South Saxons Men's 1--v--2 Southwick Men's 3's

South Saxons hosted Southwick at Horntye Park for what could be the deciding match of both teams seasons.

The home side went into the game joint on points with their opponents but with a much better goal difference.

The big, strong away side looked a daunting prospect but Saxons battled competitively from the word go with early chances falling to both sides.

Saxons were knocked back when Paddy Cornish had to go off to receive treatment for a head injury, which later resulted in 5 stitches at A&E, when a through ball from Southwick midfield was deflected up from Jon Meredith's Stick into the path of a helpless Cornish.

Whilst off, it was Southwick that broke the deadlock, with a snapshot beating Mike Sutton.

Cornish returned to play a few minutes later after being patched up by the medical team to a frantic yet controlled match by both sides, neither wanting to give too much away.

The halftime team talk delivered by skipper Jamie Busbridge was asking for much of the same from the first half but to be more clinical in front of goal.

Soon after, following a short corner breaking down by the Hastings side, the ball fell to Meredith on the right to smash it into the d, following a deflection, Man of the match Cornish controlled the ball in the air and smash the ball into the backboard and the home side and crowd erupted.

At this point Saxons would still be top of the table. Southwick were not done, and immediately upped their game once more.

The umpires started to get involved and gave some cards for discipline and poor tackles, at one stage and both teams were down to 9 players.

After many short corners, 'wick broke through the Saxons defence in open play and shot towards the goal, where an unlucky Saxons keeper couldn't keep it out with a save onto the post and deflecting back into his pads and back into the goal.

The last 10 mins was a fantastic display of pride and passion from both teams, many chances falling to both teams but the scoreline wasn't changed.

Special mentions should go to Tudor Stainsby and Jon Meredith for their tireless efforts in the middle and to Toby Reed and Chris Meredith for constant commitment and work rate under pressure.

3 games remain in the season and Saxons have to rely on Southwick slipping up for them to win the league