There was a slight air of uncertainty when Gabi and I got on the train from Brighton to Lewes Saturday morning, with both of us a bit unsure whether the pitch was going to be too hard to play on after a chilly night! Luckily for us, Rob and Joseph (more formally known as Mauro), were at hand to carefully chuck some hot water on the more shaded parts of the pitch, and with one last jug full from the two of us, the pitch was just about okay! Southwick have been tough appoints for us 3s in recent times, beating us 3-1 in the reverse fixture back in November during a dodgy start to the season. But our recent form, with previous wins against top of the league sides, meant we were all feeling slightly more calm and confident going into this game (even with Gabi nearly missing the train and leaving her breakfast in the Uber).

The game started very evenly, with both sides showing some attacking danger and having some close calls. Southwick are known to have some very strong and speedy forwards so we had to be on high alert at the back, but this seemed to be no trouble for our back line. There was some superb defending on display, with the rotating back three of Emily, Gubbs and Lou seeming to continuously keep the Southwick attack at bay. Charlotte also was involved in some great defending, as well as utilising her attacking strengths to storm up the line and feed great balls in to our forwards. As usual, Freya also made some cracking saves to keep our clean sheet. All this meant we were able to prevent Southwick from having a short corner in the first half! (if my memory serves me well - I'm about 95% sure on this...). With Lizzie out this week, we had Lucy Nuttall step up to play our central midfield role this game, and surprise surprise, she smashed it! (never in doubt!). Throughout the game she was constantly delivering lovely balls out wide to Naomi and Jess, while also successfully intercepting many of Southwick's balls up field, meaning we could continue our strong attack. Not sure how happy you are about this Lucy, but could be a new position for you...? Speaking of Lucy, our 1 and only goal for this game was scored by Miss Nuttall too! It started from a beautiful run up the wing by Jess, her dribbling through the red shirts with ease until she got to the D and passed it to Lucy on the top. A near-perfect reverse hit was performed, unfortunately hitting a sea of players in front of goal, but then managed to sneak through sticks to end up in the back of the goal! Maybe technically an own goal, but we'll take it! P.S. Gabi also managed to get a ball to the nose this half - ouch!

The second half was pretty quiet goals wise, but still very tense! Our attack never stopped, and as ever, there were multiple close calls from Ruby, Gabi and Rhi, who all worked tirelessly up front to cause problems for Southwick's defenders. Goldie also seemed to be everywhere on the pitch this week, running constantly to receive the ball so she could fire it up field. Down the other end of the pitch, us defenders had to battle some tough attacking play from Southwick to keep us in front. Unfortunately we gave away multiple short corners in the last 15 minutes of the game, but with a very disciplined approach, we managed to keep the ball away from our goal. An unfortunate cramp for Southwick's no.7 meant we had time to re-group and strategise to keep the ball and our calm composure. With this, the game ended 1-0 to Lewes!

Very proud of the team this week with such a big win! Everyone played so well this game and we've shown some strong improvements over the last few games. Our players player this week however was given to the wonderful...........Lucy! A great all-round performance from her this week, even when having to step into a new position! Well done Lucy!

I would also like to shout out Gabi and Rhi who both ran their little hearts out, even though they had the Brighton Half Marathon to run the next day!! Both completed it in amazing time and we're very proud of them!