Lewes hockey joy No.3

Lewes had all season combined youngsters with more experienced players and in this cup final all the players contributed to the victory.

A large crowd in very hot conditions were expecting a close match as the teams had shared the spoils in the league. But a confident Lewes took the game to their opponents from the start.

Martyn Stillman was outstanding leading the Lewes attack and was a handful for Brighton's defence all match.

His close control and speed on 10 minutes left his marker

trailing and, as the keeper advanced, he coolly slotted the ball into the far corner to give Lewes the lead.

Five minutes later Iki Kullar struck a free hit hard into the circle and skipper Paul Spruce deftly deflected the ball home for 2-0.

Before Brighton could compose themselves a pin point cross from the right found Stillman who converted from close range to put Lewes three up with only 15 minutes gone.

Brighton then got back into the game as Lewes relaxed, but central defenders Hugo Youngman, Greg St Clair Jones and Mike Emery mopped up their attacks. If anything, Lewes were guilty of wasting short corner opportunities at the other end.

Brighton pressed forward desperately at the start of the second half but Lewes absorbed the pressure and were able to hit on the break.

It was from one of these breaks that Stillman picked up the ball near the right corner flag, beat two defenders and flicked the ball home off the far post from an acute angle for the goal of the match.

Lewes keeper Ben Graves was still kept busy and produced successive saves as Lewes tired to prevent Brighton getting back into the match.

Joe Davis and Nick Haslam were strong down the left hand side to nullify any further threat and at the other end Chris Spruce saw a first time effort well saved by the Brighton keeper.

As the match reached the final five minutes Brighton creditably continued to press forward and were rewarded with a consolation goal from a short corner. This stung Lewes into an immediate response and in the last minute Ollie Wiseman slipped a ball to Mike Fuller who reverse flicked the ball in to complete the scoring and a well-deserved victory for Lewes.