Lewes come out on top in southdown goal-fest

Lewes 1st XI 6-3 Canterbury 2nd XI

Lewes scorers - Lloyd(3), Baggs(2), Gill

Lewes made it back-to-back to wins thanks to a hat-trick and brace from forwards Alex Lloyd and Andrew Baggs.

The game started well for the home side who dominated the ball in the early stages and were rewarded in the first 5 minutes as good work from Matt Clark down the left saw the ball fall for Baggs who finished calmly from close range.

Canterbury began to grow into the game and a controversial decision to award the away side a flick gave them the perfect opportunity to get back into the game, which they duly took. The momentum suddenly changed and Lewes came under increased pressure and a good short corner routine saw the visitors take the lead with just shy of 20 minutes on the clock.

Lewes reacted well to the double set-back and a short corner from Baggs was well saved by the keeper but Sam Gill was on hand to put in the rebound. Shortly after the equaliser an attack down the right hand side saw skipper Chris Spruce break into the circle and find Lloyd on the penalty spot, who powerfully flicked the ball into the bottom corner to put Lewes back in-front for the second time in the match.

Lewes were now in the ascendancy and 5 minutes later the same duo combined as Spruce once again managed to break away down the right wing and find Lloyd unmarked at the back post, to finish from close range and give the home side a 2 goal advantage going into the break.

The second half started frantically with Canterbury looking to get back into the game and with the help of some ill-discipline from the home side, Canterbury managed to half the deficit through another short corner and the game was finely poised. Lewes, down to 10 men were really struggling to get a hold in the game still a man down as Canterbury created chance after chance. Thanks to some fine saves from keeper Ben Berrill, alongside some brilliant defending from Man of the Match Sam Heinzl and centre backs James Callaway and Sam Gill, they survived.

Cards began to be shown to both sides as tempers flared in a physical encounter and it was Lewes who managed to take advantage. Andrew Baggs scored his second courtesy of a fortuitous deflection and Alex Lloyd completed his hat-trick with a powerful drag flick into the top right hand corner as Lewes secured all 3 points.

They face tough opposition again on Saturday as they head to Epsom looking to make it 3 wins on the bounce and edge closer towards the top of the table.