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Match Reports1 March 2008 South 1st XI Premier League Division 1 Lewes are already consigned to relegation but Fareham needed to win this game to secure the title as outright league winners. They certainly won but the young Lewes side made them work hard and certainly did not look like a side that was bottom of the league. As has happened so often this season it was not the flair of the opposition that caused the problems but rather the basic errors that Lewes must eradicate from their game if they are to stand a chance of getting promotion back to this league next season. In the first half six penalty corners were given away and three of these resulted in a goal. It could easily have been four but Fareham missed from a penalty stroke. It was certainly not one way traffic and Lewes created a number of chances with Dave Roberts and Kenny Rogers coming close but failing to find the goal. Fareham scored within a minute of the start of the second half but Lewes were not disheartened and continued to play good hockey. Mike Newman challenged the Fareham defence on a number of occasions and both Roberts and Rogers got into scoring positions only to be beaten by the Fareham ‘keeper. With ten minutes to go Lewes were awarded a penalty corner and a fumbled stop was picked up by Matt Rickson for him to slide the ball into goal with Roberts waiting to assist if the power of the shot had been insufficient. Lewes then dominated play for the remainder of the half with a penalty corner being struck high and a second goal being scored by Pete Thomas from a cross into the D by Newman. Fareham scored a sixth goal in the last minutes after a counter from a Lewes attack and they will go into play-offs for a place in the National League next season. Lewes are at home to Maidstone this Saturday with a start time
of 1.30 at the Southdown. 23 February 2008 LEWES 1 BRIGHTON 5 As in recent weeks Lewes started brightly. They won a penalty corner in the third minute, which was cleared, but shortly afterwards a diagonal cross from Mike Newman from the right was turned into the roof of the Brighton net by A J Boyse at the far post to open the scoring. Lewes continued to press but Brighton gradually came back into the game, and at their first penalty corner the shot was neatly deflected into the goal. Brighton had three more penalty corners before half time and scored from the last of these with a low shot to lead 2-1 at the break. Up to this point the balance of play was even, but the second half told a different story. Lewes’ passes began to go astray and heads to drop. Discipline suffered with yellow cards for Callf and Miller. Although some chances were created Lewes were unable to retain sufficient possession of the ball to mount any sustained pressure. Brighton took advantage, and in the last 20 minutes won four penalty corners, scoring from one of these, and scored two late goals in open play, the last from a breakaway as Lewes visibly tired. Lewes had to win this game to give themselves even a remote chance
of avoiding relegation. This result removes any lingering hopes
of survival. 16 February 2008 South 1st XI Premier League Division 1 For the first 20 minutes of this game Lewes maintained the improvement seen in the last three weeks and had the strong Staines side on the back foot and reeling from the assaults on their goal. From the whistle Mike Newman took the ball into the Staines D but had his shot blocked. Three more runs on goal followed soon after, two from Ole Callf and one from Dave Roberts but, by some means or another, the ball stayed out of the Staines goal. Staines made a rare visit to the Lewes half and were presented with a penalty corner chance but this was saved and Lewes countered only to see Callf’s shot go just wide. The barrage from Lewes continued with Roberts having a shot saved and then Callf, taking the ball round the prostrate ‘keeper, having a good strike on goal saved by a defender’s stick. Staines countered and from a free hit on the edge of the D they scored a relatively simple goal. Two penalty corners followed from careless Lewes defending rather than any great pressure from the Staines forwards and with both being converted Lewes went into the break three goals down. It can only be assumed that the frustration of having so much good possession in the first half with nothing to show for it caused the Lewes heads to drop; within ten minutes of the start of the half they were six goals behind, two from penalty corners and one from open play. Again all were caused by silly defensive mistakes rather than any great Staines attack. Lewes pulled one back, George Miller passed from the right to Newman in the D for him to go round the ‘keeper and score with a reverse stick shot. Another three goals followed from Staines, two from open play and one from a penalty stroke, and the scoring was completed with a last minute consolation goal from Roberts. This Saturday sees the local derby game against Brighton –
push-back 11.45 at the Southdown Sports Club. 9 February 2008 South 1st XI Premier League Division 1 The improvement continues and the Lewes team contained a fast and physical Richmond side to the point where a last minute victory would not have been unjustified. The best chances that Richmond had to score in the first half all came from penalty corners but a mix of good Lewes defence and inaccuracy denied them any goal from the four opportunities. Lewes on the other hand had no penalty corners but were unlucky not to score from some good moves in open play. Possibly the best chance was when an aerial ball was played down the right to Dave Roberts who took it at speed deep into the Richmond half before passing to Ole Callf who was unable to get a clear shot and the ball was bundled clear. The second half became very physical and early on one of the Richmond defenders was yellow carded for a cynical tackle on Roberts. Shortly afterwards Mike Newman took the ball down the left and into the D for a reverse stick shot which forced a diving save from the Richmond ‘keeper. At the other end a goal seemed inevitable when the umpire awarded a penalty stroke to Richmond but his umpiring colleague persuaded him that what he had penalised was perfectly legal. Newman was then harshly yellow carded for failing to get out of the way of a free hit when he was still trying to get to his feet. In the last five minutes the lack of consistency in the umpiring was very apparent when Roberts played the ball past a lone Richmond defender only to be barged away as he overtook him. He was given a card for a similar incident earlier in the half but not this time and a promising move was destroyed. If Lewes are to avoid relegation they must continue to play as
they have in the last three games and hope that other results will
go in their favour; unfortunately this did not happen last Saturday.
This Saturday they are away against Staines. 2 February 2008 South 1st XI Premier League Division 1 Lewes went into this game with a seemingly weakened side, three first team regulars being absent, and a basic squad of eleven players took the field. The standard of hockey was poor but Lewes showed commitment and resolve throughout and it was only their mistakes that allowed Purley to appear dangerous. Indeed the first goal after eight minutes came from a mis-hit clearance by a Lewes defender. The Purley attackers pounced on the opportunity and Ross Bone in the Lewes goal was given no chance in a three on one confrontation. As shown in recent weeks Lewes were not disheartened by the reverse of an early goal and they mounted a series of attacks in the Purley half. The equaliser came when Mike Newman took the ball at pace from the halfway line and passed left to Ole Callf for him to put away a first time reverse stick shot. Shortly afterwards Callf had to leave the pitch with a damaged shoulder and coach, Chris Marchant, came on to bolster the Lewes attack. It was Marchant who created the second goal for Lewes early in the second half. He beat off the attentions of the Purley defence before passing to Newman for him to see his shot half saved by the ‘keeper leaving the ball rolling slowly towards the goal line. Kenny Rogers ran in to make sure and it is his name that will appear on the score sheet. A few minutes later Purley were awarded an extremely dubious penalty corner, just one of many umpiring decisions that appeared questionable, and they scored from a well taken flick. Callf came back on and late in the half found himself in space on the right wing. He took the ball into the D before passing to Newman for him to score a well earned goal and gain three valuable points for Lewes in their attempt to avoid relegation. The effort continues this Saturday with a home game against Richmond.
Start time 1.30 at the Southdown Sports Club. 26 January 2008 South 1st XI Premier League Division 1 The encouraging features from last week’s performance were maintained and the side showed they are starting to come together and play for each other as a team rather than a bunch of individuals. Most of the first half saw Lewes on top with only the occasional counter from Oxford. However it was from one of these counters that Oxford got a penalty corner and a series of quick passes enabled them to get the ball past ‘keeper Ross Bone and into the goal. This score was totally against the run of play and Lewes kept their composure, unlucky not to score on several occasions especially in the final seconds of the half when Harry Heitman came close with a reverse stick shot which was well saved by the Oxford ‘keeper. Penalty corners were shared at two apiece but these did not result in any score and Oxford went into half time with the one goal lead. The second half opened with Lewes winning a penalty corner after a few seconds play. Unfortunately this was not converted but the pressure was maintained and was finally rewarded after twenty minutes when Dave Roberts took the ball down the right, chipped the ball over a defender’s stick and drove it into the goal. Five minutes later Oxford scored from a penalty corner but Lewes showed resolution when earlier in the season this would have caused heads to drop. Within four minutes they equalised when skipper George Miller took the ball deep into the Oxford half before passing to Heitman for him to hustle the ball into the goal. In the last five minutes Lewes had four opportunities to score, the first from a penalty corner and then three open play chances all of which were well saved by the Oxford ‘keeper. In the dying seconds Oxford the won a penalty corner but Bone made a confident save to earn Lewes a much needed point. This Saturday’s game is away against Purley who are two places
above Lewes in the league. 19 January 2008 South 1st XI Premier League Division 1 Despite the result there were again some encouraging features for Lewes and if it had not been for mistakes in defence giving penalty corner opportunities the score would have been closer. It was known before the game that Oxford had a penalty corner expert in their team and that such scoring opportunities had to be denied them. However the students were fit and fast and able to create the pressure that made life difficult for the Lewes defence. They won six penalty corners in the first half, converting three of them into goals. A fourth goal was scored in free play when slick passing in the Lewes D gave Ross Bone in goal little chance of preventing a score. It was not all one way traffic and Lewes mounted several attacks on the Oxford goal. They earned two penalty corners, one just before half time with the score at 0-4, and from the passing scramble that followed Mike Newman was able to flick the ball into the top of the net. Lewes began the second half in a determined fashion and created some excellent scoring chances. Two penalty corners failed to earn any reward and Harry Heitman was unlucky when a shot from free play went over the bar. For twenty minutes Lewes pressed Oxford hard and were unlucky to see one of their attacks result in a counter from Oxford giving them a fifth goal. Soon after Newman took the ball down the left, passed to Dave Roberts who crossed the ball to Heitman for him to hustle a goal. Unfortunately that was the end of the Lewes revival and with five minutes to the whistle Oxford scored another two goals from penalty corners. This Saturday Lewes will be thanking their sponsors with a pre-match
reception followed by the game against Oxford Hawks and will hopefully
repay their support with a win. The game starts at 1.30 at the Southdown
Sports Club. 12 January 2008 South 1st XI Premier League Division 1 Realistically Lewes appeared to have little hope for any points from this game, with Chichester being promotion contenders, and whilst they did lose they certainly played with much more determination than in recent games. For the first twenty five minutes it would have been difficult for a spectator to tell which was the top and which the bottom side. Lewes launched a number of runs at the Chichester defence with Matt Rickson, Colin Toovey and Mike Newman always prominent. They had three distinct scoring opportunities but once again it was the inability to convert pressure in the D into goals that cost them dear. At the other end the defence was sound but with ten minutes of the half to go Chichester earned a penalty corner that was driven low into the goal. Two minutes later a quick counter from their own defence caught Lewes off guard and Chichester extended their lead with a simple but well taken goal. Lewes created another two chances, one from a penalty corner, but once again failed to score. Lewes maintained their interest for ten minutes of the second half, twice going close to scoring. As they then tired visibly the Chichester attack could not be resisted and two penalty corners gave them a four goal lead. The defence did their best to hold out but with ten minutes to go a penalty stoke was awarded following an infringement at a penalty corner and Chichester closed out the game. It could have been so different if Lewes had managed to score a couple of goals in the opening stages. That would probably have given the incentive to keep tiredness at bay. As it was they did well to limit Chichester to five goals – by no means a disgrace. Lewes now have two consecutive home games against Oxford sides
starting with Oxford University tomorrow. Six points from the two
games are a must if they are to have any hope of avoiding relegation.
Start time 1.30 at the Southdown Club. For copies of last year's match repots please e-mail Carl Goldsmith
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