Frustrating defeat for Mens 5s.

The Mens 5s took the short trip to Blatchington mill for the late afternoon game v Brighton 8s.

After a delay to push back as the teams waited for the umpire to finish his game on the other pitch the 5s made their usual strong start before another delay when the hosts keeper lost a contact lenses. The action took a bit of a lull with a lot of long hits up the pitch being easily dealt with. After a clash of heads left Julien noticeably shaky on his feet for his own safety he was withdrawn from action.
Lewes ended the half strong and after some nice interplay between JC and Ashley down the left, Sandy was found at the top of the D who hit hard into the goal. A couple of other opportunities almost lead to goals but at the end of the half the visitors were only ahead by 1.

Brighton started the 2nd half the stronger with their midfielders upping the tempo of their attacks and after 10mins equalised when a goal bound shot deflected off a Lewes stick past Paul in goal. With Lewes struggling to maintain possession for any sustained periods Brighton were looking more dangerous than the first half.
During the course of the game Brighton had won numerous PC's, Paul in goal did superbly to swat away every drag flick but this time the hosts decided to try something different and after a bit of a scramble in front of the goal the ball was squeezed over the line just before the defence had scooped it away.
The 5s, who by now had 3 midfielders injured on the sideline, did manage to apply some late pressure but unfortunately were not able to find an equaliser.

A frustrating result in a game that could of gone either way but Brighton are good team who don't give away anything easy.
Strong performances by both the youngsters in the team Ashley on his 5s debut and JC in only his 2nd game for the 5s, thanks also to Warren for becoming team manager for the day.

Next week the 5s return home to face a strong South Saxons 3s.