Lewes men's 1s edge higher

After a delayed re-start to the second half of the season, with last week’s game having been called off because of a frozen pitch, Lewes were eager to return to the fray. The confidence with which they finished before Christmas did not desert them as they took the points in what was an ill-tempered game with six yellow cards being shown, two of them to Lewes players.

For the first quarter of the game Lewes were dominant and it was no surprise when they worked the ball through the defence with slick passing to set Dave Roberts up for an early goal. They could build no further on this initial period of pressure and it was a penalty corner at the other end that gave Milton Keynes the equaliser.

Soon after the start of the second half a comedy of errors gave Lewes the lead. A penalty corner was struck at goal but hit an opposition foot for Lewes to be awarded a penalty stroke. Gaston Golstein stepped up but hit the ball wide to give Milton Keynes the chance to clear with a sixteen yard hit. The clearance was intercepted by Golstein and he made amends for his miss by cracking the ball past the keeper. Lewes then went on the back foot and gave away a series of penalty corners. They were saved by some superb goal-keeping from Josh Pewter and the speed of James Fuller off the line which upset many of the routines Milton Keynes tried to play. The victory was sealed when Alex Baxter picked up the ball from a mid-field passing move and flicked the ball into the opposition net. They pulled one goal back in the dying moments of the game but it was three valuable points to Lewes.

Lewes now move up to ninth in the league and they play an important fixture on Saturday against Spencer who are one point ahead of them – 1.30 at Southdown Sports Club.