Nice day, nice hockey, nice to be back!

The men's 5s returned to div 3 for the new season after 1 year away and were hoping to start stronger than their previous div 3 campaign which saw just 1 point gained before Christmas. They headed to Horsham for the opening fixture looking to continue their form from last season that saw them finish undefeated away from home.

With a bit of a defensive crisis with none of last season's defenders available and only 2 in the squad a change of formation was needed, in fact 5 of the 13 players didn't play for the 5s last season.

Horsham applied some early pressure but the new look defence of Simon, Phil and Julien held firm before Lewes were able to build some momentum, the midfield quartet of Sandy, Richard, David and Stan controlling the play and creating chances.
Goals from Tom L, Joe and Stan gave the men in green a well earned 3-0 lead at the half.

Horsham came into the game more after the break but the 5s still looked fairly comfortable, a PC for the hosts became a penalty flick after a Lewes reverse stick and was converted to potentially give hope of a comeback. The visitors responded well and converted a PC of their own when Stan drew in the #1 runner before beating him with some 3D skills then lifting the ball over the keeper. The 5s final goal was the pick of the bunch a great team effort with James playing a pivotal role both in the build up then moving forward to get on to Tom's reverse stick flick across the D to finish the move.

Horsham kept going and the younger legs started to show as the second half wore on and Paul was forced to make some important saves including deflecting one over the bar. Another high shot was saved but dropped in front of the goal where a young Horsham forward poked home but with time running out Lewes were still in control. A PC awarded to the home team as time expired was to be the final action and after a swing and a miss the second attempt at a shot found its way into the goal to make the final score Horsham 4s 3-5 Lewes Mens 5s.

Man of the match was Stan for an impressive shift on the left in his first game back in a couple of seasons with special mentions to Julien for playing great in his first appearance in defence, Phil G for stepping up from the 6s to also play his first game in a couple of seasons and Richard another late addition to the team whose calmness in midfield was much appreciated.

The two late goals conceded didn't take the shine off what was an all round good team performance with everyone putting in a shift for the team and buying into the culture the 5s have built over these past couple of seasons, no cards and treating both opponents and umpires with respect was good to see.

Next week the 5s have their first home game of the season against the new look Lewes 4s who also won their first game of the season and with the 6s starting their season with a win it was a good day for the lower end of the Mens section.