Off the back of last week’s disappointing defeat at the hands of Hailsham, Saxons travelled to last season’s Division 1 runners up knowing that they were in for another tough game. On a day when Jose Mourinho took his bus to park at Liverpool, Saxons – missing a number of key men – also changed their system, in an attempt to shore up their defence against a top side in their new league, following last season’s promotion.

In the new 4-4-2 system, centre-backs Ed Chapman and Will Orr were exemplary in their organisation of the defensive unit, ably assisted by the impressive Brock Smith in the Saxons goal. Debutant Trevor Davies and the returning James Riley were outstanding in their wide defensive roles, as the defensive unit provided Saxons a solid platform upon which to build their performance.

Saxons asked a few questions of the Brighton defence at times, with Tudor Stainsby & Aston Spinks looking dangerous and Tom Waters’ pace causing problems, but the first half was largely about defending with the central-midfield pairing of James Wilson & Tobias Farrow working tirelessly to screen the back four. Brighton squandered a couple of good chances, Smith made a few good saves in goal & Man of the Match Davies produced a sublime goal line save from a penalty corner, all of which meant the score remained 0-0 at the interval.

After a rousing team talk at half time from manager Tom Gregory, Saxons set out tasked with “more of the same please” in the second half and were determined to come away from the game with something to show for their considerable efforts.

As Brighton began to tire, it was during a rare period of Saxons dominance that Tudor Stainsby utilised the increasing space to produce a moment of magic worthy of winning any game. The forward brilliantly turned his man inside the Brighton half, before embarking on a mazy run beating 3 or 4 defenders before coolly slotting the ball under the keeper to send the away side into dreamland.

For the remaining 25 minutes of the game, Saxons were resolute in defence and determined to hold on to the 3 valuable points they had worked so hard for. Waters was typically brilliant in closing down a number of Brighton penalty corners and Will Orr in particular continued to work hard to organise his defence.

Ultimately Brighton were unable to convert any of the few clear cut chances they managed to create, and Saxons managed to hold on to the slender advantage until the final whistle blew – sparking celebrations from the away side who had secured a massive 3 points on the road. It may not have been a glamorous display, but it was certainly an effective one!

Saxons 2s: Smith, Davies (MoM), Chapman, W. Orr, Riley, Waters, Farrow, Wilson, James, Bunday (c), Stainsby, Spinks, Hooton.