Lewes fire put out by West Hampstead

Another disappointing home performance saw Lewes well beaten and slip to fifth place in the league.

Their away performances have been better than their home ones and Lewes were made to pay for an insipid display in front of a good crowd at The Southdown Club. In the opening exchanges Lewes were caught out down the left side of their defence and failed to clear leaving a simple tap in at the far post for West Hampstead. Lewes could not get any pattern of play going with passes going astray and could have been further behind from two penalty corners but for goalkeeper Ben Berrill's instinctive saves. Jonny Rea ran tirelessly up front pressuring the opposition defence and Lewes finally won a penalty corner themselves but Toby Price the four goal hero the previous week could not get a shot away as the routine tamely broke down.

In the second half both sides lost players to green and yellow cards as mistimed tackles and dissent was punished by the Umpires. Mike Wood and Matt Rickson had solid games in defence for Lewes but the lack of link up play from midfield to the forwards was evident. Midway through the one piece of quality from the hosts was rewarded when Price sent a pinpoint pass to skipper Matt Clark running through and his first touch was crucial leaving him with an accurate lob over the oncoming goalkeeper for a superb equaliser. At last this gave Lewes a lift and for a ten minute period they pressed hard but still did not force the West Hampstead goalkeeper into a save. Lewes's second and final penalty corner was surprisingly switched and came to nothing and in the closing ten minutes West Hampstead pressed and converted a penalty corner with a fierce drag flick into the top corner. Then in the final minute they scored from another penalty corner to show Lewes on the day how to make the most of their opportunities.

Lewes face Winchester away on Saturday and will need an improved performance to stay in touch with the top three. They look likely to be without broken finger duo Aussie Grant Davey and Rory Jervis for a few more weeks yet.

Report by Paul Spruce