Southwick Men's 1's 2--v--4 South Saxons Men's 1's

South Saxons 1's travelled away to 4th placed Southwick on Saturday on a chilly morning. Saxons who had taken the no.1 spot the week before knew that this game was an important one to make sure that they retain it. With Jamie Busbridge still not fully match fit they had Olli Beal and Ed Hooton back in the team.

The game started quickly with great passing through the defence and midfield giving the forwards opportunities to grab a goal. However, the last touch towards goal wasn't quite there.

Saxons had an amazing game in defence with some great goal line saves throughout the game from James Riley, Paddy Cornish and Dan Burnett.

Southwick were quick on the break but Saxons' defence held strong and didn't let much through on goal. Saxons were quick to get the ball back up the pitch with a long range pass from Alex Coombs finding Olli Beal who put the ball onto a defenders foot inside the D, earning a short corner. Coombs' flick was well run down and blocked, but it fell nicely to Dan Burnett who hit it into the top right of the goal making it 1-0.

Saxons' were building more pressure with Alex Coombs and Ed Hooton linking up well on the left hand side of the pitch, who then found Olli Beal who topped a shot from the edge of the D which managed to loop over the keeper to make it 2-0. Before the half was over Coombs gave the ball to Beal who then weaved through the defenders before putting it between the keepers legs to make it 3-0 at half-time.

In the second half Southwick came back strongly and a defensive lapse gave them a goal back. Jon Meredith eventually turned up for the last 7 minutes of the game having been delayed at work. He provided a fresh set of legs and managed to get the ball into the D. A rebound fell to Man of the Match Beal who then put the ball into the goal for his hat-trick.

Southwick then got another goal back after a good passing move. The final score was 4-2. Saxons are still top of the league with a 3 point advantage on second place. Saxons 1's are at home this week against 10th Place Crawley at 13:30.