes were made to pay when Eastbourne’s first penalty corner was coolly despatched into the back of the net by James Edwards after 15 minutes.

Lewes responded and from their first penalty corner Alex Lloyd’s powerful flick equalised five minutes later.

Both sides had chances before half-time with Eastbourne unfortunate with another penalty corner goal disallowed, but it was level at the break.

Lewes started the second half well with Matt Clark prominent in midfield orchestrating the Lewes attacks – but they could not convert pressure into goals.

Lewes pushed players up the pitch but were caught out by an Eastbourne breakaway from inside their own half and skipper Chris Spruce’s last ditch tackle on Angus Donaldson, when he was bearing down on goal, brought a penalty converted by Jamie Francis to give Eastbourne the lead against the run of play.

Lewes heads didn’t drop and they continued to move the ball around with James Fuller, in only his second game of the season, prominent in attack. A poor tackle on him gave Lewes another penalty corner from which Baggs scored to make it 2-2 midway through the half.

It was anyone’s game but Lewes wanted it more and with ten minutes to go two Eastbourne defenders got in each other’s way in the circle giving the hosts their third penalty corner. Lloyd grabbed his second and Lewes’s third with an accurate flick high into the net to give Lewes the lead for the first time.

Eastbourne became frustrated as they were repelled by a solid home defence with Sam Gill marshalling and Alex Tapping, Danny Poulsen and Sam Heinzl breaking up attacks.

With five minutes left lively youngster Hugh Middleton combined with Spruce down the right and the cross was dispatched by Hickman to give Lewes a deserved win.

Lewes move up to fourth in and hopefully a resumption in January will allow remaining fixtures to be completed.

Lewes Mens 3s 1

Eastbourne Mens 3s 5

Slow out of the blocks and 3-0 down after 10 minutes, the home side looked a pale imitation of the side that had thrashed Crowborough.

Defensive mistakes at the start gave two early goals to Eastbourne.

From then on, the defence tightened up and sporadic attacks on the Eastbourne goal became more regular.

A number of chances were spurned by Lewes’ attackers before midfielder James Hay stepped up to make the half-time score 3-1.

Lewes took the game to Eastbourne in the second half but a well-taken crucial goal by the visitors put a rescue out of sight after Lewes had failed to convert any one of their second-half penalty corners.

The away side converted a further left-wing cross to seal the win.

Eastbourne Mens 4 0

Lewes Mens 4 6

Lewes worked hard to match the youthful exuberance of the 15 Eastbourne players facing them, coming away with a resounding victory.

Centre-back Loader added to Stillman’s early goal, with a fine effort from T Casselden, sending the visitors into half-time 3-0 up.

Eastbourne rallied but weren’t able to penetrate Lewes’ defence. A second-half hat trick from E Casselden underlined a solid team performance.

Lewes Men’s 5s 4

East Grinstead 5s 3

A team effort from the Lewes fives overcame a good East Grinstead side, a goal from Martin and a first for the club for Culme-Seymour giving Lewes a 2-1 half time lead.

The Lewes defence held off a second-half onslaught from the visitors before Martin added two more to complete his hat trick.

After a succession of saves by Lewes keeper Wiles, EG scored twice to make for a tense finish.

Crawley 4s 1

Lewes Men’s 6s 4

Two apiece from Burrows and Tonkin saw Lewes sixths maintaining their 100 per cent record.

The visitors struggled to get going in the first half despite an early Tonkin goal.

Casselden, making his debut in goal, did not have a save to make but Lewes squandered possession against an energetic and younger side.

Crawley put a short corner past the unsighted Casseleden, before Lewes pressure led to an excellent aerial finish from Burrows, leading to more late goals.