Lewes RFC

When the wind blows it certainly goes hard at the Stanley Turner. And it was Lewes who had to face it in the first half, during which time they hardly managed to move play into the attacking half of the field. So, it was a matter of mounting a strong defensive effort and waiting for the chance to turn things round in the second half.

With about ten minutes gone Ditchling were awarded a penalty and kicked for the corner. They set up an attacking maul from the line out, but were penalised in their execution. The Lewes penalty was a great example of how difficult clearance kicks were in these conditions as it missed touch. Ditchling gathered the ball and span it out to the other side to score in the corner.

The weather was not allowing any pieces of individual skill to shine through the gloom, but the Ditchling conversion that followed was a thing of beauty. Using the wind the kick was excellently timed to bring the ball in at the right-hand post in textbook manner. This made the score 0-7, but it was to Lewes’ credit that it remained at this when the half time whistle went.

Prior to that, an excellent run from Harry Rees, taking the ball from deep in defence through to the Ditching half, led to a potential attacking opportunity for Lewes, that was only thwarted by a Ditchling player getting a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.  Now playing with the wind, Lewes forced a five-metre scrum straight from the kick off, and, despite losing Ben Simmonds to injury, were able to maintain their pressure on the Ditchling line.

Ben Bishop came on for Simmonds, giving Lewes a bit more mobility in attack, and soon after, skipper, Ben Green, found space to score a try under the posts that was converted by Harry Rees. So the teams were level at 7-7 and Ditchling were doing their best to get some attacking moves together. However, Lewes counter-attacked and Ditchling received another yellow card for a high tackle.

Although Jack Bradford had to go off, being replaced by Tom Petty, Lewes were able to grab the initiative. There is nothing better for a Lewes team than playing towards the welcoming lights of the clubhouse with the wind coming off the Downs at their backs, Eventually the Lewes pressure told and Fearghus Gage was over for a well-taken try. Harry Rees’ well-judged conversion was a close match for the earlier Ditchling effort as the ball curled perfectly inside the right-hand post.

There was just time for James Durrant to make a welcome return to the team when he appeared as a substitute for Jack Soltermann. The game had been unsurprisingly littered with handling errors but James’ control was sublime as he helped steer Lewes towards their deserved win. It was finally wrapped up when Olly Barnett completed an excellent first game in the first team with an well-deserved try that made the final score 19-7.

After a bright start in the first game at Buckingham Park, Lewes had endured a difficult phase earlier this month. This game saw Lewes turn things round and they can now look forward to the next match with Eastbourne II at Hampden Park on 31^st October. Although it will still be an October fixture, the clocks change tonight and so the kick off will have to be 2.00.

Lewes team: Soltermann; Rees, Green (captain), Harvey, Roy; Mills, Barnett; Thomas, Simmonds, Gage; Bradford, Mangan; Taylor, Duncan, Medhurst. Replacements: Bishop, Petty, Durrant.

Try scorers: Green, Gage, Barnett

Conversions Rees (2)