Lewes RFC

Sat 1 Feb 2025, 14:00

Crawley

31 - 24

(HT 12-12)

Lewes

Crawley

Lewes

And it was a bad start. Before the spectators had settled into their seats Lewes found themselves twelve points down after a Crawley onslaught took everyone by surprise with two quick scores in the first three minutes of the match. It was going to get worse before it got better, as yellow cards for two of the Lewes forwards reduced them to thirteen men.

Lewes have certainly come out of worse holes than this in the last couple of years and they just weren’t going to get downhearted. Kane Dadswell raised the mood with two storming runs that showed Crawley that they still had a match on their hands. The Lewes spirit was lifted and Will Hoff got over for a try in the corner that put them right back in this game.

However another setback followed when James Sale received a red card after a poor tackle, and then his second row partner, Jack Bradford, also had to leave the field with a shoulder injury. Once again, Lewes showed that they were not finished yet and some sniping runs by skipper, Raff Green, put them into an attacking position deep into the first half.

It had been a very long half, lasting more than fifty minutes, but right at the end of it, more Lewes pressure on the Crawley line yielded a try for Joe Lacey that Tom Moore converted. This left the half time score at 12-12.

The second half began with a strong Lewes attack, but when it broke down, Crawley countered and scored a goal that put them back into the lead at 19-12. A handy lead, but it was to be increased as Crawley scored their bonus point try that stretched them out to 26-12.

Lewes were still attacking well, but did find it hard to sustain attacks a man down. However it did make such a difference with Gus Taylor back at fly half as he was the instigator of all the good things Lewes were doing, as well as bringing out the best out of Will Hoff and Raff Green in the centre, both of whom had great games.

Lewes pressed hard on the Crawley line, but were held up over the line, and then another thrust saw the award of a penalty try, which took the score to 26-19. This gave Lewes the incentive to go for another score and get their own bonus point, but Crawley broke away once more to seal their victory at 31-19.

There was not much time left now, but one more successful attack would produce two bonus points. Tom Moore set it up with a brilliant 50-22, and after having a succession of penalties, Will Hoff, eventually went over for the precious five points with the clock well in the red. This was Lewes’ fourth try, and it also provided the losing bonus point.

The bonus points Lewes gained moves them two points ahead of Ditchling in the league table with 28 points, Crawley have now gone above them into sixth place on 29 points.

After a second postponement, Lewes are now due to play Uckfield on 8^th February, before going to Brighton on 15^th February. The next game at the Stanley Turner will see the visit of Seaford on 1^st March, when we are inviting our former players to a pre-match lunch.

Lewes team Moore; J. Bowie, Green (captain), Hoff, Lacey; Taylor, Durrant; Dadswell, Simmonds, Martin; Sale, Bradford; Weston, Gribble, Medhurst. Replacements: S. Bowie, Petty, Hutchings.