Saxons fancy title chances

Saxons lie second in the early South Hockey League Sussex Area - Division One table having picked up seven points from their first three matches.

Their captain Paddy Cornish said: “I definitely think we’ve got a real chance. I think it will be a lot more open than last year and the year before, and I think it will be Christmas time when we will tell how we’re sitting.”

Cornish considers Saxons - 7-0 winners at home to Eastbourne II last weekend - to be one of three teams in with a chance of topping the pile next spring. The other sides he expects to be in the mix are Horsham II and Lewes III.

Horsham are the only club with maximum points having been promoted as the unbeaten Sussex Open League Division Two champions last term, while Lewes finished third in 2010/11 - three points behind runners-up Saxons.

Saxons are at home to Horsham next weekend, but before that they must ensure they don’t slip-up in what is bound to be a competitive encounter away to Hailsham tomorrow (Saturday).

Pete Watters is expected to return from holiday, but George Eldridge and Jim Towers are unavailable for a Saxons side which has been the most prolific in the division so far with 20 goals, including 17 in two home games.

See today’s Hastings Observer for the full article.