Saxons edged out in fiery nine-goal thriller
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
Saxons were edged out 5-4 in a fiery encounter at home to a Sutton Valence side which lies second in South Hockey League Kent/Sussex - Regional 2 having lost just once all season.
On a cold afternoon at Horntye Park, Saxons started slowly and came under heavy pressure from the Sutton Valence attack.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdSaxons, nonetheless, opened the scoring. A breakaway attack led to a penalty corner, from which Andrew Acott’s ball was deflected neatly past the goalkeeper by Jamie Busbridge.
The visitors responded when a penalty corner of their own was drag flicked into the bottom corner.
This didn’t deter Saxons, though, and they again took the lead when a neatly deflected pass by Busbridge found Olli Beal, who finished with style. Sutton Valence hit back with a second equaliser to make it 2-2 at half time.
The game continued at a frantic pace after half time and despite the good work of Jon Meredith to keep possession, the visitors scored two further goals to lead 4-2.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdTowards the end Saxons broke through the visitors’ defence and Beal grabbed two more goals, one of which was a reverse stick hit from an almost impossible angle, to complete his hat-trick and take his tally to seven in two matches.
But Sutton grabbed a contentious winner when a slap hit from outside the D, during a short corner, was allowed to stand by the umpire.
Man of the match was Gavin Cload for his good defensive work, including a goal-line clearance after the goalkeeper was already beaten.
Saxons remain just inside the top half of the table with four fixtures to go, the first of which is away to bottom club New Beccehamians this coming Saturday.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdSee our comprehensive sports coverage in the Observer every Friday.
Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.
Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.
1 Make this website your homepage
2 Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Sport-Sussex
3 Follow us on Twitter @SportSussex
4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.
And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!