11 Men 2s Gain Edge Over Eastbourne

The third-placed Men’s 2s final game before Christmas saw them face the monumental task of hosting top of the league Eastbourne, with only 11 players due to club wide unavailability. A win would keep them in touch with first and second place but a loss would see them fall into mid-table mediocrity.

Eastbourne won the pushback which meant the men in green’s not so subtle half-court press was noticed five seconds into the game. Now faced with only half a pitch full of 11 Lewes players to play in, Eastbourne struggled to adapt as the Lewes midfield of Tom Clinch, Callum Boyland and Oli Loader battled for every ball and played quick counter-attacking hockey.

A reckless tackle from captain Chewy lead to five minutes off the pitch but nothing could break Lewes’s determination as they stifled Eastbourne and actually created more opportunities which they couldn’t convert, leaving the men in green level at the halftime break.

The halftime chat demanded more of the same determination with a focus on taking the chances that came our way. Eastbourne had different ideas however as they put pressure on the defence of Jamie Neill, Sam Anderson, Theo Whiting and Sam Rea, winning a string of early short corners and converting the last to go 1-0 up. But Lewes weren’t going down without a fight, keeping their game plan but being offensive with the ball and the men in green quickly levelled as Seb Daniels deflected a Sam Rea cross through the keeper's legs. 1-1 and all to play for with 20 minutes to go.

Now back in the game, Lewes grew in strength, albeit with some last-ditch tackling which received harsh punishment - this time it was Sam Anderson’s turn to spend five minutes off... but Lewes didn’t falter as an unmarked Jack Searl smashed home from the top of the D to give Lewes the lead.

A shell-shocked Eastbourne pressed higher in search of a leveller but Billie Palmer thawed a quick attack with an outstanding left foot save and within seconds, Lewes were 3-1 up; Sam Anderson redeeming himself with a defence-splitting 40m pass to Jack Searl who rounded the keeper and slotted away his second of the game.

With ten minutes ago, Lewes suffered another harsh yellow card and were back down to 10 and suffering. Eastbourne pushed on and picked up a scrappy goal using mostly their feet to score.

However, Lewes weren’t going to give this lead-up and saw out the remaining time with dogged defending, high work rate and quality hockey - Tom Clinch, Theo Whiting and Seb Daniels keeping the ball expertly down the right and Jack Searl being unlucky not to add his 3rd and Lewes’s 4th. 3-2 final score and job done!

MOM: great performances across the pitch from Billie Palmer, Jamie Neill, Theo Whiting, Callum Boyland, and Ollie Amos, but Jack Searl’s outstanding work rate and finishing earn him the award.