Lewes hockey joy No.1

Lewes, having already won promotion from Division Two, were favourites going into the game against Horsham who play in Division Four. And despite Horsham's best efforts, a hat-trick from Laura Oliver was enough to see Lewes home.

Lewes started in style with a goal after eight minutes from Oliver. Hollie Gosden showed great stick skills to set up Oliver who struck the ball from the edge of the D.

The Lewes midfield of Gill Miles, Suzie Miller and George Butt all worked hard in the heat to supply the forward line, and Oliver made it 2-0 on 15 minutes with a fine strike from a penalty corner.

And within the half hour she had her hat trick. The third goal was a superb individual effort which saw Oliver beating several defenders and the goalkeeper before firing in from close range. Seconds before half time the Lewes defence got caught by a Horsham counter attack and they pulled a goal back to make it 3-1.

The second half saw Horsham pile on the pressure in the search for goals.

The hot conditions began to take their toll and the tiring Lewes defence had to work hard to keep Horsham at bay, with Katie Redhead and Charlotte Done putting in some important tackles.

Lewes, however, had their share of the attack too and won a succession of penalty corners but were unable to further their advantage. Susie Heinzl went close with a strike that went just wide.

In the last 10 minutes Horsham forced several penalty corners but just could not find the net. Claire Vivian was commanding in the Lewes goal and made some good stops to keep Horsham out.

Lewes: Vivian, Shelton, Redhead, Done, Heinzl, Miller, Miles, Butt, Flack, Broughton, Wigglesworth, Gosden, Oliver.