The Lewes Veterans could not retain their trophy going down 5-3 to the hosts Brighton. Lewes lost defender Will Champness early on with a bad hamstring injury which upset their formation and Brighton capitalised scoring two quick goals. Lewes were given a lifeline when the Brighton goalkeeper mis-kicked into his own goal and then Chris Marchant converted a penalty corner to make it 2-2 at half time. Brighton dominated possession in the second half and scored to make it 3-2 but Lewes defenders Chris Picken and Richard Aylwin tackled well and the occasional break led by Steve Newton always gave Lewes hope. They went further behind to two further goals but Marchant converted a penalty stoke to make it 5-3 with ten minutes left but despite late pressure they could not score again and Brighton were deserved winners.